It's IPL vs elections on television. Who will you vote for?
It's IPL vs elections on television. Who will you vote for?
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So how are TV bosses going to cope with the pressure of televising two of the most keenly anticipated events? And is there a chance of one undercutting the other?Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Timesnow, says there's no toss-up. "News television has never had it so good. We are going all out to cover both. We will manage a way of ensuring neither event is neglected. Nothing beats the sweep of the general elections, but the first chapter of IPL generated such frenzy that IPL II cannot be ignored, even if the venue is South Africa now."
Which is all very fine, but TAM rating for Hindi news channels between February 19 and April 9, 2008, which is just before season I of IPL, was 4.7. During IPL, i.e. from April 10 to June 1, it fell by almost a percentage to 3.9. Which means a lot many viewers were giving news channels a miss to catch the IPL.
To check that, this time around, news channels are keeping a close watch on IPL news. On the day Sourav Ganguly was sidelined in the Kolkata Knight Riders team, it became a top header beating all political news.
Varun Gandhi was denied anticipatory bail by the Allahabad High Court and the Congress and the BJP were at their abusive best on the same day, but prime-time programming on most channels focussed on Dada.
NDTV India's Vinod Dua, who hosts the popular show Vinod Dua Live, says he will also watch the IPL over his own recorded show. "Cricket is religion in India. Nothing beats it and IPL has taken the madness to a whole new level. News TV can ignore it at its own peril."
But the veteran political analyst is quick to add that election is the bigger event. "See, elections engage the whole country. IPL is a class event. In villages, people may not be so kicked about this new cricketing format. But they will all come out to vote and would want to watch election news."
And to cash in on that interest, news studios are rewriting some fundamental rules of political campaign. Netas and spin-doctors from rival camps now prefer to slug it out on TV debates, often shunning roadshows. Industry insiders say the vast sweep of the electronic media has changed the way people and politicians look at elections. Ahead of Battleground 2009, studios are formulating newer and newer strategies to make poll programmes more lively and incisive. Plus, with Bollywood entering politics, election news is not about grim statistical data anymore.
There are of course the loyalists who would stick to what interests them the most. Like actor-cricket anchor Mandira Bedi who feels IPL II will have more viewership than the earlier edition, polls or no polls.
"It's in a different country now. Few will go to watch it in South Africa, but they will catch in their living rooms.
When a match is on, would you really want to watch anything else?" Or Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Joy Bhattachariya who says except for the counting days viewers will watch the IPL. "There is nothing in elections except the results that can turn a viewer away from IPL."
But it's the TV bosses who are having the last laugh. "Either way, it's great news for us," says Vinay Tiwari, managing editor, CNN-IBN. "We have dedicated teams to cover both events. Naturally, there's a fight for space. A newspaper can add two extra pages, but you can't have a 26-hour news channel. But we will manage and we will grab eyeballs."
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