Miracle catch nets increased viewers for Big Bash on Ten
A catch being touted as one of the greatest ever helped Ten to some of its best ratings in the Big Bash League clash between the Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers last night.
Sixers fielder Jordan Silk was trending on Twitter following the incredible athletic catch, which helped his side to a tense four-run victory, and Ten to figures of 754,000 for the second innings of the match, according to preliminary overnight figures from OzTam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl37RbSwXOA
It was the seventh most-watched show of the evening, with the first session which started at 7.30pm just behind with 702,000 viewers, and the post game show hanging on to 600,000 viewers in 10th spot, while the main match sessions were first and second in the 18-49 and 16-39 demographics.
Nine News at 6pm topped the night with 1.073m viewers, ahead of timeslot rival Seven News on 1.018m, with Nine continuing with an hour-long bulletin in Sydney and 30-minute segments in the rest of the country, although Seven’s Today Tonight held off A Current Affair with 937,000 to 883,000.
Seven also had the top non-news show with Border Security – Australia’s Front Line at 7pm with 791,000 viewers, with a repeat Nine’s gameshow Hot Seat making an unusual foray into the top 20 in 11th spot with 621,000 viewers at 5.30pm.
Nine won the night for audience share with 18.8 per cent, Ten second on 17 per cent, ahead of Seven on 16.8 per cent, and ABC1 on 11.9 per cent.
Top 15 shows:
1 NINE NEWS Nine 1,073,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,018,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 937,000
4 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 883,000
5 BORDER SECURITY – AUSTRALIA’S FRONT LINE (R) Seven 791,000
6 ABC NEWS-EV ABC1 764,000
7 CRICKET: T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE GAME 13 – SESSION 2 Ten 754,000
8 CRICKET: T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE GAME 13 – SESSION 1 Ten 702,000
9 7.30 SUMMER EDITION-EV ABC1 651,000
10 TEN EYEWITNESS NEWS Ten 647,000
11 HOT SEAT Nine 621,000
12 CRICKET: T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE GAME 13 – POST-GAME Ten 600,000
13 GETAWAY Nine 598,000
14 PERSON OF INTEREST Nine 589,000
15 QI RPT ABC1 587,000
How does a catch during the middle of match drive an increase ratings? I think the ratings would have been there regardless of the catch (which was good but not the ‘best ever’). That catch may drive ratings for future matches once more people have seen it, but it is highly unlikely that word spread quick enough to entice people to tune in mid way through the match. It wasn’t available to view on highlights online until after the match.
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The Big Bash League can best be referred to as Channel TEN’s Cinderella. TEN might be at the ball now and enjoying a good ratings time, but in less than a month it will all be over and TEN will turn into a pumpkin (or a turkey) again.
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Ratings are there because its great content and great coverage. Certainly more interesting than watching a test match, 5 days is a long time.
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Steve, I get the feeling you’re not a ‘digital native’. Word spreads fast these days. Things trend on twitter almost instantly.
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Che, no offence but you’re way off calling me not ‘digital native’ (silly buzzword btw). I’m just realistic that an event that occurs during a match (i.e. a pretty decent catch) does not drive ratings for that particular match. I have been analysing Sports Ratings for many years and isolated events like this, unless it is truly incredible and unique like a hat-trick or a tragedy, are just not a driver in increased TV ratings for the match that it occurred. Minute by minute eTAM data confirms no spike as a result of the catch. Such incidents may increase interest and drive an increase in ratings for subsequent matches however.
And I maintain, that the majority of people who did NOT watch the match probably heard about the catch this morning on the News or on news websites, rather than in real-time last night. Yes trends can occur instantaneously on Twitter, but the volume of Tweets is relatively low, and it’s also reasonably likely that those who are engaging with cricket on social media are also watching the sport at the same time.
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Well here it is Monday morning and i have just heard about this catch. Did watch the Test though.
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