Despite Season 15 of IPL reaching its business end, the drop in IPL Ratings is getting from BAD to WORSE. These impacts fall Star Sports to No. 4 in the TOP Channels list.

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, sponsored by the Tata group, attracted 229 million television viewers in the first week of the tournament’s 15th year, falling short of last year’s numbers.

According to data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), a TV audience measurement firm, IPL had a reach of 267 million last year.

As reported earlier by media the TV viewership across age groups has fallen by over 30%. The advertisers are really worried. It is said that some the advertisers and agencies have started knocking on the doors of official broadcasters for compensation for the fall in RATINGS:

Sources told that advertisers are asking broadcaster Disney Star India to compensate them for the drop in viewership.

It is worth noting that Star Sports this year had hiked the ad rates by almost 15 to 20%.

In past years, a segment of 8 million people was classified as heavy IPL viewers. These people used to spend 1,200 minutes or more on an IPL season. But this year, this number has either diminished or vanished. “Of the 8 million, 2.7 million viewers are still there, but they are no longer heavy viewers.

These might have been the reasons for declined viewership

1. Nearly 10 million pay-TV homes have disconnected their cable

In the metros, people may be cord-cutting to join streaming platforms, while in semi-urban and rural areas, viewers are switching to Doordarshan’s free-to-air DTH platform Free Dish.

Clearly, if BARC data is causing stress on viewership, its impact would not be limited to the IPL. To be sure, several TV channel executives Mint spoke to privately admitted that there have been sudden and unexplained changes in viewership data. Several pay-TV channels—both news and entertainment in Hindi and regional languages—have registered lower viewership.

2. IPL returning under six just months

Fans certainly love watching the most popular T20 league in the world. However, they might have just reached a saturation point in terms of tuning into the live-action for every single game. The Indian Premier League has returned after a span of just under six months. IPL 2021 concluded in October last year, as Chennai Super Kings lifted their fourth title, defeating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. One of the key reasons behind the drop in viewership this season could be the fact that there has been too much IPL action off-late.

3. Spreading favourite players of fans in different teams

This season witnessed the biggest IPL auction, as almost all teams lost a few of their key players. With the Mega Auction being held a few months ago, and the addition of two new franchises, the stars were spread across 10 teams this time around. This meant that several fanbases of players had to shift their loyalty to another franchise, something which they might not have been ready to do.

4. Absence of Big Stars

IPL 2022 has been missing three of its biggest stars this season. The likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Suresh Raina have graced the cash-rich league ever since its inception in 2008. And now, all of a sudden, none of the three stars are playing a part in the 15th edition, due to different reasons.

5. Two of the most popular teams, MI and CSK not doing well

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings remain two of the most popular teams in the competition. Moreover, the two franchises are the two most successful sides, with MI claiming five titles, whereas, CSK claiming four titles so far. Hence, fans expected both teams to perform well every season, given their viscosity over the years. But they were at the bottom of the list losing fans.