MUMBAI: From only speaking in English to including Hindi to now giving each region a voice in its own language, cricket commentary in India has progressed over the years. There is a fair demand from consumers to watch and listen to content in their language. Commentary in regional languages not only multiplies the excitement among the viewers but also increases the fun and entertainment quotient of the game.
Chrome Data Analytics & Media conducted a detailed research to understand the response of the public on the Indian Premier League (IPL) commentary in regional languages and the commoner’s preference of the language.
The survey was carried out in the Indian markets with a sample size of 873 with 64 per cent males and 36 per cent females between the age groups of 15 and 55+.
Star India has devoted four channels for the regional feeds of the IPL apart from Hindi—Star Sports 1 Tamil (Tamil), Suvarna Plus (Kannada), Jalsha Movies (Bengali), Maa Movies (Telugu).
From the sample, 83 per cent watch IPL and the remaining 17 per cent are not interested. 26 per cent of the respondents stated Tamil as their mother tongue, 23 per cent said it was Telugu while 20 per cent responded with Kannada.
Hindi is the most preferred language for IPL commentary followed by English and Tamil. The language of commentary does affect the viewership as a large portion of respondents would prefer to watch the match in their regional language.
According to the survey, 100 per cent people speaking Bengali and Kannada are willing to watch the matches in their language, 67 per cent of the Malayalam speaking audience is willing to watch the matches in its mother tongue and 33 per cent is comfortable with other languages as well. The Telugu-speaking audience doesn’t concentrate on the commentary with 82 per cent being comfortable in any language and just 18 per cent want the commentary in their mother tongue.
Cricket commentary in regional languages will not only foster new connections with existing viewers but will also increase the viewership as new audiences will find it a comfortable proposition.
While the IPL cricket commentary was primarily in English, with the increase in its viewership from tier III and IV cities, the demand for regional language commentary has grown manifold. Customised regional content, especially cricket commentary, can bridge the language barrier between semi-urban dwellers and the sport.
Also read:
Star India lines up innovation filled IPL 2018
Star to air IPL on 10 channels, in 6 languages; live on Hotstar
