Third men’s test surpasses audience record set by the first
The men’s and women’s Ashes have again broken audience records for Sky Sports.
The third men’s test, which England won by three wickets in dramatic circumstances to keep the team’s hopes in the series alive, averaged 965,000 viewers over the four days - and 56% higher than its 2019 equivalent. It beat the record set by the first test over five days last month, but wasn’t able to beat the 2.12 million peak of that first match. The highest peak was 2.05 million, on the fourth day, which was acheived despite the British Grand Prix and Wimbledon taking place at the same time.
The men’s series as a whole now has an average viewership of 878,000, which is 45% higher than the last home series, in 2019.
Meanwhile, the women’s T20 fixture on Saturday 8 July saw a peak of 795,000, Sky’s highest ever for a women’s international T20 and the highest Ashes peak in any format. The game averaged 285,000, the second highest audience for a women’s international T20 on Sky behind a match from the 2020 T20 World Cup.
The T20 series as a whole averaged 262,000, up 135% on its 2019 equivalent, and the earlier test match was almost 400% up on the 2019 test.
Sky Sports has brought in a number of innovations to its Ashes broadcasts this summer, with the men’s and women’s competitions both taking place over June and July. The Broadcast Sport Podcast spoke to Sky Sports head of cricket Bryan Henderson about its broadcast and production plans earlier this month.
There is also a full list of the technology being used by Sky Sports in the Ashes here, with Quidich Innovations’ HyperView player tracking tech, CricViz stats, and an Albert-certified carbon neutral production among the innovations.
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