More Than 5 Million Watch Australian Open Men's Final On BBC; Ratings Up In Austalia

A peak audience of more than 5 million viewers watched Andy Murray's "agonising defeat" to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open tennis final on BBC1 on Sunday morning, according to John Plunkett of the London GUARDIAN. The broadcast averaged 4.1 million viewers for a 38% share of the audience between 8:15am and 12:45pm. A 15-minute peak of 5.1 million tuned in between midday and 12:15pm. In the FA Cup, ITV's live coverage of Oldham Athletic's 3-2 win over Liverpool "proved a ratings winner" with a 15-minute teatime peak of nearly 7 million viewers. FA Cup Live had an average of 4.5 million viewers for a 25.8% share between 3:30pm and 6:05pm. Live coverage of the match itself, which kicked off at 4pm, averaged 5.2 million with a peak of 6.8 million for its climax between 5.45pm and 6pm (GUARDIAN, 1/28).

RATINGS UP IN AUSTRALIA: In Sydney, Michael Bodey reported TV ratings for the men's final were up 4% from last year. The Seven Network said that an average audience of 2.12 million viewers watched the match, with a peak audience of 2.64 million viewers. An audience of 2.18 million "stayed for the presentation" of the trophy at 11pm (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/28).

THE AUSTRALIAN JOKER: DWDL's Alexander Krei reported pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport "has obtained top ratings with its coverage of the Australian Open men's final." The match attracted 350,000 viewers or a 2.6% share. In the target demographic, Djokovic's third straight Australian Open victory "received a 2% share." Eurosport's coverage "had a peak audience of 530,000 viewers" (DWDL, 1/28).

BUNDESLIGA RATING: DWDL's Krei also reported German pay-TV Sky Deutschland "received high ratings for its broadcast of Sunday's Bundesliga game between Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart." A total of 1.11 million viewers tuned in to watch Bayern's 2-0 victory, which made it "one of Sky's highest-rated games of the season." The number translated into a 4.2% market share. In the target demographic, the game obtained a 6.3% share. In addition, Sky's Bundesliga simulcast on Saturday attracted 1.12 million viewers and obtained a 9.1% market share in the target demographic (DWDL, 1/28).

ON PAR: DWDL's Krei also reported German sports channel Sport1 "has received above average ratings for its broadcast of the Men's Handball World Championship final" between host Spain and Denmark. A total of 660,000 viewers tuned in to watch Spain's 35-19 victory. The number "equaled a strong 2.7% market share." In the target demographic 14-49, the game obtained a 1.7% share, which "is still clearly above the channel's average" (DWDL, 1/28).

LIGUE 1: In France, pay-TV channel Canal+'s broadcast of Paris St. Germain's 1-0 win over Lille was watched by 1.4 million viewers for a 5.7% share (OZAP, 1/28).