Disney Star to tap into SMEs to expand IPL advertiser base and revenue

Ajit Varghese, Disney Star's head of network ad sales said that the network wants to help advertisers achieve their business objectives without having to worry about budget constraints

Disney Star is planning to increase its ad revenue from the Indian Premier League by expanding its advertiser base. It aims to do so by targeting both corporate, and small & medium business advertisers, said a senior company executive, as reported by The Economic Times (ET).

Ajit Varghese, Disney Star's head of network ad sales, said that the network wants to support advertisers achieve their business objectives without having to worry about budget constraints.

To this end, the broadcaster is offering various advertising packages across SD, HD, regional, and team affinity, said the report. The broadcaster is seeking advertising fees in the range of Rs 18 to 18.5 lakh per 10-second spot from spot buyers and Rs 17.5 to 18 lakh per 10-second spot from sponsors.

According to estimates, Disney Star earned Rs 35,000 crore in revenues from gross TV advertising for IPL 2022. “This year, we are encouraging more brands to advertise on IPL with the budget not being a constraint. We are also reaching out to SMBs for IPL,” Varghese said.

“We are willing to work with clients to meet their reach and impression objectives. You don't necessarily need to have Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore. We are offering that flexibility,” he added, as quoted by the report. Varghese added that the macroeconomic challenges will not be a hindrance from the advertising point of view.

Speaking about the health of economy, he said, “Most of the categories are doing well whether you look at FMCG, consumer durables, automobile, telecom, and handset makers.” He added that the cautious stand by the advertisers on ad spending is a short-term trend.

Varghese also talked about Jio’s plans to offer the IPL to viewers for free. He said that this is not a new phenomenon as Hotstar offered IPL for free when it had the digital rights. He underlined the distinction between the audience watching IPL on their smartphones and those watching it on Television.

“TV has a large audience base of 900 million viewers and IPL has a lot of headroom to grow. Cricket is viewed by families. Sports is all about community viewing. A big screen has more stickiness and audience engagement. This is what advertisers are looking at,” he added to support his view as published in the report.