Media analysts: IPL viewership 'unprecedented'
From the Times of India:
If you were glued to your television set on Sunday, you were not the only one.
Groans or cheers (depending on which team you were supporting) filled the air in numerous pubs, coffee shops, homes and offices with the Indian Premier League reaching its crescendo and millions of viewers logging on to the final between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.... Media analysts say that IPL viewership has been unprecedented. TAM has pegged the aggregate viewership between April 19 and May 24 at 99 million.
Meanwhile, the Economic Times reports:
Riding on the hype, franchisee owners are exploring avenues such as maximising sponsorship revenues by hiking fees for new sponsors, extensive brand building on localised platforms and marketing the event to other countries from where they have player representation, among others.
And IBN Live writes:
Sony, which had set a target of Rs 200 crore of ad revenue, says it has beaten its expectations and raked in 300 crores [~US$75,000,000].
Sony had sold spots for 2.5 lakh per ten seconds initially in the tournament but that rate went up to 4 lakh for the last stage and reportedly up to 10 lakh per 10 seconds for the final 3 matches.
Media planners say the real windfall for Sony too will come next season as the channel can charge at least 50 per cent more than this year in Season 2.
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UPDATE: NPR's All Things Considered covers the success of the IPL. You can listen to the report here.


