UK ratings: Slight increase on IPL start on ITV4

Despite ratings falling in India, ITV4 in the UK is said to be pleased with the initial performance of India Premier League 5 (IPL).

According to Indian TV measuring body, TAM, the audience for the popular cricket tournament is down by 19 per cent this year.

Cumulative reach, which is the number of people who watch a programme for at least a minute, has gone down by 12% from 101 million last year to 90 million this year.

In the UK, however, an ITV spokesperson told BizAsia that its audience was slightly up from the same period last year.

So far this year (after 8 days) IPL is averaging 0.24m and 1.8 per cent, its best audience was 0.35m. Last year after 8 days it was averaging 0.21m and 1.9 per cent and its best audience was 0.26m.

In India, most of the games are being aired in an early evening/primetime slot, whereas ITV4 in the UK is broadcasting the games live in an afternoon band.