Creating cricket for a multi-platform viewership

The ‘Creating Cricket for a Multi-Platform Viewership’ panel at The Future of Sports Broadcasting Summit was helmed by industry stalwarts Ashok Namboodiri, Chief Business Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and Yasar Khan, Media, Broadcast and Entertainment Specialist & Chief Operating Officer, ARY Digital Network. Popular Indian sports commentator Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan, aka RK, moderated the panel.

Cricket continues to rule the heart of the subcontinent. Whatever form the sport has taken, whether ODIs, test cricket or Twenty20 (T20), audiences have been unwavering in their love for the game. In recent years, the T20 format has been especially popular. ARY’s Khan recalled buying the broadcast rights of the newly launched T20 series for the Middle East for less than $100,000 – last year, the rights for the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) T20 World Cup sold for a staggering $6.2bn. The TV and OTT options reached around 426m people, possibly the highest viewership ever achieved in IPL history. It’s obvious the sport has grown massively.

With cricket now consumed via TV, OTT and digital platforms, broadcasters are being pushed to think of ways to present the game in a format that appeals to all platforms and viewers. According to Zee’s Namboodiri, the sport and the media industry are both in flux because of each other. “It’s not that the media is influencing cricket, or cricket is influencing media. It’s an exciting phase where both are evolving because of each other.”

The role of TV in altering the game – the emergence of new formats

The introduction of multiple platforms for viewing the game has changed its valuation, the way it is consumed, its financials and its programming. Despite the introduction and rapid growth of digital and OTT platforms, linear television remains the unchallenged leader.

“Cricket has grown on the strength of linear television,” said Namboodiri. “Today in India, it commands 900m viewers. From a revenue monetisation perspective, brands know it is the best way to get maximum reach and awareness. A lot of the unicorns in India have been built on the strength of cricket, particularly the IPL and linear television. So that’s not going away in a hurry.”

In Pakistan too, linear television is “here to stay”, agreed Khan. “Sit-down viewing in front of a television with the family is still related to news and live sports. Mobile consumption cannot replace the place of linear television on these two fronts, and audiences will continue to watch them on TV.”

While television still leads, the impact of digital cannot be ignored. Conventionally, media planners would design hybrid campaigns that put 75-80% of spending into linear television and 15-20% into digital. But this ratio is changing, with digital now being offered free of cost. Namboodiri gave the example of the recently concluded football World Cup, which JioCinema provided free to viewers. In response, linear television opened its FTA (free-to-air) channels for the first time.

In Pakistan, the digital realm is relatively new and the valuation has yet to reach Indian levels. However, digital viewership is rapidly growing, as is mobile viewing, Khan noted. For example, between the 2021 and 2022 editions of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the country’s most-watched sports tournament, the platform’s viewership grew by nearly 200%. “There are over 120m mobile broadband users in Pakistan. We had about 180m accumulated live views during the PSL last year. This year’s data is still coming in, but we expect it to be substantially higher this time.”

Bridging the gap between linear and digital is connected television. With the advent of low-cost, high-quality TV sets, it is booming and boasts nearly 100m viewers. As a result, Namboodiri anticipates that a lot of new players will enter the fray in India. As far as cricket is concerned, there will be a “wonderful interplay between linear, digital and connected television, causing a huge explosion in viewership for cricket”.

Leveraging new technology and other innovations to enhance the game for viewers

With cricket audiences increasingly going digital, broadcasters must ensure that the shift from linear or connected television to digital platforms is seamless and engaging. “Digital adoption for cricket is going to be banking on three pillars: accessibility, affordability and language,” opined Namboodiri.

Thanks to massive progress in broadcast tech, games are being aired in 4K or HD. Additionally, with digital networks offering high-quality viewing experiences free or next-to-free and linear television networks opening FTA channels, cricket is now more accessible and affordable than before. There’s also a change in perception of how digital and linear TV platforms are classified.

There was a time when digital was considered premium and linear, mass. But we are seeing a switch from that with free digital and therefore becoming more mass,” said Namboodiri. “We are going to see a whole lot of rural viewers coming into the fold with regard to the IPL and with regard to cricket in general, while linear television will continue to be the lean-back, immersive group viewing experience.”

