Is the IPL charm wearing off for news media?

Seeing the amount of coverage generated by the Indian Premier League (IPL), one would doubt whether the charm is wearing off in any measure. However, as the tournament progresses, a certain level of fatigue seems to be building in, especially amid the news media. There are two sides to any story and exchange4media attempts to bring both sides into perspective here.

Being an innovative concept, when IPL was instituted in 2008 in a cricket crazy nation like India, Indian media was hooked instantly. The tournament moved to South Africa for the second session, still media frenzy remained more or less intact. Season 3 is being celebrated as the ‘homecoming’ season, however stringent guidelines for media coverage of IPL3 at one point even made the media think about boycotting tournament coverage altogether. The guidelines were later eased a bit to appease the media.

Now, it seems IPL has also been garnering media coverage for some very wrong reasons – the controversy over the Kochi IPL team’s bidders, which has cost Shashi Tharoor his ministership, I-T raid at Lalit Modi’s office…

exchange4media spoke to some news media honchos to get their views on IPL and media coverage.

Vinay Chhajlani, CEO, NaiDunia, noted, “Honestly, the craze to cover IPL was much bigger in the first season. As the confusion about the media rights was also high, so was the enthusiasm to cover it. This time around, it has matured a bit, but IPL coverage was not seeing the frenzy that it had seen in the earlier two sessions.”

On a similar note, Neeraj Sanan, Vice President - Marketing, STAR News, said, “IPL is like any other cricket tournament. Last year, it was in South Africa, so excitement was high. Stringent guidelines for IPL coverage for media have left limited space for creativity for news channels. Now, as it has become an annual property, we hope that it will be bigger in its fourth session, with a lot more excitement.”

On a different note, Manajit Ghoshal, MD and CEO, Mid-Day Infomedia Ltd, said, “When the first IPL started, nobody thought that it would become so big. The event has grown in size and razzmatazz over the years. The first year was dominated by on-field events, the second edition got the fillip of the South African venue, third, unfortunately, has generated a lot of off-field controversy. But newspapers have done a fabulous job of covering IPL with specials, large colourful pictures and bold whacky headlines.”

When asked how media viewed IPL as a property? Chhajlani of NaiDunia replied, “Even in the third season, IPL has still not become a very hot property. Though all the newspapers have innovated something or the other around IPL, but it is still not getting big numbers, especially for language newspapers. English ones have done much better here.”

Ghoshal of Mid-Day observed that cricket being a religion in India, IPL had taken the status of a ‘Kumbh Mela’ in terms of size of congregation and importance. “IPL is a great event to have and is a prime property for newspapers,” he affirmed.

“From a marketing perspective, it’s a great event to associate with as it assures high passion and plenty of eyeballs. IPL also has the best mix of entertainment and sports,” he further emphasised.

According to Chhajlani, “For the next session of IPL, media rights should be much better defined. More photo agencies should be allowed to supply IPL photos. Right now, these have been made so costly and exclusive that it becomes difficult for mid- and small-sized newspapers to go for such packages. IPL planners need to involve newspapers in a much better way and utilise the power of the print to its fullest. Right now, the focus is totally on the electronic medium.”