India too good for market's liking?

When the hosts do well at a cricket World Cup, the scenario is usually a broadcaster's dream. There is a buzz in the country, people tune in to every forecast and the general mood is one of celebration.

- Rasesh Mandani

With Rohit Sharma's India side on an eight-match unbeaten streak and going from strength to strength with every match, the ODI World Cup has been hitting new viewership peaks.

On the digital front, the India-Pakistan match first created a record of 35 million peak concurrent views, only to be bettered by the India-New Zealand match (43 million) and subsequently by the India-South Africa game (44 million). The last high came when Virat Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record for ODI hundreds at Kolkata. Great news, right? But the broadcasters have not been all smiles. Why?

Because the Indian team has just been too dominant. So much so that their bowlers have been dismissing the opposition in a mere 27.1 overs on an average, while defending totals. From a cricketing standpoint, it can't get better. But from a business point of view, it's not all good.

The quick finishes translate to a shortfall of as many as 22.5 overs of advertising inventory. That's so far as India's last three league matches go. In the first five matches, India batted first on every occasion and chased down targets in 39 overs on an average. It accounts for another 11 overs of inventory shortfall.

"In a regular 50 overs match, you are looking at anything between 7000-7500 seconds of advertising time. If a match closes early constantly, it's a straight inventory loss and resultantly a revenue loss for the broadcaster," says Sandeep Goyal, managing director, Rediffusion.