Foxtel’s Test coverage smashes audience records

Foxtel says Test series between Australia and India has set new audience records for subscription TV.

The fourth Test at the Gabba in Brisbane was watched by 341,000 viewers. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.

Foxtel’s coverage of the summer’s gripping Test cricket series between Australia and India has smashed audience records for subscription TV.

The four Test series, which was won by India following their dramatic victory in the final match in Brisbane, was the most-watched Test series ever on subscription television in Australia, with an average daily audience of 371,000, up 43 per cent on the last series between the two nations in 2018/19.

It’s also up 33 per cent from Australia’s Test series against New Zealand in 2019/20.

Fox Sports executive director Steve Crawley says the highly anticipated Test series proved very popular with sports fans, and followed on from the strong ratings for the One Day International and T20 matches between Australia and India in November.

“India’s tour was one for the ages. The quality of cricket has been outstanding, we have seen established stars at the top of their game, new heroes emerge and our multicultural nation has loved it,” he said.

“We saw the ODI and T20 series break records, and after two months of cricket, it’s clear the nation could not get enough with new subscription television records set throughout the Test Series.”

The fourth Test at the Gabba in Brisbane was watched by 341,000 viewers across Foxtel’s pay-television service and sports streaming service Kayo, up 54 per cent on the corresponding Test on India’s previous tour. Of that, 248,000 watched it on the Foxtel set-top box with the remaining 93,000 viewing the match on its on-demand and streaming platforms, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go and Kayo.

Free-to-air television broadcaster Seven Network, which is seeking to negotiate a revised broadcast deal with Cricket Australia, said its coverage of the entire Test series attracted a total audience of 10.8 million.

The last day of the fourth Test on Tuesday drew 3.68m viewers to Seven, peaking at 1.8m.

Seven, which is owned by Seven West Media, is currently awaiting the findings of a review on its cricket deal by an independent arbitrator, reported to be Venture Consulting boss Justin Jameson. The network was unhappy about the change in scheduling of the Test series, and last-minute changes to the Big Bash tournament, and is seeking a discount to its broadcast deal with Cricket Australia.

Pre-discovery action between Seven and Cricket Australia is scheduled to begin in the Federal Court on March 15, and may lead to damages or the termination of its $450m deal.

Foxtel counts News Corp, publisher of The Australian, as its major shareholder with a 65 per cent stake, with the rest owned by Telstra.