Impressive TV ratings for the inaugural Women's Big Bash League have been "hailed as a landmark moment for women's sport in Australia, with the first two games attracting three times the audience of free-to-air A-League football matches this season," according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The telecast of eight weekend WBBL games this summer is "essentially a joint venture between Cricket Australia and Network Ten," an arrangement that falls outside the A$100M ($72M) deal struck between the two parties two years ago for rights to the men's Big Bash League until '18. CA is sharing the costs of the WBBL production in much the same way as it paid A$800,000 to Channel Nine two years ago "to ensure the men's domestic one-day competition remained televised." And "if the initial results are any indication the move is proving a good one." The first of the televised daytime matches, between Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat on Saturday, "drew an average national audience of 250,000 on Ten's One HD" while the second, between Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, "had a national average of 183,000." In contrast, the free-to-air ratings of summer competitor the A-League "have been hurt badly by the shift from SBS's main channel to SBS2." The football code is averaging only 78,000 for its Friday night games on the public broadcaster and 62,000 per game on Fox Sports, with the demotion to SBS2 costing it "about 110,000 viewers a week." It is understood that the WBBL ratings "are well in excess of internal projections, which were believed to be as low as as an average of 40,000 per game." Network Ten Head of Sport David Barham said, "We're really happy with quality of the coverage and the quality of the cricket" (SMH, 12/21).
BIG BASH BIG HIT: The AAP reported the fifth installment of the Big Bash League "has started with a bang, crowd numbers and televisions audiences well up on last season." The first five matches of BBL05 attracted average crowds of 22,205 -- up just over 30% "on last season's figure at the same stage." Channel Ten has reported a 17% "increase in television audiences compared to last season." The average TV audience for games, "including capital cities and regional centres, has jumped to 1.05 million viewers" (AAP, 12/22).
