ET had reported earlier that the two companies have signed a non-binding term sheet to merge Disney Star and Viacom18. Both are currently in the midst of a due diligence exercise.
Disney Star, which will air matches on its sports channels, is seeking outlays of ‘167 crore and ’83 crore for co-presenting and associate sponsorships, respectively, on standard definition (SD) channels. For high-definition (HD) channels, the broadcaster is seeking ’71 crore for co-presenting sponsorship and ’35 crore for associate sponsorship. Its spot buy rates are ‘12.8 lakh per 10 seconds and ‘5.45 lakh per 10 seconds for SD and HD, respectively.
It is also offering targeted ad offerings for the southern markets.
Viacom18, which will continue to stream IPL for free on JioCinema, has kept its advertising rates unchanged to widen its advertiser base. The company had reportedly roped in over 500 advertisers for IPL 2023. Viacom18 is seeking a cost per mille (CPM) rate of ‘200 for a 10-second run-of-site midroll and preroll mobile video ad. The free commercial tim ad rate for live matches on mobile is ’16 lakh for 10 seconds. For connected TV, the 10-second ad rate for a live match is ‘6.5 lakh. It is seeking outlays of ’40 crore and ‘30.5 crore for features like Super 4s and Super 6s.
Disney Star and Viacom18 suffered losses in IPL 2023 due to a subdued ad market.
IPG Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha expressed hope that the overall ad expenditure on IPL will increase, given viewership on both TV and digital has grown exponentially.
Madison Media Alpha CEO Vishal Chinchankar said the IPL should see growth in overall ad spending since a lot of fresh budgets will be allocated towards it.