Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) primetime viewership impression has dipped due to the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 13).

According to a research report by ICICI Securities, in week 38 (19 September to 25 September), HINDI GEC (general entertainment channel) primetime viewership impression dipped by 7.7 per cent week on week (vs week37) likely due to the onset of IPL 13.

IPL 2020 gives big hit to Hindi General Entertainment Channels

ZeeTV viewership market share has been stable at 18 per cent while Colors has seen a rise in viewership by 220 basis points week on week to 22 per cent. Sony SAB lost 100 bps viewership market share to 12.9 per cent. Star Plus lost 30 basis points viewership market share week on week to 24.4 per cent.

Trends from IPL opening week matches show that IPL had a good start in the new season with average viewership impression per match improving by 21 per cent to 39 million versus 32 million in IPL 12 (2019) and 25.8 million in IPL 11 (2018), according to ICICI Securities.

Ad volumes for IPL 13 have seen growth of 15 per cent in first week of matches, which The report says key to watch out would be ad pricing per 10secs and impact of IPL 13 on GEC advertisement volumes and prices. The advertisers count in IPL 13’s first week of match has seen a growth of 19 per cent to 81; and brand count is up by 22 per cent to 143. Disney+ Hotstar has seen 99 per cent week on week rise in user base in week 38 likely helped by IPL 13.

IPL 2020: No impact on regional entertainment channels, they continue to grow
The report says that Sun TV is now ranked 2 in Tamil GEC primetime with Star Vijay as the leader. Tamil primetime viewership impression has grown 0.7 per cent WoW despite IPL 13. Star Vijay continues its smart gains in viewership market share, which has improved to 35.3 per cent in week38, up 140bps week on week. This compared to pre-Covid (Q4FY20) viewership market share was 25.3 per cent for Star Vijay. Sun TV viewership came in at 33.5 per cent, up 70bps WoW, but significantly lower than 47.6 per cent pre- Covid (Q4FY20). This makes Sun TV lose rank to #2 in Tamil GEC primetime viewership market share. Zee Tamil viewership market share has dipped 170bps to 25.4 per cent WoW, but the viewership market share is still better than 22.9 per cent of Q4FY20.

Telugu all day GEC viewership market share shows Sun TV (Gemini TV) losing already low market share at 15 per cent in week38 versus 20.8 per cent in Q4FY20. Zee Telugu and Star Maa gained 330bps and 300bps viewership market share in Telugu all day GEC at 36.5 per cent and 27.5 per cent, respectively.

In Kannada all day GEC, Zee Kannada has given away part of viewership gained in Q4FY20 and and Sun TV’s weak performance continues. Star Suvarna has put up a strong show with viewership gain of 670 bps to 27.5 per cent while Colors (including Colors Super) has maintained viewership market share.

In Marathi all day GEC, Star Pravah has received a significant jump in viewership market share of 16pps to 35.4 per cent (vs Q4FY20), and has come at the cost of Zee Marathi (down 670bps to 42.4 per cent) and Colors Marathi (down 820bps to 14.9 per cent).

In Bangla all day GEC, again Star Jalsha has gained 630bps viewership market share to 44.1 per cent vs Q4FY20, this has come from a dip in Zee Bangla viewership market share by 675bps to 40.2 per cent. Zee Bangla has lost its leadership position to Star Jalsha in week38, the report said.