MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League is to revert to its original 8pm match start time from the 2023 season, And the Board of Control for Cricket in India has reportedly informed potential bidders at the upcoming IPL media rights auction of its decision.
Now this is one diktat of the BCCI that SportzPower is fully on board with.
The BCCI has also said it would try not to have too many double headers but its choice for the start of an afternoon game is 4 pm. At present, the evening matches start at 7.30 pm and the afternoon games at 3.30 pm.
“BCCI’s preferred start times for double-headers being 4 pm and 8 pm Indian Standard Time,” Cricbuzz quotes the BCCI as having stated in a communique to interested parties who want to bid for the television and digital rights of the IPL for the 2023-27 five-year cycle.
As Cricbuzz notes, in the first broadcast cycle of 10 years, IPL matches regularly started at 8 pm, as well as 4 pm on days there were double headers. It was in the second cycle of five years that starting times were advanced, on the request of media rights holder Star Sports. The Star team’s contention was that a 7.30 pm start would offer an extra 30 minutes in Prime Time (when viewership peaks) and, consequently offered higher monetisation opportunity. Earlier start times for the night matches by extention meant earlier start times for the afternoon games when there were double headers.
As to why SportzPower believes this is a good edict from the BCCI, two reasons. Firstly, a 74-game season played at the height of summer means the later the starts for afternoon (and night matches actually) the better it is for the players, referees and ground staff.
And secondly, the logic that was prime mover for the shift in timings – an extra 30 minutes in Prime Time – has not really been borne out on the viewership front. As per what industry watchers have told SportzPower, ratings peak post 8 pm so the earlier time schedules are actually a better bet in terms of potentially maximising viewership.
