What transpired between India and Pakistan last night is a loss unbearable. But amidst the chaos, viewers also expressed disappointment towards one more element – Ads that allegedly added to the mere misery of the match.
Call it the lack of zeal for the moment or high on over-confidence, team India’s performance against Pakistan came as a shock. All in all, it's just a match! However, what bugged the viewers apart from Indian batsmen’s recurring wickets and Pakistan’s ‘null’ were the ad breaks - advertisements that interrupted their watch.
The great debate started when popular sports presenter Gaurav Kapoor tweeted a survey question asking how much would the viewers pay to watch cricket without ad breaks?
The tweet was soon hoarded with a slew of responses from Twitterati echoing similar sentiments. A few targeted Disney Plus Hotstar for the ads even after paying for the premium subscription while others took jabs at the broadcaster for targeting commercial gains leading to the hindrance of watchability for the consumer.
A lot of viewer sentiments conveyed that ad breaks serve nothing less than invaders amidst an intense watch experience like the match last night. Some termed them as ‘forceful; to watch the commercials play between overs which aren’t even relevant to them.
Meanwhile, a handful of users sided with the content provider in terms of advertisements stating that’s where the revenue comes from and that the premium subscription that we pay is nothing compared to the investment that these brands and channels are up for.
A bunch of them also pointed out that the advertisements aren’t an issue since OTT content lives on it- it’s the timing and that they don’t mind paying huge sums for matches without commentary.
The ad makers weren’t far behind from commenting on the thoughts. Creative veteran Sonal Dabral shared his perspective in a rather cheeky and colloquial response.
On the sidelines, Rajeev Chatterjee, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Tilt Brand Solutions took to Linkedin to express his excitement over the agency’s ad spots for Dream11, Livspace, TVS Eurogrip, Swiggy, and its brand new work for Mybillbook from FloBiz playing back to back.
Whether the content providers should play ads in between or give alternatives to premium subscribers or adjust their timings is a debate long gone - because we just can't do away with ads. One of the most profitable revenue sources for the broadcasters and a prominent avenue to be seen and build a high-end recall for the brands are those allegedly intrusive ad commercials.
However, it's a matter of time for the helmers to come up with solutions for viewers’ woos and do some social listening to better the milieu!
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