On linear television, language has already revolutionised the way people consume cricket. In countries like India, where the vast population does not have one common language, broadcasting in regional languages has a massive impact.

“In certain pockets in India, consumption in local language has gone up to 95% – that’s a staggering number and is reflective of the way people like to consume cricket,” said Namboodiri. “Regional networks have already introduced commentary in regional languages, and now digital operators are talking about increasing the number of languages from three to five to ten.

“There is a clear affinity to consuming cricket in an audience’s language. For regional networks, it’s not just the language delivery that matters. It’s also the product you design with the consumer’s psyche in mind. You must consider their ethnicity, culture, popular lingo and local passions – these help drive a product. So whether it’s humour that you refer to in Tamil or over-the-top entertainment when it comes to Telegu, these are some of the bigger drivers you don’t find in the traditional English broadcast.”

For Namboodiri, cricket commentary naturally gives in to the elements of herobuilding and storytelling. “When you bring in people from various parts of the country who are doing the storytelling and hero-building in the audience’s language, there is immediate resonance and connect. Therefore, it’s the broadcasters’ ability to spot some of these things and then fine-tune the product to audiences, that’s where success lies.”

In Pakistan, cricket broadcast has suffered setbacks due to international cricket not being hosted in the country for quite some time. As a result, the game’s valuation has been affected and broadcast innovations such as adapting commentary for regional languages have been delayed. But things are looking up thanks to the PSL, Khan pointed out.

“Since we started hosting the PSL, international players and bilateral cities have started coming. Right now, English is still the dominant form of commentary consumption. However, there is a bit of Urdu commentary that we have recently started introducing to various broadcasts, which is doing well. We expect there will be a move towards regional languages over the next few years.”

Khan also pointed to the financial impact of regional commentators. “When I was looking at the viewership numbers in India in terms of matches with regional language commentary, it’s something which ARY Digital would love to do, because among other things, it’ll cut significant costs of our commentators that come in from various parts of the world.”

Exploring new commercial models

While a better visual experience remains the backbone of any sport’s growth, price remains the dominant factor in driving cricket subscriptions and viewership in the subcontinent. “While there is a demand for broadcasters to keep innovating to curate an enhanced viewing experience, there is only so much that somebody can do,” said Khan. “We already have multiple camera angles via Spidercams and HawkEye camera systems, and broadcast in 4K and HD. But we have a highly price-driven audience, especially in the subcontinent. Our audiences want free or cheap viewing, when they want it and in the way they want it. This is their basic ethos.”

Namboodiri echoed Khan’s views. “The willingness to pay in a market like India and across the subcontinent is actually very low. For example, in India, it is $3 a month compared to the global average of about $37. In the USA, it is upwards of $90.”

Paid subscriptions will always be a bone of contention for broadcasters in the subcontinent, and they have to look at other ways to drive subscriptions. One way to counter this, according to Namboodiri, is innovation in advertising. He cited the example of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s 2023 Super Bowl ad, which involved a QR code that changed colour as it floated across the screen. When viewers scanned the code, they were directed to a promotional page that promised $15 of Bitcoin for creating an account.

“Innovations like this are going to come up in a big way. Digital also overcomes some of the constraints of fixed schedules of linear television by allowing broadcasters to insert ads dynamically,” said Namboodiri.

“Pakistan too is an advertising-based market,” added Khan. “There isn’t a subscription model in place for viewing, and the only way to drive revenue is to keep innovating and creating various advertising gimmicks. So ARY Digital has been toying with several ideas, elements and technology to make it more interesting.”

Cricket, surround programming and fantasy gaming as differentiators

Studio shows on and around cricketing have little impact in the subcontinent, compared to similar models for other sports globally. “One of the main reasons for this is the ever-changing nature of the programmes. The panel and hosts keep changing. So it’s like a new show every time. Sometimes the viewers like it, sometimes they don’t,” said Khan.

The way cricket is consumed has also been an important factor in the consumption of surround programming, he continued. “Now, if audiences are watching cricket on television, they are also busy on their mobile sets, communicating with friends, posting on social media or playing fantasy gaming. Therefore, how viewers consume cricket has changed. So it’s debatable if somebody would watch a 90-minute pre-show on their mobile screen.”

