SBS scores with Matildas’ Women’s World Cup opener

Over half a million viewers tuned in to see the Matildas’ World Cup Opener, making it the 12th most watched program across the country.

Over half a million Aussies tuned in to watch the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup match between Australia and Italy in Valenciennes, France. Picture: Getty

The Matildas’ first game at the Women’s World Cup in France has delivered big for SBS, despite the disappointing loss to Italy last night.

SBS scored big from the opening weekend of Women’s World Cup in France, recording a near doubling of television viewers from four years ago.

The public broadcaster said the opening weekend of the tournament was watched by 1.39 million across the country, almost double the number of viewers for the opening weekend of the WWC in Canada in 2015.

The Matildas’ first game, which kicked-off at the viewer-friendly 9pm timeslot on Sunday, was watched by 570,000 people on SBS television around the country.

It was the 12th most watched program across the country, with Seven News holding onto the number one spot with around 1.55 million viewers, according to figures from OzTam.

SBS said the Matildas match highlights the “significant increase in audience interest for the women’s game” since the WWC in 2015. The game was its best performing sports broadcast since the World Cup in Russia last year, and the ninth highest rating program so far this year.

“It was great to see so many Australians supporting the Matilda’s in their match against Italy Sunday night, with a record number of viewers tuning in on SBS,” SBS director of sport Ken Shipp told The Australian.

“It’s fantastic to see how audiences have grown since the last tournament, and we know football fans around the country will be cheering the Matildas on once again when they take on Brazil this Friday.”

SBS’s post-match analysis program attracted 509,000 national viewers late Sunday night, making it the 13th most watched program in Australia.

The Matildas lost to Italy 2-1, which surprised many given they are ranked sixth in the world. Heading into the tournament, Italy was in 15th spot.

The 2019 WWC is the fourth covered by SBS, known to many as the home of football (soccer). In contrast, it is the first time Australia’s second-biggest telecom provider, Optus, is covering the event on its streaming service, Optus Sport.

An Optus spokeswoman said it is “very pleased with the opening nights” of the WWC, adding that the Matildas match had the “highest viewership” as expected.

Optus does not disclose viewership numbers, she said.

Australia’s second and third most watched programs on Sunday were Nine News and singing competition, The Voice, with around 1.34m and 1.26 million national viewers, respectively.

SBS’s most popular show the previous Sunday was SBS World News, which was watched by 201,000 viewers around the country. It ranked 46th among the top 100 shows in Australia on June 2, according to OzTam.