The success of the Big Bash League "has transferred to women’s cricket, with the WBBL Australian television viewership peaking at above 400,000 on Saturday," according to the AAP. In the competition’s debut on Network Ten’s main channel, "a record average of 372,000 viewers tuned in, reaching a high of 439,000, to see the Melbourne Renegades’ thrilling final-over victory against cross-town rivals the Stars at the MCG."
The figure "is the highest-ever for a women’s domestic match, easily topping the 250,000 who watched the Brisbane Heat defeat the Adelaide Strikers in December on Ten’s secondary channel" (AAP, 1/2). SPORTING NEWS' Brendan Bradford wrote the Women’s Big Bash "has outperformed the A-League in the television ratings again."
An average of 372,000 people "tuned in to watch the Melbourne Derby."
That is "more than double the average number of people who watch the A-League, which averages 78,000 viewers on SBS2 and 62,000 on Fox Sports." Even the third most watched WBBL game of the three that have been broadcast so far -- between the Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers -- "was more popular on average than the A-League." That match, "held on a Sunday afternoon, was watched by an average TV audience of 183,000" (SPORTING NEWS, 1/3). STUFF reported "a hungry fan who was caught on camera eagerly chomping into a whole watermelon at the cricket match in Melbourne has won the internet's heart." TV images of the boy sitting at the Big Bash derby at the MCG "hit social media for six on Saturday."
He "was spotted happily munching into a whole watermelon, skin and all." The hashtag #watermelonboy "soon started trending, as people watching the cricket demanded to know whether the kid had finished the whole watermelon" (STUFF, 1/3).
