IPL 2020 is just around the corner, and for many broadcasters (other than the ones airing IPL live on TV), it’s a tricky situation. Many channels face drastic dips in viewership since people are hooked to IPL matches - and many times they don’t come back to watch the same shows.

However, this can be easily avoided by tapping into the right audience data and using it smartly. 

In fact, broadcasters should see this as a great opportunity to grow their audiences, since IPL causes total TV consumption to increase. Our studies show that TV viewership increases by 11.53% from pre-IPL to IPL period. Advertising also skyrockets with 5.5% more brands competing for eyeballs on the screen. 

Download this report to access data on TV viewership during IPL, and how broadcasters can engage their audiences effectively during the season.

Keeping all this great potential in mind, let’s first look at what can go wrong.

What are the problems that broadcasters may face during IPL?

• It has a downward impact across key genres and markets: major genres such as English News are seen to drop by 23% since there’s a marked shift in audiences towards IPL channels. 
• Lot of viewers lapse or stop watching these genres and channels, leading to a drop in subscription revenue. This can be quite a heavy blow on business for broadcasters. 
• Even worse, the audiences who leave don’t bother coming back. For example, a popular Hindi GEC channel saw 17% drop in viewership during IPL, but only saw 1% increase after IPL. Where did they all go?

So here's how non IPL channels can also ride the magic of India’s biggest TV season:

1. Pre IPL: Identify and engage your high risk audiences
   

    

   If you’re a broadcaster, the first thing you need to do is identify audiences that are most likely to stop watching your shows once IPL starts.

   This can be done by studying the IPL viewership behaviour of your channel viewers at a granular individual level, and find the ones with a tendency to drop off from your channel. (Download this case study on how Zapr deep dives into channel viewership analysis).

   Once you find them, the next step is to engage this TV audience accurately on their mobiles via Facebook, Youtube and programmatic. (Download this case study on how Zapr has engaged viewers of major Hindi GEC channels). 

2. During IPL: Engage both your show lapsers and your show lovers 
   
   

   Once IPL starts, accurately find those who move away from your shows and target them digitally with promos to spark interest in the content they’re missing.

   At the same time, it’s important to keep your loyal viewers also hooked by engaging with teasers on their phones, to ensure they continue watching your shows. 

3. Moment Marketing: Real-time engagement with target audiences while your show airs on TV 
   
   

   A great way to acquire new viewers is by engaging active TV viewers who belong to your TG, and get them to tune into your channel. For example, you can target all viewers of similar genre who watch other channels, and bring them onto your shows. 

   This kind of engagement creates excitement and urgency for people to switch to your channel, and directly impacts your TRPs. 

These are only some of the ways in which you can ensure retention and acquisition for your channels during IPL. 

There’s much more audience data you can tap into, which will give you insight into how your TV audiences behave during IPL. Such intelligence will ultimately help you maintain your viewership and will ensure good revenues amidst tough competition from IPL. 

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