During FIFA 2002 World Cup, host Korea's dramatic victory against Italy recorded a television audience of 30 million+ people in South Korea. And the ratio of male to female for this match? 45 : 55. Big screen viewing was a major feature during this match with 2.8 million Koreans watching the match in 223 locations on big screens. (This number increased to 4.2 million for the Korea v Italy game!) Favourites Brazil had over 50 million Brazilian viewers watched the Brazil v/s Belgium game - an audience share of 91%!

While Brazil v/s China game had 52.4 million viewers - an even bigger audience share of 92.8% giving rise to "round the clock & round the world" viewership.

More than 50% of all resident Americans watched the Jan '03 Super Bowl. And 40% watched the commercials.

The ICC World Cup 2003 finals between Australia & India recorded an all-time high viewership rating in India. Telecast simultaneously on 2 Indian TV channels, Sony Max & State-owned DD1, the viewership peaked with Max garnering 54% channel share while DD1 garnered 28% of all TV homes. This translates to 82% of all TV homes tuned in to the finals! (As expected Kolkata recorded the highest ratings - nearly 60 on Max + DD1. And the TRP peaked during the 14-minute rain break!) .

Spot is a Part of the Event
Most viewers who tune in to sports events & extravaganzas treat ads as an integral part of the overall experience. Marketers & their ad agencies have recognised this & actually furthered this trend by ensuring that content of the typical commercial is in tune with the general mood. So you have sports event commercials which are largely based on humour (rated as the most memorable). Followed closely by those that are visually appealing or have special effects.

An interesting survey conducted by U.S. based Insight Express reveals that 60% respondents pay closer attention to Super Bowl ads than they do to everyday ads. 20% pay more attention to the commercials than they do to the actual game. And 29% claim to have tried a product after seeing it advertised during the Super Bowl!

It is no surprise then, that large television networks who have hitherto skipped the sports segment are now focussing on sporting events & sports channels. Take Indian TV group Sony who have (successfully) slotted their Sony Max channel as "Sports + Movies". Or the Turner Broadcasting group who have clubbed sports & movies into a new business unit called "Entertainment". (Most large networks who have not yet focussed on sports are expected to do so in the near future.)

The Other Side
However large the percentage of viewers who tune in to a particular sports mega event may be, there is always a significant segment who do not tune in to that event. This naturally translates into opportunities for those who offer non-event related activities.

Smart marketers while focussing on target segments who watch the game, do not miss the opportunity presented by the 'non-viewers' - a majority of whom simply lack interest in the game. Of this 'non-viewer' segment, many would opt to eat out at a restaurant that does not broadcast the game or watch a movie at a half-empty theatre at a discounted price. Or simply tune in to their favourite TV soap.

That most leading Indian marketers followed this policy is clear - because leading Indian TV Channel Starplus' popular soaps held on to their TRPs during the thick of the World Cup Cricket craze (which was telecast on rival channel Sony Max)!