It's just not cricket
Excessive advertising during match telecasts had fans furious, reports Ruwanthi Herat Gunaratne

Sri Lankans love their cricket. And we had our fill of it last month as the ICC Champions Trophy matches brought the world's best teams to our doorstep. All those who couldn't get to the stadiums to see the action 'live' were glued to their TV sets, determined not to miss even a single ball.
But cricket matches now come with an attachment. Anyone watching a match has to put up with endless advertisements that appear at every important point. Be it at the end of an over or at a crucial moment when a bowler screams 'Howzzat?', the screen suddenly changes and a child enjoying a glass of milk appears. This is followed by an advertisement of the latest in building materials and then appears the ideal pen to answer your examination papers with.

How irritating is this? "Very," grumbled one cricket fanatic. "You switch on the TV hoping to watch the match and you get nothing but ads on the screen. Also, there are countless logos adorning the screen, not to mention various messages that walk past the pitch as the batsman is getting ready to face the next ball. It's infuriating."
"When we watch the cricket at home, as soon as the ads come on, we get up to grab a snack or run to the bathroom. So there really is no one watching them," says Mr. R. Perera.
Viewers complain that thanks to the shocking amount of advertisements and spots on the screen even vital details like the cricketers' statistics are obscured. "One logo in particular covered the score nearly all the time during the last tournament and it was extremely irritating to watch," commented one irate viewer.

Viewers do concede that without the ads, there would be no telecast. It is after all, an expensive procedure to televise matches 'live,' and the TV station screening the match has to cover its costs through advertising.

But at what cost?
And how effective is this method of advertising?

"It's negative advertising," says Clautilda Arockiam, the Client Service Director at LDB Lintas (Pvt.) Ltd., a leading advertising agency. "The entire screen is cluttered with logos and brand names and the viewers are more likely to be irritated by the ad. The cost for broadcast is, of course, exorbitant. But there should be steps taken to reduce overcrowding."

The Impact House of Advertising agrees. "Advertising should be unobtrusive. It is true that the TV stations have to cover costs and make a profit but should it be at the expense of the viewer? Each slot should be given the right number of advertisements. Nothing more. You cannot use five ads during the time allocated for one."

Mr. Nimal Wickramanayake of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing says that it is up to the stations to end the havoc.

"There is one method that can reduce this. That is to increase the price of advertising slots. Then very few will be interested in advertising at a given time. The TV companies will be able to cover their costs and the advertisers will be happy."

State TV Rupavahini screened the Champions Trophy matches. So how do other stations view the issue? "Excessive advertising is an irritant for the viewer, and the viewer is king," says Mr. M. Wickramanayake, Group Director of Maharajas, which is the parent company of MTV, another provider of cricket entertainment. "What we do is wait for the commentator's cue and then cut to an advertisement. It should not last more than sixty seconds. Once the advertisement is over, we switch back to the commentary.

"There's usually a static picture of the scorecard or the pitch available to cut into. Good content rules. And that is what the viewer wants."

But Mr. Wickramanayake admits that MTV too is not perfect. "We all have our flaws. But when an ad overrides play, we try to cut back in. We too have received a number of letters regarding this issue and try to rectify our faults."

He also says that bidding and overbidding for broadcast rights have resulted in such situations.

The rights are excessively expensive and the only method of covering one's costs is by encouraging advertisers. "I've tried a number of times to form an association of private television broadcasters. By doing so we can reach a collective agreement as to exactly how much we'd pay the marketers of the broadcasting rights.

"The net payment will thereby be not as excessive and help reduce the number of advertisements that have to be screened."

According to Mr. Wickramanayake, there are three main TV companies that are approached when a tournament comes around: Rupavahini, MTV and Swarnavahini.

Director General, Manager cum News Director at Swarnavahini Mr. Rosmand Senaratne, felt that the situation arises due to the marketers of cricket charging exorbitant sums for the sale of rights.

"It's difficult for the media organisations to strike a balance. It is definitely not fair by the viewers but the advertisers who ultimately pay for the coverage want the mileage.
"It is not possible for the media company to discourage advertisements. Whilst being annoying to the viewers, it is a necessary commodity. But the station should be careful as to when they place the ads. It is unthinkable to place an ad when the ball is hit towards the boundary line at a crucial moment."

Rupavahini's Additional Director General Mr Upali Arambewela is quick to point out that his station did respond to viewer's concerns. "We instructed our operators to cut in only after the sixth ball and a no-ball.

"But human errors are inevitable. While apologising for any inconvenience caused, none of the instances were deliberate.

"The minute the statistics appeared, we would drag the logos on screen to the farthest corners." Asked what other alternatives the SLRC had in mind for future cricket broadcasts, Mr. Arambewela spoke of a new technology that will help with the delay factor. By doing so, the entire match will seem uninterrupted.

Whatever steps the authorities say they will take, the damage has been done. Viewers are plainly disgusted with the number of advertisements they are made to endure and the quantity of advertisements that monopolise sports events is growing year by year.

It's time TV stations rethink their policies and give the cricket loving public a better picture.

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