Television advertising for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 is down significantly this year, according to BARC India data.

The number of advertisers on TV has dropped by 43 percent in the first 38 matches of this season, with only 48 advertisers on TV so far, compared to 81 last season.

The TV rights for IPL are held by Disney Star, while the digital rights are with Viacom18, which is streaming the matches on a subscription-free JioCinema.

Several IPL advertisers from last year have decided not to advertise on TV this year, including Maruti Suzuki, Hero, Jaquar & Company, Policybazaar, Godrej Group, Samsung India, Reserve Bank of India, Aditya Birla Group, Muthoot Fincorp, Amazon, Google, Flipkart, Spotify, Bundl Technologies and One97 Communications.

The number of brands and categories that have appeared on television this season reflects the decline in advertiser interest.

According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India data, only 40 categories were advertised on television this year, a 33 percent decrease from last year, when 60 categories were advertised on television until the first 38 matches.

As a result, the number of brands advertising on television has decreased significantly, with only 93 brands joining this year, a 36 percent decrease from the previous year’s 147 brands.

Notably absent this year are BigBasket, VISA card, CRED, PayTM, Swiggy, Acko and Byjus, which were heavily advertised on TV last year.