India in T20 World Cup final, Disney Star hikes ad rates

Mumbai: Buoyed by India's entry into the finals of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Disney Star is selling the remaining TV ad inventory at a higher price for the final match between India and South Africa on Saturday, said media buyers.

The broadcaster is seeking ₹25-30 lakh per 10 seconds for the final match as it is assured of a high viewership across platforms, they said. Advertisers will not mind paying a premium due to the high-profile nature of the game, said media buyers.

Star Sports is the official TV broadcast partner of the tournament. Prior to the tournament, the broadcaster had quoted spot buy rates of ₹13-26 lakh per 10-second slots for India and knockout games. The average ad rate for all 55 matches of the tournament works out at ₹6.5-7 lakh due to lower than expected demand from advertisers.

The T20 World Cup took place immediately after the Indian Premier League (IPL), which pulled away a large chunk of ad budgets.

India defeated England in the semi-final match on Thursday to take on South Africa in the final match on Saturday. The broadcaster is expected to garner upwards of ₹1,000 crore in ad revenue from both TV and digital platforms due to India's winning streak in the tournament. EssenceMediacom CEO, South Asia, Navin Khemka said advertisers will pay top dollars to have a presence during the final match since it's a rare opportunity for them.

"It's a big match, and there is a lot of interest among advertisers. Clients who have the budget will not mind paying a premium to advertise during the final match. Disney Star still has ad inventory left, so they would obviously want to max it out," he said. Madison Media Alpha and Madison Digital CEO Vishal Chinchankar said the India-South Africa finale is a big moment for advertisers who want both reach and impact.

"Audience excitement is at an all-time high with Team India reaching the finals of the T20 World Cup in 2024. This is indeed a big opportunity for brands to leverage their presence at the finals, as the majority of the nation would be glued to the screens," he said.

Media buyers said Disney+ Hotstar, which is streaming the tournament, has not increased the ad rates since it wants to fill the ad inventory. They said the streaming platform will be able to offload the remaining ad inventory due to the lower entry barrier on digital compared to TV.

Interactive Avenues Head Media & Investments Harish Iyer said Disney+ Hotstar has not increased ad rates since the viewership has gone up and the platform wants to maximise revenue on the additional supply. He also said that the platform had sold out CTV ad inventory completely in advance and, in fact, had oversold the CTV. He said there is a 10-20% discount on ad rates based on outlays by the platform.

The new clients onboarded by Disney Star include RIL, Vi, Skoda, AngelOne, UnderArmour, Asian Paints, MakeMyTrip and Exxon.