Channel 4: More than one million people watch India v England on day one - four times more than time-slot average
MPs and former ministers have called for more England series to be shown free-to-air after more than a million people watched the first day of the first Test match on terrestrial television since the 2005 Ashes.
The England & Wales Cricket Board was under pressure to “put terrestrial TV front and centre” of its next broadcasting deal, while the Government was urged to add Test cricket to the list of sports events that must be shown free-to-air.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport, Channel 4’s coverage of India v England on Friday attracted a peak audience of 1.1 million, 18.4 per cent of all those watching television at that time.
The figure was more than double that for Sky Sports’ coverage of the opening day of last month’s Sri Lanka-England series, as was the average audience of 431,000, which was almost four times that Channel 4 usually attracts in the same time slot.
Almost half that audience was from non-Sky subscribing homes and Tracey Crouch MP, the former sports minister, told Telegraph Sport: “While it is wonderful that the BBC has the rights to international Twenty20 and The Hundred, the success of Channel 4 broadcasting the Test in India just shows that there is a real appetite for more long-form cricket on terrestrial TV.
“Given we know watching events like Test cricket inspire the next generation, I really hope that the ECB remember this broadcasting success in future rights discussion and put terrestrial TV front and centre of their decisions on deals.”
Jo Stevens, the shadow Culture Secretary, added: “A whole generation of kids with terrestrial TV have grown up without seeing Jimmy Anderson take his record-breaking wickets.
“With Channel 4 broadcasting the Test series in India, all kids have had the chance to watch superman Joe Root in the form of his life and that will only encourage them to play cricket themselves.
“The next Joe Root or Heather Knight will be watching this series. As the viewing figures show, we need more international cricket on terrestrial TV, not less. The decision makers should take a more strategic view so that televised international cricket reaches as many people as possible.”
Julian Knight, the chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee, said: “It’s been great to see test cricket on Channel 4 again, particularly as terrestrial is crucial to reaching as wide an audience as possible. I applaud cricket authorities for committing to more free-to-air cricket and I hope we see more of it in a year when the England team are playing more international cricket than ever.”
Former Labour sports ministers Richard Caborn and Gerry Sutcliffe also called for the Government to add Test cricket to the so-called ‘Crown Jewels’ list of events that must be shown free-to-air.
Channel 4 secured the four-match India-England series at the 11th hour after Sky and BT Sport refused to meet the asking price from rights holders Star Sports.
It is the first full broadcast on terrestrial television of an England overseas Test series.
Friday’s figure was dwarfed by the 8.4 million who watched the 2005 Ashes and the 4.5 million who tuned into Channel 4’s coverage of England’s 2019 World Cup triumph.
However, Telegraph Sport has been told the broadcaster was thrilled with the ratings given the India-England match began at 4am on a weekday.
The audience was expected to be bigger for Saturday’s second day, with Sky’s weekend coverage of the Sri Lanka series having peaked at almost a million viewers.
An ECB spokesperson said: “As a result of Covid-19, cricket is now experiencing the greatest financial crisis in its history. Over 85 per cent of revenue comes from broadcast partnerships, all of which is channelled directly into growing the game.
“Without this revenue, the game would not be able to sustain its network of 18 first-class counties and 7,000 recreational clubs, continue to invest in grassroots, women and girls’ and disability cricket or maintain levels of funding for our World Cup-winning England teams.
“In order to successfully grow the game, we recognise the need to strike a balance between reach and revenue. Our new broadcast distribution model ensures fans can follow live domestic and international cricket across both Sky Sports and BBC TV, as well as via digital, social and radio channels. 2020 was the first year of this new model and saw cricket reach more people across England and Wales than ever before.”
