Records smashed as Fox Cricket TV ratings for thrilling Australia-India Test series are revealed

[leonidas_alexandar]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricke...s/news-story/90fe9b79b2a3bb5fbb883d95d3441cc0


The thrilling Australia-India Test series was not only one of the best in recent cricket history, it was also the most watched ever on Australian subscription television.

Foxtel Group on Wednesday confirmed the enthralling finish to the fourth Test gripped the nation, with an average audience of 407,000 for the final session that saw Rishabh Pant guide his side to a remarkable and unlikely fifth-day victory.

The average audience across the five days of the fourth Test was 341,000, up 54 per cent on the fourth Australia-India Test in 2018-19. It was the most-watched Brisbane Test ever on subscription television.

Overall, the battle for the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy was the most-watched Test Series ever on subscription television, with an average audience of 371,000 over 100 hours of live play.

The viewer average for the series was up 43 per cent on Australia’s 2018-19 Test Series against India and up 33 per cent on the 2019-20 Test Series against New Zealand.

India’s tour has been one for the ages,” Fox Sports executive director Steve Crawley said. “The quality of cricket has been outstanding, we have seen established stars at the top of their game, new heroes emerge and our multicultural nation has loved it. We saw the ODI and T20 series break records, and after two months of cricket, it’s clear the nation could not get enough with new subscription television records set throughout the Test Series.

“At Fox Sports, we want to bring the best sports alive for fans with the best commentary and production. We have been blessed with a great summer of cricket, including the BBL, and these outstanding audience figures reflect record numbers of sports fans love what our team do and are choosing to watch on Foxtel and stream on Kayo.”

 

[leonidas_alexandar]

Will this mean there will be a push for a 5 match test series by CA going forward?

 

[Romali_rotti]

All it takes is 1 India tour to fill up the Coffers..

 

[Hyperion66]

I refuse to believe that, Aussies generally tune in only to see Yasir scoring centuries with both bat and ball.

 

[cricketjoshila]

All it takes is 1 India tour to fill up the Coffers..

Our resident expert JunaidS may not agree.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Cricketing economics is driven by quality and competitive cricket.

This whole tour is GOAT level good.

The ratings are justifying the hype.

 

[King_Kohli]

Indian tour of Australia smashes more ratings records.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Just goes to show test cricket is alive and demand is also there. Contrary to what some die hard league fans think, test cricket is here to stay.

 

[Babbar]

It’s time PCB start focusing on 4D/Test matches and less on T10/T20/100Ball circuses.

Almost every wry circus around the world is filled with mercenary Pak players. While people have to make money; this is not good for cricket, esp Pak cricket, in long term.

 

[Firebat]

Wow, absolutely fantastic to see this. Ashes 2019, India-Australia 2020/21 - Test Cricket Zindabad

 

[Firebat]

Also have to thank Australia for bottling high profile matches and series recently, they're doing it for the greater good of the game

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Just goes to show test cricket is alive and demand is also there. Contrary to what some die hard league fans think, test cricket is here to stay.

Eng and Aus main it will be always alive. National sport for a reason even if it not the no 1 sport they will give the game the respect it deserves.

 

[Hyperion66]

Call me old fashioned but there is something majestic about a closely fought test match between two evenly matched teams that limited overs can never match. No wonder it smashed rating records.

 

[AamchiMumbaikar]

Also have to thank Australia for bottling high profile matches and series recently, they're doing it for the greater good of the game

Why would their domestic ratings improve if they lose ? Win/ lose if quality is good they will tune in.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Call me old fashioned but there is something majestic about a closely fought test match between two evenly matched teams that limited overs can never match. No wonder it smashed rating records.

Test cricket is a sport

White ball cricket is sports entertainment.

 

[Titan24]

Good for test cricket. It takes effort to produce quality test cricketers but, the results in terms of cricketing revenues can be also be good if other teams also try to focus on the longer format or atleast create some balance. Earning revenue from T20 cricket alone and producing cricketers for that alone might give a quick fix but, alone is not great for the boards and cricket as a whole in the long term.

I have always been of the belief that longer format cricket is still the main raw ingredient to produce a overall quality cricketer who can then be molded into other formats. Going away from longer format which I think is the base of cricket would reduce the quality of the cricketers and thus cricket as a whole which we have seen in some countries.

