Why India’s Tour of South Africa gives brands opportunity to ride on viewers' attention?

26^th December marks the beginning of the South Africa-India series which is touted as one of the most coveted battles in international cricket. While India has played South Africa in seven Test series since 1992, the former has not registered a series win yet. The closest the Indian team got to winning a test series was under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, way back in 2010-11. However, the three-match series resulted in a draw at one-all with India losing the final Test match, crushing all hopes of a historic win. 

Since then, the Indian team has managed to beat Australia on their home turf in two consecutive Test Series and are on the brink of a historic series win against England, pending the final Test match that is to be played in June next year as a result of postponement.

What elevates the relevancy and popularity of this series against the Proteas are their added context to the ICC World Test Championships. To make the finals of the 2021-23 WTC, the Indian cricket team needs to win Test series they play away from home. Hence, a lot is riding on this impending win in South Africa.

In addition to its context with sports, the series also presents a powerful opportunity for brands to capture viewer attention.

According to TVision, the World Test Championship dominated attention over all other content genres during the series. While the WTC locked in an Attention to Duration Index (ATDI) of 139, content genres like drama/soap, talent shows, reality shows, news, and feature films recorded an average ATDI of just 99. With respect to a percentage value, LIVE Sports typically recorded a massive 33.61% higher ATDI than all other popular genres.

Considering the sports context of this Test series and the possibility of a historic first win against the Proteas in South Africa, viewer attention will be high.

The South Africa-India series will air in India during prime-time viewing, and it will be the first time that a series India played in South Africa will be aired in 5 languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The bolstered regional outreach gives a chance for brands to engage and capture the attention of viewers who are passionately tuned in to watch the Indian cricket team take a tough opposition in a crucial series.

The new era of Indian cricket under Rahul Dravid coupled with the possible historic implications the series could have makes the upcoming tour of South Africa one for the ages.