MAM
IPL 5 ratings soften, 16 matches notch up 3.65 TVR
MUMBAI: The ratings for the fifth season of the Indian Premier League have failed to improve after a softer opening, while it has started eating into the Hindi general entertainment genre.
The first 16 matches of the IPL have registered an average TVR of 3.65 compared to a 4 TVR in the last season of the tourney.
As per data from TAM Sports, the cumulative reach of the matches (C&S, 4+, All India) have dropped to 123 million viewers, from 127 million last time.
The first seven matches of the current IPL season had delivered an average rating of 3.76 TVR which was lower than the 4.63 TVR that it had notched up last year.
Multi Screen Media (MSM) president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta declined to comment on whether the channel would manage to achieve growth this year. In the fourth edition of the IPL, MSM had posted an advertising revenue of Rs 9 billion.
For the record, the broadcaster has only six sponsors on board with Vodafone and Idea 3G smart phone as co-presenting sponsors and Cadbury‘s Dairy Milk, Havells, Pepsi and Tata Photon as associate sponsors.
GroupM CEO South Asia Vikram Sakhuja says that re-calibration of rates is needed. “The IPL is still a very good property and it is maturing. The first week‘s data was around 10-11 per cent less than last year. The second week‘s ratings are almost similar to what was managed last year.
Overall, so far the ratings are six to seven per cent lower. I think that the event could manage a similar performance to last year with a possible positive or negative difference of four to five per cent. Even with properties like ‘KBC‘ you see a bit of a drop from one season to the next. What you hope for is that the ratings at least hold steady.”
He notes that one good thing about this edition of the IPL is that there have been more close encounters compared to last year. “Both of yesterday‘s matches went down to the wire. That should help viewership.”
More micro-marketing efforts are needed at this stage of the event. “This means building anticipation for daily clashes and better marketing of day to day matches is needed. This effort needs to come from everybody including the broadcaster and franchises,” Sakhuja says.
Commune Sports and Entertainment MD Jamie Stewart continues to stay bullish on the IPL. “Although the ratings have dropped, I think the IPL is still a valuable property. Even at the current level, the rating is decent.”
Stewart believes the franchises should not have upset the applecart by revamping their teams as that leads to dilution in fan loyalty. “I think the change in teams last year was complete madness as many of the franchises had to start building their fan base right from the scratch,” he adds.
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Weak IPL5 ratings cause for concern
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