“At the end of the day, a sports channel is driven by the live content that it has and peripheral programming around that content doesn’t do much justice to the channel,” added Khan candidly. Both panellists agreed that for cricket, live broadcasts remain the “last bastion of impact properties”.

However, social media clips could emerge as game-changers in the future. Namboodiri gives the example of the NBA, which has become a lifestyle sport with the league turning a blind eye to fans posting game clips on social media. “Posting a clip of your favourite sport is perhaps no longer a violation. Instead, it’s probably veneration that the fan is showing towards the sport. Therefore, there is a need to relook at the entire ecosystem, including the new element of social media that can’t be ignored anymore.”

Khan pointed to chatroom discussion and the need to converge it with winning shots on social media: “We need to learn to commercialise and monetise these.”

Both panellists also pointed out the cricket gaming gap in the market. Other sports such as football and basketball allow fans to “be players and play the sport” on Xbox or PlayStation. No cricket equivalent exists now, but one can be expected in the future.

Enhancing the stadium experience and addressing fan engagement

The stadium experience is another factor broadcasters must look at while building an outstanding multi-platform viewing experience for fans. Khan highlighted how ARY Digital Network/A Sports has been working with advertisers to enhance and monetise fan engagement. “If fans can show certain elements of themselves in the stadium, for instance, images of them taking selfies, or are spotted with a cup of tea while watching the game, then broadcasters can work with the tea brand to relay that image on screens within the stadium, on national and even international television. This is just one instance of a gimmick to enhance fan engagement as well as rake in advertisements.”

Namboodiri also highlighted the personalisation capabilities of digital platforms. “In the future, perhaps viewers will be able to choose which camera angle they would like to see. So for instance, someone would want to view the match from over the top of the bowler, while another viewer would choose to look at the mid-wicket view. Not only does this change the entire dynamic of the match-viewing experience, but also allows broadcasters and advertisers further monetisation opportunities.”

However, for Namboodiri the fan experience is “ultimately a function of infrastructure”. He pointed to the innovations around how fans can dynamically book and upgrade tickets. “These elements can potentially become a welcome delight for fans. But at the end of the day, being in the stadium and being part of the experience is a lifetime memory. Through innovations like helmet and Spidercams, digital providers are trying to make the experience more snacky and intrusive vis-à-vis the stadium experience. But being a part of history being made in the stadium is going to be the mainstay of that experience – something that television or digital cannot match.”

Advertisers’ preferences

Regarding advertising, Khan believes digital platforms give users more control over ad breaks than television, but at the same time allow advertisers to reach a more targeted audience via direct advertising for the demographic subscribed to the platform: “Digital allows more opportunities for innovation, customisation and customer interaction, but its full potential is yet to be tapped.” Namboodiri agreed that while “digital lends itself to innovation and personalisation”, linear television will remain advertisers’ “first choice when it comes to driving reach and engagement”.

Countering piracy

Despite massive improvements in broadcast tech, piracy remains a sore point for broadcasters. “I believe that not enough has been done, neither from a legislation point of view nor from a technology point of view,” said Namboodiri. “More collaborative action between statutory bodies, stakeholders like media and broadcasting companies, as well as boards, federations and franchises, can address this legislatively in terms of how pirate sites can be regulated and how quickly they can be blocked. There has to be more talk about awareness and penalisation measures.

Work is being done, but there’s too little progress right now.”

Given the obstinacy of the issue, Khan believes piracy is something broadcasters will “have to learn to live with … the main reason for piracy is cost, so as broadcasters we will have to find cheaper ways to relay the games to viewers”.

The future of cricket

As the panel concluded, the panellists agreed that radical change led by technological innovation would become the norm. Technology will not just enhance the viewing experience but also improve the game. “It has popularised the sport even more and enabled hero-building for players,” said Namboodiri.

Even with the mushrooming of OTT and digital platforms, the large screen or television will remain the preferred form for mass viewing of live cricket. Again, technology will play a critical role. “There is going to be a lot of technology that will come up and be added into the entire live broadcast of the game,” said Namboodiri, and Khan concurred.

In summary, creating cricket for a multi-platform viewership demands the confluence of a variety of factors, including accessibility, affordability, innovation in technology, broadcast customisation through language and personalised advertisements, and curbing piracy. As broadcasters bring them together, these factors promise an elevated viewing experience for cricket fans in the time to come.