England series opener in India attracts peak audience of 1.1 MILLION viewers as fans tune in to watch Channel 4 coverage of Joe Root scoring a century in his 100th Test… in first free-to-air broadcast of live Test cricket since the 2005 Ashes
- England’s series opener in India attracted a peak audience of 1.1m on Friday
- Channel 4 are broadcasting Test cricket for the first time since the 2005 Ashes
- Rishi Persad and Sir Alistair Cook are providing coverage from a London studio
- Under one million watched Joe Root score 100 runs – he was dismissed for 218
- SPORTSMAIL REVIEW: Test cricket’s Channel 4 return was no-frills nostalgia
More than a million people tuned in to watch the first live Test match on free-to-air television in 16 years.
Channel 4’s coverage of the first day of England’s Test series in India on Friday pulled in a peak audience of 1.1m at 11.15am, just before the close of play – that was 18.4 per cent of everyone watching television at that time.
Just under one million viewers saw England captain Joe Root reach his century on his 100th Test match at 10.30am. The average audience of Friday’s coverage, which started at 4am, was 431,000.
Over 1.1m viewers tuned in for Day One of England’s series opener against India in Chennai
Channel 4 are broadcasting live Test cricket for the first time since hosting the Ashes in 2005
In comparison, the first day of Sky Sports’ coverage of England’s Test series in Sri Lanka last month saw a peak of 502,000 and an average across the day of 215,000 – suggesting broadcasting cricket free-to-air can double the audience.
It is understood 44 per cent of Channel 4’s average audience came from homes that do not subscribe to Sky.
But only seven per cent were aged under 35 and 63 per cent were older than 55, showing there is still work to be done to attract a younger crowd.
Live Test cricket was last on terrestrial television in 2005, with Channel 4 paying around £5million to secure the rights to the India series, which was only confirmed on Wednesday.
Rishi Persad (R) and Sir Alistair Cook (L) have taken on hosting duties from a London studio
Despite the unsociable hours of broadcast, Day One got a peak audience of 1.1m viewers
They are using commentary from host broadcaster Star Sports, with Rishi Persad presenting from a studio in London alongside Sir Alastair Cook.
Simon Hughes, ‘The Analyst’ on Channel 4’s 1999-2005 coverage, was interviewed remotely during the tea break on Saturday.
Channel 4 are understood to be extremely happy with their early viewing figures, with the peak of 1.1m five times higher than their peak during the same time slot the previous Friday.
Their audience should also increase over the weekend, as well as for the Third Test on February 24, which is a day-night match, meaning a more sociable start time of 9am.
The record for cricket is 8.7m when Sky Sports and Channel 4 showed the 2019 World Cup final
The last time Channel 4 showed Test cricket during the 2005 Ashes, they attracted a peak audience of 8.4m.
Sky Sports clocked their biggest Test audience of 2.1m when Ben Stokes inspired England to beat Australia at Headingley in 2019.
When England’s dramatic win over New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup final was broadcast jointly, a peak of 5.2m tuned in on Channel 4 and 3.5m watched on Sky.