In the 2023 Ashes series, a staggering number of 17.8 million cricket enthusiasts from the UK tuned into Sky Sports or caught up on BBC's highlights show to watch both men's and women's matches unfold.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed this impressive figure which demonstrates a significant growth in viewership compared to the preceding year; it was up by 14% from that recorded for the 2019 event.
The data also revealed an intriguing pattern among those who followed the men’s Ashes games: they spent an average of nearly ten hours watching, which is approximately a third longer than what was seen in 2019.
As one delves further into these figures, Sky Sports' viewership for its coverage of the men’s series presents itself as another highlight - it had almost half again as many watchers compared to two years prior.
This surge resulted in pay-TV broadcasters hitting record levels with regard to their peak and average audience size for Test cricket programming.
Similarly, BBC Sounds digital platform experienced unprecedented listening numbers for its audio commentary during this memorable tournament.
Digital platforms didn't lag behind either when it came down to attracting fans around such high-stakes contests, video views across various channels totalled over an incredible half-billion mark pertaining to content related specifically to both genders’ series combined.
Additionally, live attendance at matches saw unparalleled engagement too with a total crowd figure touching new heights at just shy of seven hundred thousand spectators making their way to cheer on their favourite teams during both editions.
When examining these stats closely, around twenty-three thousand people attended during playtime on any given day, whereas the male audience was about five hundred forty-five thousand, an increase of eight per cent compared to last year's figures.
ECB Chief Executive, Richard Gould, said:
“On TV and online, we have again seen incredible interest, demonstrating that the love for cricket in England and Wales is as strong as ever and that Test cricket is still as relevant as ever.”
Ashes has set a great launch pad for The Hundred
As Ashes drama ended, Sky Sport did not lose momentum - the Southern Brave Women's opener under The Hundred tournament reached the quarter million mark with an upward six per cent increase in viewership.
The Trent Rockets Men team snatched a victory right off the bat, drawing over 4 times hundred thousand viewers, a substantial eighty-two per cent jump from the previous opener game from 22 years ago.
ECB underlined the significance of a promotional campaign run throughout through a singular lens encompassing both genders’ contest first time ever resulting in notably enhanced interest towards women-centric competition watched live by eye-popping five-point-three-million fans alone, comfortably soaring past double viewer count achieving a couple of seasons earlier.
Looking ahead ECB seems optimistic about continuing a decent trend leveraging excitement built around the last concluded Ashes providing the robust foundation upon launching future endeavours like the much-hyped "The Hundred".
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