MAM
ESPN Star Sports eyes Rs 1.6 bn ad rev from Indo-Pak series
MUMBAI: Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports is playing hard ball with advertisers for the blockbuster India-Pakistan series comprising 3 ODIs and two T20s.
The sportscaster has set high ad rates for the high-profile series hoping to suck in as much ad revenue as it can. The series kicks off on 25 December.
According to industry sources, the broadcaster is asking for Rs 800,000 per 10 second spot for the ODIs while the T20s have been priced at mind-boggling Rs 900,000-1 million.
In comparison, the going rate for an India-England series is about Rs 275,000-300,000 per spot for ODIs and Rs 450,000 for the T20s, according to media buyers.
An ODI match typically has 5,000-5,500 seconds of FCT, out of which each sponsor gets about 240-360 seconds. In contrast, a T20 match has 2,000-2,200 seconds wherein a sponsor gets 120-180 seconds.
ESS is eyeing eight sponsors including two co-presenting and six associate sponsors. It has set an ambitious target of Rs 1.6 billion ad revenue from the series.
ESPN Software India MD Aloke Malik said it has already got one sponsor on board for the series which will be held from 25 December to 6 January.
“We are looking at two co-presenting and six associate sponsors. We have just gone to the market with it and have got one sponsor,” Malik told Indiantelevision.com without revealing the name of the sponsor.
The steep rates have clearly not gone down well with the advertisers who are questioning the basis on which the rates have been hiked coming as it is in the wake of a subdued ad market.
Lodestar UM COO Anamika Mehta said, “The ad rates for the series are inflated because of the hype around the series. The entry price is too steep and it‘s not really easy to spend that kind of money even on an India-Pakistan series. In any case, we had a packed cricket calendar this year.”
While acknowledging that an India-Pakistan series will deliver high ratings compared to any other series, Mehta said the price point is too steep to take the bait. Lodestar‘s client Tata DoCoMo had signed a deal with ESS for the entire cricket season.
“Although an India-Pakistan encounter delivers high viewership, beyond a point the ratings won‘t increase. At that price point we can as well buy other cricket properties,” Mehta reasoned.
A top media buying executive from Mindshare questioned the justification behind the ad rate hike while conceding that an India-Pakistan series is a lucrative property to buy for any advertiser.
“An India-Pakistan series is a premium property but it cannot be just doubled. There has to be some justification for this kind of an ad rate. A couple of our clients are interested in the series but this is not the price that we are willing to pay,” the official said requesting anonymity.
The executive said that ESS can expect a premium of 25 to 50 per cent maximum on the prevailing prices. But anything above that is obnoxious, he added.
A media buying executive of another agency wondered which advertiser would spend the kind of money that ESS is asking for. “The ad market is not buoyant as big spenders of cricket like telecom are not spending much. The insurance sector is dead, colas also spend mostly during summer and MNCs have already closed their yearly budgets. So the question is who has the appetite to spend this kind of money,” the executive questioned.
The negative mood notwithstanding, the sports broadcaster remains optimistic about the prospects of the series which is happening after almost half a decade. The two countries last played a series in 2007.
A senior ESS official asserted that the company was in the process of finalising deals and by next week it would be able stitch together a few of them.
“The media buyers can say whatever they want to, but we are confident of achieving our targets. We are in negotiations with advertisers and will hopefully finalise few deals by next week,” the official said.
The official said that apart from big spenders they would also have about 20-30 per cent of first time advertisers who are willing to pump in money for the big bang series.
MAM
ASCI study uncovers how Gen Alpha navigates ads in endless digital feeds
‘What the Sigma?’ ethnographic report maps blurred boundaries between content and commerce for 7–15-year-olds.
MUMBAI: Gen Alpha isn’t scrolling through the internet, they’re living rent-free inside its never-ending dopamine drip, and the ads have already moved in next door. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy, partnering with Futurebrands Consulting, has published ‘What the Sigma?’, an immersive ethnographic study that maps how Indian children aged 7–15 (Generation Alpha) consume, interpret and live alongside media and commercial messaging in a hyper-digital environment.
The research draws on in-home interviews, sibling and peer conversations, and discussions with parents, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, marketers and kidfluencers across six cities. It examines not only what children watch but how algorithms, content creators, peers and parents shape their relationship with the constant stream of shorts, vlogs, gameplay, memes, sponsored posts and ‘kid-ified’ adult material.
Five core themes emerged:
- Discontinuous Generation, Gen Alpha is not growing up alongside the internet, they are growing up inside it. Cultural references, humour, aesthetics and language sync globally in real time, often leaving adults functionally illiterate in their children’s world. A reference that lands instantly for a 10-year-old in Mumbai or Visakhapatnam feels opaque or disjointed to most parents.
- Authority Vacuum, Parents and teachers frequently lose cultural fluency in digital spaces. The algorithm responsive, inexhaustible and perfectly attuned to preferences becomes the most attentive presence in many children’s daily lives. Rules around screen time feel increasingly difficult to enforce when adults cannot fully see or understand the content landscape.
- Digital as Society, Online and offline no longer exist as separate realms, they form one continuous reality. The phone is not a tool children pick up; it is the primary social environment they inhabit.
- Great Media Mukbang, Content flows as an ambient, boundary-less, multi-sensorial stream. Entertainment, advertising, commerce, gameplay, memes and vlogs merge into one undifferentiated feed. The line between active choice and passive absorption has largely collapsed.
- Blurred Ad Recognition, Children aged 7–12 typically recognise only the most overt advertising formats. Influencer promotions, gaming integrations and vlog sponsorships often register as organic entertainment. Children aged 13–15 show greater ad literacy but remain highly susceptible to narrative-integrated, passion-driven and emotionally resonant brand messaging. Discernment remains low across the board in a non-stop stream.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “ASCI Academy’s study is an investigation into the content life of Generation Alpha not to judge them but to understand them. Their cultural reference points seem disjointed from those of earlier generations. Insights on how they perceive advertising is the first step towards building more responsible engagement frameworks, given that they are the youngest media consumers in our country right now.”
Futurebrands Consulting founder and director Santosh Desai added, “While earlier generations have been exposed to digital media, for this generation it is the world they inhabit. This report explores not only what they watch but how they are being shaped by algorithms, content and advertising.”
The study proposes four adaptive, principles-led pathways:
- Universal signposting of commercial intent using design principles that make advertising recognisable even to young audiences.
- Ecosystem-wide responsibility shared among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents.
- Future-ready safeguards built directly into children’s content experiences rather than as optional background settings.
- Formal media and advertising literacy embedded in school curricula to teach age-appropriate understanding of persuasion and commercial intent.
In a feed that never pauses, Gen Alpha isn’t merely watching content, they’re swimming in an ocean where entertainment, commerce and identity swirl together. The real question isn’t whether they can spot an ad; it’s whether the adults building the ocean can agree on where the lifeguards should stand.
