Channel 4 Cricket High Stumps Rivals

Last night saw cricket fans flock to their television sets, enthralled as England regained the Ashes, securing the largest ever audience share for Channel 4.

The day’s cricket saw a steadily increasing audience for Channel 4’s coverage, with 2 million viewers tuning in at 10am, 4.7 million at 1pm and peaking at a massive 7.4 million at 6pm for the climax of the seven-week tournament.

The nation’s sports fans helped the broadcaster to notch up its highest ever daily audience share at 23.2%, beating the previous high of 22.6% provided by the finale of Big Brother in 2002 (see Big Brother helps C4 Beat ITV1 and BBC1 In Daily Share).

The record audiences also helped Channel 4 to become the most-watched network yesterday, topping both BBC1 and ITV, which both scored shares of 21.4.

Interest quickly waned following England’s win, however, as the broadcaster’s 7:30pm showing of Today at the Test drew an average of just 1.9 million.

The ratings high sees Channel 4 bow out of its cricket coverage on a high, as BSkyB’s has secured the rights to England’s test cricket matches between 2006-2009. Terrestrial highlights of the sport will still be shown, however, provided by Five following Sky’s broadcasts (see Sky’s Cricket Deal Gets Thumbs Up As Five Scoops Highlights).

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com