Window to the world

Written by HW Edit

Saturday, 17 May 2008

One of the key reasons why everyone is hyperventilating over the IPL (or was hyperventilating 3 weeks ago, more on that up ahead) is that it is set to change the grammar and nature of the game across the world. If life were a cartoon series (it is not, cartoon series' aren't as crazy), no doubt Lalit Modi would have had an enlarged, laminated picture of his head morphed on Bernie Ecclestone's body put up in his house.

So, it becomes relevant to check the impact the IPL has had in India, but also countries outside of India, especially now when the tournament is approaching its final third and we have enough material beyond the initial hype to judge .

We checked with our regular contributors from around the globe and tried to get a feel of how deeply the IPL has registered with cricket followers and general audiences in their respective countries.

And if the people there are aware that the IPL is not a bollywood film.

We start with the home country India, Australia and the West Indies, and will hopefully go on to add a bit more to the list (This is how you can help us)

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Australia

Our rather ballsy contributor Jarrod Kimber helps us look at the IPL's impact in Australia. The general summary is that beneath all the hype about it being a huge hit in Australia, the IPL hasn't really penetrated very deep into the footy season. Team loyalty isn't very high, primarily on account of the fact that even hardcore cricket fans are unsure of which players are in which team.

The one thing that has clearly emerged from the IPL of course is that Victorians are set to dominate the world.

Well, here are the details, quoting Jarrod

- When are the matches aired

(JK) A game starts at 1240 every night, if we are lucky, on a sunday we might get one at 940ish, but usually a boring chat show goes late and we don't see that game until after 10 anyway.

- Where are the matches aired

Channel 10 is the one showing it. Was a youth network for a fair while, but now is trying to buy up all sorts of sports to show in between reality shows. Has the Australian rules and the Formula 1 racing. It shows all the IPL live on its High Definition channel, which 4 people watch, and the rest of us wait till David Letterman finishes up his top ten lists. Their coverage is pretty basic, Anthony Hudson is a football commentator and he does the hosting, and then Ryan Campbell (awesome), Stuart Clarke (not bad), Gavin Robertson (ok) and Brad Haddin do the rest, then we go to the standard footage.

- The general response

I have watched more of the IPL than anyone i know, and I haven't watched a full game yet. I know big cricket fans who don't even know which players are in which teams. They don't seem to know or care about anything to do with the IPL. But it is footy season here, and unless it's the Ashes, it's hard to get Australians excited about cricket in winter.

- The Victorian angle

I think the IPL is great, it's giving the Victorians a place to shine.

Delhi - coached by a Victorian.

Rajasthan - captained & coached by a Victorian.

Kolkata, held up by a Victorian.

(Click here to know more about Jarrod)

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West Indies

Jonathan Cumberbatch helps us get a look at how the IPL is doing in the West Indies. The Windies seem to have taken to any form of T20 with a lot of gusto, so not surprisingly the IPL is a hit there. The interesting point is that there seems to be enough appetite to take in everything right from the IPL to the Stanford 20/20 and everything in between.

Let's get down to the specifics.

- When are the matches aired

(JC) The games are aired live (with repeats) on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 am. Games played during the week are recorded and played 'delayed' from 10:00 pm at night.

- Where are the matches aired

One of our local channels (CNC3) won the rights to broadcast the games via its partnership with the Jamaican-based 'Sportsmax' channel. 'Sportsmax' is a premium subscription-based satellite/cable channel a la 'Sky' in the UK and brings all the IPL matches live with repeats.

'CNC3' is the second largest network on the island and the matches have been a hit. The competing third-placed 'C' channel brought the just concluded WIPA tournament and it too was a ratings smash.

The largest channel 'TV6' has apparently secured the Oz series and the Olympics so has let these go at least this year.

- The general response

While coverage is given to the Windies players in the nightly news highlights and the print media, that would be considered a minor attraction from my observation as from the conversations, teams have already been adopted and the rest of the time is spent arguing on the rules.

As you've mentioned it's all early days and I believe the hype may have been overplayed in India with a probable backlash to come. The ICC World Cup and the WIPA 20/20 tournaments allowed the games to stir their own interest (you really can't miss with this premise) and the sell-outs soon fell into place. This approach often guarantees longer term success in most business endeavors as there is no 'hangover' effect to contend with.

(Click here to know more about Jonathan)

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India

While you can find about a billion Indians looking to shove their opinions on the IPL down your throat, we will let Sreeram Ramachandran do the honours this once. It is probably safe to say now that atleast the first edition of the tournament has been a clear hit. It is now almost 2/3rds of the way into the tournament and people are still watching. Television ratings have obviously dropped since the opening few games, which is bound to happen.

The decisive fact is that the ratings remain steady at a level which many TV executives will like subtly hinting at and bringing the topic into the conversation at parties.

- When are the matches aired

(SR) Bang in the centre of prime time television, 8 P.M on weekdays, and 4 P.M and 8 P.M on weekends when there are two matches

- Where are the matches aired

SET MAX, the channel which had the rights to all ICC events ending with the 2007 ODI World Cup, and which initiated the general degradation of cricket coverage in the country, a legacy which many have sought to carry forward. It is a prominent bollywood-cum-cricket channel, the number two TV network in the country, but one which is using the IPL to hit the number one spot.

- The general response

Interest has stayed on from beyond the initial hype. Thankfully, the cricket has fairly smoothly shed its glossy, gimmicky exterior to reveal an interior which is still glossy, but atleast is more about cricket and less about the other general masala.

The IPL has settled quite smoothly into a cosy dinner-time slot as a regular part of the general, everyday life of the mass audience. The team loyalty levels are interestingly diverse, stretching from some users who are very passionately involved in supporting their team (not necessarily one from their city) to those with general interest hoping for some good, exciting cricket.

It is not free of concerns, though. The tournament is long and congested; audiences will end up fatigued after this. How will expansion and growth beyond an 8 team set-up happen is not clear.

(Click here to know more about Sreeram)

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