With the IPL 2024 scheduled to commence on March 22nd, there is an underlying sense of cautiousness in the air among broadcasters who are poised to hit the ground running once the season starts. Broadcasting partners such as Disney Star and JioCinema, which are potentially adopting a careful approach, have kept deals, partnerships and sponsorships out of the public domain in spite of the looming start of the event.
Final advertising deals, which is only a week away before the start of IPL season 2024 is low as the brands expect further price reductions as the event draws near. Both networks published their rate cards by early January, but stakeholder negotiations went on for a long time. The negotiations have produced only a small number of deals worth mentioning. The plan appears to be the wait-and-see approach, in which the brands expect lower rates to come their way as the competition for the ad inventory space increases, and the tournament inception prepares to take off.
Despite the fact that JioCinema was one of the few platforms which did not change its rates in contrast with 2023, it is one of the most reliable options for marketers, since the only price adjustments include minor price movements. On the one hand, Disney Star has raised its marketing rates a little for the 2024 season, striving for large sums for co-presenting and associate sponsorships, particularly for HD `channels, instead of the other hand. This divergence in approach to pricing helps to draw attention to the complexity of the situation between online and TV airwaves, as it is them who earn most of their money from advertising.
Also, the upcoming general elections play an important role, thus impinging on the initiatives of advertising attributed to brands. With no set date for the elections yet, we could be seeing the deals get hung on a hook till then. The brands most probably will shift from these IPL to election marketing once the electoral calendar is announced. Such deliberate postponement makes not only big brands but also small ones step back in the period of elections, being traditionally very active during this period.
JioCinema has won the attention of six different associate partners amidst the hurdles, indicating its significant enduring in the advertisement architecture. Disney Star is not as forthcoming about its partnerships as it has secured the confirmation about a brand, Asian Paints as an associate sponsor. We also expect more brands to join the line and finalize their deals shortly.
It is also worth noting that there is evidence of a conspicuous absence of rivalry between Jio Cinema and Disney Star as likely a by-effect of talks of merger. This move from rivalry to a form of connectedness may indicate a change in the tactic to winning the competition by concentrating on capturing a bigger market share rather than through competition or perhaps through co-operation.
Such a scenario achieves a perfect mix of market dynamics, strategic positioning, and external factors arising from the election in the country ahead of the championship of cricket that is most looked forward to. When the IPL 2024 kick-offs, attention will move towards how these plans play off. And which brands will stay in the limelight of the cricketing showcase will also be the order of the day.
