New Delhi, June 11 -- The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League was a season of more-more advertisers, more categories, and ad clutter-but not necessarily more airtime.

Despite only a modest 0.5% rise in average ad volume per match as compared with last year, the number of advertisers increased by 30% and the brand count by 29% in the latest season of the popular cricket tournament, according to new research from TAM Sports.

That meant a tighter squeeze for visibility, and a sharp shift in strategy of companies to cope with ad rates. The most preferred ad format this year, as a result, was less than 10 seconds-overtaking previous year's 11-20 second spots-as brands opted for quicker, high-frequency messaging to stay in the game.

Th...