- T20 Blast averages 27% female audience on Sky
- 35% of BBC and Sky audience for The Hundred women’s opener were female
Research from Nielsen Sports has revealed The Hundred, the new UK-based short form franchise cricket competition, is scoring impressive early results in attracting female audiences.
According to BARB data, the opening game of the men’s tournament on July 22nd reached an average audience of 1.21 million viewers on the BBC, with 39 per cent of viewership on the UK pubic service network female. The Oval Invincibles nine-run win over the Manchester Originals also scored with younger viewers, with 12 per cent under 25.
That came after The Hundred’s opening night content became the most watched women’s cricket match in UK history, with a peak audience of 1.95 million.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) new 100-ball franchise tournament launched on 21st July with an entertaining clash that saw Oval Invincibles beat Manchester Originals, with coverage simulcast by the BBC and pay-TV giant Sky Sports.
The peak time BBC Two broadcast drew in a high of 1.6 million viewers, with a further 180,000 live streams on iPlayer and BBC Sport online. The remainder of that figure was contributed by Sky, which screened the fixture on both marquee its ‘Main Event’ channel and its Mix option, as well as offering free coverage on YouTube.
An ECB statement said 3.8 million people were engaged for a minimum of three minutes, with 35 per cent of all viewers said to be female.
According to measurement specialist Nielsen, the average men’s Twenty20 cricket audience on pay-TV network Sky over the last two years is only 27 per cent female.
The late men’s game on 24th July between Manchester Originals and Welsh Fire aired exclusively on Sky, drawing in 557,000 viewers, which is more than three times the average audience for the domestic T20 Blast competition. Those figures do include viewers on Sky One, a channel which sits outside the broadcaster’s premium sports subscription tier.
Earlier that day the men’s game between Trent Rockets and Southern Brave produced an average audience of 836,000 across both Sky and the BBC, despite going up against both the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the first Test of the Lions' rugby union touring series against South Africa.
Nielsen Sports has revealed The Hundred is scoring impressive early results in attracting female audiences.
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