The event that has at least one detractor in almost every household has completed another year. Like every time, the ones who don’t like it were pushed firmly to the background. The Indian Premier League is known for setting viewership records and the 12th edition that got over on Sunday was no exception.
TV viewership for the first four weeks was 411 million, as compared to 414 million for the full six weeks last year. The digital platform was a huge success too, as preliminary reports say there were 267 million viewers in the first three weeks.
The event was trending on social media and competing with figures reported by global show-stoppers like Spain’s El Clasico and the English Premier League.
As has been the trend over the years, this mix of cricket and entertainment continues to draw new viewers. The conventional cricket fan may not join the hordes headed for the stadium for IPL, but those who do not follow the game otherwise more than makeup for those lost numbers.
Women are present in large numbers and so are children. Test matches or ODIs don’t attract them as much. Figures show that about 52 per cent of viewers are women and children.
There is a 15 per cent rise in the number of women viewers. This power to reach areas hitherto untouched by cricket is the IPL’s biggest success.
It also seems to have the ability to get potentially damaging publicity to work in its favour. Incidents of spot-fixing and betting did not diminish its popularity in the past. Even this year, MS Dhoni’s decision to walk into the field to argue with the umpire did not make him or the Chennai Super Kings unpopular.
In fact, this was the most widely followed team, with yellow shirts often outnumbering the home team’s jersey in the stands when the CSK played in other cities.
People were willing to spend a few times the actual price for a ticket to be there. Sure there were many saying they do not like the show. At the end of the day, even they were left marvelling at the viewership figures.