It all ads up

Now here’s a complicated situation that seems inspired by Indian television drama: A TV quiz show hosted by Shah Rukh Khan premieres on April 18. That’s the same day as the IPL launches, with a match between Bangalore’s Royal Challengers and Kolkata’s Knight Riders – owned by none other than Shah Rukh Khan. Given the high profile of both and Khan’s status in the Indian advertising and entertainment industry, the clash, says Business Standard, has put advertisers in a bit of a pickle – where should they park their money? Khan’s quiz show – an adaptation of the international show ‘Are you smarter than a fifth-grader’ – has telecom major Airtel as the presenting sponsor on the Star Plus channel; the IPL will be aired on the rival Sony network with Vodafone, Airtel’s leading competitor, as the presenting sponsor. The quiz show will air Friday-Sunday between 8 and 9pm, more or less primetime IPL viewing; each show is looking for associate sponsors.

Of course this is not a major issue, even accounting for the fact that the IPL’s largest fixed revenue source so far is TV ads; the Indian market is big enough for both shows. In fact a report in the Mint business daily says sponsors of the IPL telecast on Sony are signing ‘exclusivity’ deals, paying a premium to keep rivals from advertising during the telecast. The report quotes a Sony Entertainment official as confirming that Vodafone and Hyundai, one of the associate sponsors, have signed such deals; though the official does not reveal the premium involved, the paper suggests it’s in the region of US$1.7 million – that’s in addition to the normal ad-spend rates. The reason given is the relatively short nature of a Twenty20 game – 2000 seconds of ads as compared to 6000 seconds for an ODI – increasing the chances of advertising clutter. The exclusivity, a Vodafone official said, was not about blocking rivals’ airtime, but about getting adequate airtime for yourself. It appears to be an early protection against ambush marketing – made famous by the war between Coca-Cola, the official sponsor of the 1996 World Cup, and Pepsi, whose ‘Nothing official about it’ slogan made the bigger noise.