Oztam’s TV viewership and sport data has revealed that cricket is the most watched sport on TV in Australia.
Over 9.6 million people tuned into international cricket for five or more minutes and astonishingly over 18.4 million people watched at least some international cricket on TV nationally.
The viewer data (metro and regional combined) is from the past 12 months across Free To Air TV (FTA) and included all major sports.
When analysing the data, including all metro and regional viewers, cricket once again is the winner with more Australians watching cricket compared to any other sport on Australian television.
A standout success for Cricket Australia has been the broadcast of KFC T20 International matches which out-rate most other sports. Nine’s broadcast of the 2011-12 T20 Internationals averaged in excess of 1.4m in the capital cities and 738,000 in regional markets for a combined national figure of over 2.1m people per match.
Over the last ten years, the Vodafone Test Series has attracted an average daily audience on Nine of over 860,000 viewers and the Commonwealth Bank Series over one million viewers in metro markets alone. Nine’s night sessions of One Day Internationals attracted a metro audience average in excess of 1.1m for each game in the 2011-12 season.
Nine’s trusted commentary team and world class broadcast technology and innovation continue to attract new viewers to the game and provide truly pioneering vision as the various forms of the game soar in popularity.
The broadcast of BBL|01 on FOX SPORTS achieved an average 280,000 viewers per match, making it one of the most successful sporting events in subscription TV history.
Cricket Australia CEO, James Sutherland, says: “Cricket is Australia’s favourite sport and these viewership results speak for themselves. We’re thrilled to have so many fans across the country and Cricket Australia, along with our broadcasters Channel Nine and FOX SPORTS, is committed to delivering our fans the best viewing experience and the latest innovations.”
These TV viewer figures follow on from the Australian Cricket Census that revealed a record 880,291 participants picked up a bat and ball in 2011-12, making cricket the number one participation sport in Australia.
Cricket Australia’s international and domestic matches are broadcast in Australia on the Nine Network, FOX SPORTS and on ABC Radio.
These impressive viewer and participation figures indicate that cricket really is Australia’s favourite sport.