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London Olympics: India focus helps DD Sports attract more eyeba

  • NEW DELHI: London Olympics 2012 has emerged the most watched non-cricket sporting event in Indian television history with state broadcaster Doordarshan taking the lead ahead of ESPN Star Sports.

    More than 100 million people in the country watched the Olympics this year, doubling the number of viewers since Beijing Olympics 2008 as Indian athletes put up a better show than last time, according to estimates provided by television viewership rating agency TAM Media to the state broadcaster.

    "This time Olympics proved it (sports) is no more about only cricket in India," Ashok K Jailkhani, additional director general at Doordarshan, told ET.

    About 60 million people watched the event on DD Sports, helping the state broadcaster's sports channel beat private rivals ESPN and Star Sports.

    DD's advertising revenue increased three-fold to Rs 22 crore, compared to Rs 7.5 crore during the Beijing Olympics.

    Advertisers on DD Sports included Hero MotoCorp, Amul, LIC, ONGC, Income-Tax department, United India Insurance, Karur Vysya Bank and Exide.

    Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, which own the Amul brand of milk and milk products, also sponsored the Indian team at the Olympics.

    "We got very good value for the money spent on Olympics," RS Sodhi, managing director of the federation, said. "We were able establish connect with the youth," he added.

    That too at much lower rates than what it would cost to advertise during a big-ticket cricket match.

    Media planners estimate that advertising rates for Olympics were Rs 20,000-30,000 for a 10-second slot, while a similar slot during an Indian Premier League twenty20 match or an international cricket match featuring India would cost around Rs 5 lakh.

    Nitin Karkare, chief operating officer at Draftfcb Ulka (Mumbai), attributes the jump in television viewership to the improvement in Indian athletes' performance in London. "Interest levels were palpable as India performed well," he said.

    Draftfcb Ulka handled creative and media planning for Amul and Hero MotoCorp.

    As per the TAM data Doordarshan shared with ET, gross rating points for the key India matches played by Gagan Narang, Vijaya Kumar, Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar were in the range of 4.5 and 6.

    Viewership peaked during badminton player Saina Nehwal's quarterfinal and semi-final matches and Sushil Kumar's wrestling final. New highs were reached during Indian athletes' boxing, shooting and archery matches and even during the athletic events featuring Indian players.

    Around 55 million people watched Olympics on ESPN, STAR Sports and ESPN HD. "We are delighted with the viewer response on the telecast of London Olympics 2012," an ESPN Software India spokesman said.

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