However, most media buyers suggest that there would be very few takers for the ad inventory at such a steep rate, with most of the key cricket advertisers already exhausting their budgets for the mega event.
“Disney Star has some residual inventory left for the knockout matches and the final. They are looking at Rs 30 lakh per 10-second spot. For a decent media presence, a client needs to invest at least Rs 3-4 crore, which is almost the cost of running a 3- to 4-week campaign on a general entertainment channel,” said Mediabrands India Chief Investment Officer Hema Malik.
“There will be a few odd clients who might buy the ad spots for Rs 30 lakh per 10 seconds. However, most of the big clients that wanted an impact were already present during the World Cup,” she added.
Ahead of the tournament, Disney Star was seeking ?31 lakh per 10-second spot for matches featuring India as well as knockout matches. However, media buyers say that the broadcaster had to settle for an average rate of Rs 22-25 lakh per 10-second spot for India matches and Rs 9-10 lakh for the entire tournament.
Disney Star is airing the matches on Star Sports channels in multiple language feeds, including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. The first semi-final match between India and New Zealand was played on Wednesday, while the second between South Africa and Australia will be played on Thursday.The grand finale is scheduled for November 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.While Disney Star declined to comment, officials involved in the discussions claimed that the network is overbooked, with 30-40 spots on the waitlist. People aware of the matter, however, said new clients will be wary of investing such large sums of money towards advertising for a short duration.
