It's may be a great brand positioning statement they said. But in India its only cricket that everyone watches, they said. Well, the Fifa World Cup, which ended on Sunday (and left large swathes of the globe with a serious case of soccer hangover) has left its impact even on cricket-crazy India.
Ratings data for the week ended 22 June (all C&S households) show that Ten Sports, which had the telecast rights for the soccer spectacle, has been able to make it to the top 100 programmes list.
Three quarterfinals of the game entered the top 100 shows, according to data released by TAM. The England vs Brazil match on 21 June ranked 54th in the top shows of the week among 4+ C&S audiences across the country, with a TVR of 3.05. The next day's quarterfinal matches also ensured a place for themselves in the top shows, ranked at 80 and 84th place. The match between Spain and Korea drew a TVR of 2.67 while the one between Senegal and Turkey drew a TVR of 2.66.
While ESPN Star had been insisting that cricket held sway even when the World Cup began, the latter half of the Fifa championship seems to have caught the fancy of viewers. Viewership for the World Cup in the week ended 8 June had shot up considerably in the metros, according to TAM. Reports had indicated that the Argentina versus England match recorded a rating of 3.3 as compared to the previous week's high of 1.45 TVR.
The India-West Indies one dayer on 2 June had however done much better effortlessly with a TVR of 6.31 on 2 June, helping ESPN to climb into the top 100 shows in C&S homes at number 13, according to TAM.
Select cities like Kolkata and Cochin reacted favourably to the soccer matches from day one. However, metros like Delhi and Mumbai caught on only after the last week.
Sunday's finals between Brazil and Germany, which saw the Samba Kings win their fifth World Cup, had a global television audience estimated to be 1.5 billion, the largest ever in history. What ratings the the match drew in India should make for interesting viewing. Especially considering that the same day saw the Indian cricket team put on a steller performance in defeating Sri Lanka in the Natwest tri-series currently on in England. The match was telecast on Star Sports.
