Foxtel and Seven enjoy bumper audiences for summer test cricket
If the incoming owner of Foxtel and Kayo was concerned about sharing cricket rights with Seven, the results of the Australia vs India Test series show there’s little cause for concern.
If the incoming owner of Foxtel and Kayo was concerned about sharing cricket rights with Seven, the results of the Australia vs India Test series show there’s little cause for concern. There seems to be plenty of audience for both broadcasters.
Foxtel Media’s chief executive Mark Frain told The Australian: “We have had the best start we have ever had to a calendar year. The fifth Test (in Sydney, which started on January 3) was the most watched Test match in Foxtel history.”
The Foxtel audience was up close to 30 per cent year-on-year.
The move to use Kantar measurement instead of OzTAM has provided new ammunition for the Foxtel Media sales team.
Mr Frain explained: “Under OzTAM literally 50 per cent of our platform was showing zero ratings spots for people 25-54. In the first week of January this year there were no spots at all rating zero.
“This has been a quantum change for us. There are pockets of the schedule where programs on channels like Sky News and Discovery have an audience as much as three times what OzTAM was reporting.”
At times during the cricket, Kantar was reporting Foxtel audiences over 500,000. “That’s a colossal audience across the platform. Some shows that might have previously rated zero or slightly more, are now registering 50,000 with bigger ones up closer to 100,000.”
Foxtel Media responded to claims that comparing Kantar to OzTAM data was not valid. “We now have three years of data from Kantar. We are making sure all the comparisons are like for like,” Mr Frain said.
When asked about the move from OzTAM, he said: “Some of the comparisons are frightening.”
Kayo didn’t notice any slippage of audience moving to watch the Test cricket on the free 7plus platform.
Foxtel Media is taking the AFL 2025 season to market and will soon sell in the 2025/26 men’s Ashes tour. Those bookings will be running on the group platforms under new ownership of DAZN.
While he couldn’t speak to discussions he’s had with the global sports broadcaster, Mr Frain said there had been no concerns from advertisers about the change of ownership.
“What people are asking is what other rights we might be able to sell. That’s something I don’t know the answer to yet,” he said.
“Overall, this summer has been the most successful cricket season we’ve seen in a long time, no matter what data source we look at,” EssenceMediacom chief investment officer Sarah James told The Australian.
“With more content available across both Foxtel and Seven we saw incredible 47 per cent audience growth compared to the 2023/24 Tests on Foxtel, and the final Test alone attracted a peak audience of 1.76 million on Seven – and the highest viewed session in Seven’s history.”
Ms James noted both broadcasters had their attractions. “Seven and Foxtel have a different approach to ads and integrations which give advertisers different opportunities,” she said.
“Foxtel’s sports rights are unrivalled, and offer great value for advertisers to have an ‘always on’ approach across the summer.”
Ms James said she was keen to learn more about the new Foxtel owner. “The global reach of DAZN could open up opportunities for local codes to gain a wider audience. “
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