 

[Firebat]

Why would their domestic ratings improve if they lose ? Win/ lose if quality is good they will tune in.

I just meant for playing their part in recent matches/series that have been revitalising Test cricket in general, thinking mainly of Stokes 2019 and Pant 2021.

 

[Savak]

The number 1 and number 4 side in the world fighting it out. No surprise. Quality hard cricket is what drives up ratings

 

[JaDed]

Also have to thank Australia for bottling high profile matches and series recently, they're doing it for the greater good of the game

If anything it seems after the series we bottled the first test jkk

 

[Revolution]

Both the teams played quality cricket, so definitely it will be high.
Big3 will produce quality cricket.

Except first test second innings, all 4 test were thrillers.

 

[Varun]

Awaiting the contrarian opinion by an Indian born English psychiatrist residing in Australia and who supports Pakistan as his first team.

Yep, you read that right.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Awaiting the contrarian opinion by an Indian born English psychiatrist residing in Australia and who supports Pakistan as his first team.

Yep, you read that right.

A true global citizen and a daler critic.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Awaiting the contrarian opinion by an Indian born English psychiatrist residing in Australia and who supports Pakistan as his first team.

Yep, you read that right.

At the moment the entire Indian bowing lineup is on the rack being stretched, so that they can all emerge 6 feet 6 inches in height or thereabouts.

You see it was scientifically proved that only very tall bowlers can do well in Australia. It's not just science but also reality, and fact.

That the Indian bowlers did well despite being comparative midgets clearly indicates that there is something drastically wrong with:

1. The Indian team

2. Reality, and

3. The facts.

All three are being reminded of the errors of their ways as we speak.

 

[NishanKonar]

Nothing better in world sport than watching riveting test match going to the wire on Day 5

Last 2 hours were so nerve racking - I could barely watch

 

[dildilpak]

At the moment the entire Indian bowing lineup is on the rack being stretched, so that they can all emerge 6 feet 6 inches in height or thereabouts.

You see it was scientifically proved that only very tall bowlers can do well in Australia. It's not just science but also reality, and fact.

That the Indian bowlers did well despite being comparative midgets clearly indicates that there is something drastically wrong with:

1. The Indian team

2. Reality, and

3. The facts.

All three are being reminded of the errors of their ways as we speak.

Hahaha. You should add age to that list - its absolutely ridiculous that 30 year olds Rahane, Pujara, Ashwin, Jadeja performed the way they did. They had no business in doing so!

 

[happydavy]

At the moment the entire Indian bowing lineup is on the rack being stretched, so that they can all emerge 6 feet 6 inches in height or thereabouts.

You see it was scientifically proved that only very tall bowlers can do well in Australia. It's not just science but also reality, and fact.

That the Indian bowlers did well despite being comparative midgets clearly indicates that there is something drastically wrong with:

1. The Indian team

2. Reality, and

3. The facts.

All three are being reminded of the errors of their ways as we speak.

Hahaha, cool post.Has he posted anything since Gabba result or completely disappeared?

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

Hahaha. You should add age to that list - its absolutely ridiculous that 30 year olds Rahane, Pujara, Ashwin, Jadeja performed the way they did. They had no business in doing so!

The age conundrum was resolved ages back. You see, unlike in other South Asian countries, Indian parents overstate their children's ages by 10-15 years. We do this to make our kids tougher, and in a 1.2 billion strong competitive country like India you need to be 15 years old at birth just to survive.

So Rahane, Pujara Jadeja etc - their official ages may be 30 plus but in reality they are youngsta beauties between 15-25 years of age.

For example this is Rahane padded up in the Mumbai nets 15 years ago, official age 21.



And this is Pant in the last series in Australia hanging out with Ponting. Pant was officially 17 at that time.



Obviously they've grown up a little since then. But don't be fooled by their official ages, they're still youngsta beauties.

Hahaha, cool post.Has he posted anything since Gabba result or completely disappeared?

Possibly busy checking on birth certificates of the Indian team.

 

[dildilpak]

The age conundrum was resolved ages back. You see, unlike in other South Asian countries, Indian parents overstate their children's ages by 10-15 years. We do this to make our kids tougher, and in a 1.2 billion strong competitive country like India you need to be 15 years old at birth just to survive.

So Rahane, Pujara Jadeja etc - their official ages may be 30 plus but in reality they are youngsta beauties between 15-25 years of age.

