Nothing says summer in Australia like cricket – and once again Foxtel and Kayo Sports have had us sorted, with more than 36 million viewing hours across the Test summer.
On top of that, they had their highest-rating doco series ever, chronicling a true Aussie hero with Allan Border: My Story pulling in 792,000 for episode one.
Adding to their record haul, the Test series against South Africa landed their second-highest ratings, with David Warner’s double century the most-watched moment ever, landing a total audience of 620,000 punters for the fantastic occasion during the third session of day two of the Boxing Day Test. This stands as the number-one Test session ever for the Foxtel Group.
For further evidence our love of summer cricket isn’t waning, after 35 matches, average BBL audiences were up 20 per cent on last year, with an average audience of 239,000.
“What an incredible Summer Of Cricket on Foxtel and Kayo Sports with the Australia V South Africa Test Series and the BBL in particular proving more popular with our audiences,” says Fox Sports Executive Director Steve Crawley.
“Warner’s double century in his 100th Test at the Boxing Day match has already become part of Australian sporting lore.
“And then he waltzes in the next morning of play, sits down on the Fox Cricket panel for 15 minutes and happily explains the unexplainable in yet another exclusive insight.
“And then you add the three-part Allan Border: My Story series – the Foxtel Group’s highest-rating documentary series ever – and the signing of our new commentator David Warner, we have a lot to celebrate.
“And all that sits on top of a new seven-year rights deal with Cricket Australia!”
But it’s not over for the year yet, with every ball of every match for the rest of BBL 12 available on Foxtel and Kayo Sports, with Aussie Test stars like David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Cary and Marnus Labuschagne returning to their clubs.
Foxtel and Kayo Sports are also on track to broadcast exclusively the Australian Women’s T20 World Cup from South Africa from February 11.