2020-21 BBL TV Ratings News

Season

It is the second year in a row Seven’s BBL average audience has declined since it and Foxtel claimed broadcasting rights for the domestic Twenty20 tournament from Channel 10 as part of the $1.2 billion deal signed in 2018.
Foxtel announced a 28 per cent increase in average numbers to 256,000, which includes a doubling of its audience on Kayo and other streaming services to 58,000.
OzTAM figures show there was a small decline of six per cent in BBL audiences nationally, down from 988,000 to 931,000, but CA says there has been 4 per cent growth in year-on-year ratings once TV and streaming numbers are combined.
Seven, however, has missed out, with national numbers down to 748,000, 14 per cent lower than the 865,000 in its first season covering the league in 2018-19 and 10 per cent down on last season
Across the 61 matches, a total of 41.17 million viewers watched BBL|10, up 1.4 per cent from BBL|09. When you add streaming figures to that tally, BBL|10 is the most watched since the competition expanded to a full home-and-away season three years ago, and the most viewed Big Bash tournament ever.

On the eve of the BBL|10 Finals, the Foxtel Group confirmed the 2020/21 season has continued Australia’s summer obsession with cricket on Fox Sports with, an average live audience for the 56-game regular BBL season of 256,000, up 28% on 2019/20.*

All Foxtel Group platforms experienced growth with audiences watching on Foxtel, up 15% while streaming audiences on Foxtel Now, Foxtel GO and Kayo grew by 106% vs BBL|09.
For the 16 exclusive BBL games on Fox Cricket, the average audience was 274,000, up 41% on 2019/20 (Linear +26% , Streaming +112%) while the 39 simulcast games averaged 249,000, up 24% on BBL|9 (Linear +12%; Streaming +102%). Fox Cricket’s share in subscription television homes grew by six percentage points year on year to 59%.

Finals

There was a national audience of nearly 950,000 for Friday night’s “eliminator” final between Adelaide and Brisbane, up 26 per cent on the corresponding game in 2020 between Hobart and Sydney Thunder. There was also a considerable spike in free-to-air figures, which climbed 32 per cent for a game not featuring a club from the two biggest markets in Sydney and Melbourne.

Grand Final

The 27-run victory by the Sixer’s over the Perth Scorchers was watched an average national audience of 442K across the platforms of Foxtel
The match averaged 346k via Foxtel’s traditional pay-tv platform, with a further 96k watching via streaming platforms including Foxtel Go/Now and Kayo.
The Grand Final was the most watched match this season, well ahead of the next best game of the season achieved by Game 12 Thunders v Scorchers with 376K.
The Foxtel Group audience for the match was up 23% on last season’s final between the Sixers and Stars that had an audience of 360K.
The 2021 BBL Grand Final also attracted a significant Saturday night audience on free-to-air television with a national audience of 961k tuning in for the first session on Seven (611k metro).
The second session was watched by an average national audience of 980k (640k metro).

References