For example this is Rahane padded up in the Mumbai nets 15 years ago, official age 21.

View attachment 106320

And this is Pant in the last series in Australia hanging out with Ponting. Pant was officially 17 at that time.

View attachment 106319

Obviously they've grown up a little since then. But don't be fooled by their official ages, they're still youngsta beauties.



Possibly busy checking on birth certificates of the Indian team.

That baby Pant picture

 

[Romali_rotti]

Our resident expert JunaidS may not agree.

This thread has been a killer blow for Junaids. He does make sense sometimes, I give him that, but every time he yapped on about how an Indian tour would not make any money, it exposed his lack of knowledge.

 

[wrongun]

Will this mean there will be a push for a 5 match test series by CA going forward?

Yes.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

A resident expert famously said that no one knows name of any Indian player bar Virat Kohli in Australia.
Well they will not forget Pant, Pujara and Siraj now.

 

[wrongun]

It’s time PCB start focusing on 4D/Test matches and less on T10/T20/100Ball circuses.

Almost every wry circus around the world is filled with mercenary Pak players. While people have to make money; this is not good for cricket, esp Pak cricket, in long term.

The move to have just a few big serious players in Test cricket & then a lower tier of "player factory" countries who supply league cricketers only with minimal Test success has already been underway for years.

WI are now in that position, halfway transitioned into a T20 franchise supply area. Half the talented players they produce basically skip most international cricket now.

SA Test stars are leaving earlier & earlier to supply NZ, Eng & Oz 4D/Test teams + as League players. Each of those nations has a Saffer or two in their TEst lineups + one or two more in most domestic teams. With the slow deterioration of living standards & corruption in SA govt seeping into cricket, this will only accelerate.

SL are almost down the same path, but not as far.

Pakistan has a chance with new administration to pull back from ending up the same way. They really need this new 4D structure to pay off & the second division & then club cricket underneath to work.

 

[wrongun]

A resident expert famously said that no one knows name of any Indian player bar Virat Kohli in Australia.
Well they will not forget Pant, Pujara and Siraj now.

We knew Pujara pretty well since he batted for 80% of the last tour. Bumrah & Ashwin were known stars. We knew Ishant pretty well from many tours but he didn't come. But yeah the average fan probably only really knew those guys.

Realistically it is only cricket obsessives who know all or most a touring team with casual fans knowing only a few of the bigger stars. If you asked a cricket fan in Oz (or anywhere really) to pick say Tom Blundell, Tom Latham, BJ Watling or Henry Nicholls out of a line up they'd have no chance & they are right next door.

 

[ind_win]

Great win by India but they have to win in SA, Eng, NZ - this Kohli-led team - to stamp their mark in record books as the #2 or #3 of all time. And If they continue winning for another 6-7 years they may well claim to be the greatest and tie with Aus or WI from 2000s & 1970s.

 

[Napa]

Awaiting the contrarian opinion by an Indian born English psychiatrist residing in Australia and who supports Pakistan as his first team.

Yep, you read that right.

At the moment the entire Indian bowing lineup is on the rack being stretched, so that they can all emerge 6 feet 6 inches in height or thereabouts.

You see it was scientifically proved that only very tall bowlers can do well in Australia. It's not just science but also reality, and fact.

That the Indian bowlers did well despite being comparative midgets clearly indicates that there is something drastically wrong with:

1. The Indian team

2. Reality, and

3. The facts.

All three are being reminded of the errors of their ways as we speak.

The age conundrum was resolved ages back. You see, unlike in other South Asian countries, Indian parents overstate their children's ages by 10-15 years. We do this to make our kids tougher, and in a 1.2 billion strong competitive country like India you need to be 15 years old at birth just to survive.

So Rahane, Pujara Jadeja etc - their official ages may be 30 plus but in reality they are youngsta beauties between 15-25 years of age.

For example this is Rahane padded up in the Mumbai nets 15 years ago, official age 21.

View attachment 106320

And this is Pant in the last series in Australia hanging out with Ponting. Pant was officially 17 at that time.

View attachment 106319

Obviously they've grown up a little since then. But don't be fooled by their official ages, they're still youngsta beauties.

Possibly busy checking on birth certificates of the Indian team.

Hilarious! There should be an award for the funniest posts. Crying would get my vote with Varun second choice.