Australian commercial broadcaster Ten has stepped up its coverage of the inaugural season of Twenty20 cricket competition the Women’s Big Bash League, as Cricket Australia targets a standalone rights deal for future editions of the tournament.
The WBBL debuted last month to sit alongside the established men’s BBL competition. The success of the new women’s tournament has prompted Ten to move two of its three remaining scheduled televised games to its main broadcast channel, while it will now also televise both semi-finals.
Ten had initially not planned to show both semi-finals, to be played as double headers with the BBL on January 21-22, but has now added the games to its schedule, bringing the total number of WBBL matches shown up to 10.
Ten on January 2 moved the WBBL Melbourne derby between the Stars and Renegades to its main channel for the first time. The initiative resulted in a peak television audience of 439,000 viewers and a record national average of 372,000. The decision means the Sydney derby between the Thunder and the Sixers on January 16 will now also be broadcast on its main channel, ahead of the WBBL final on January 24.
Ten Sport executive David Barham told the Cricket.com.au website: “We are putting the same resources into the WBBL broadcasts as we are for the men’s games and it is certainly proving to be a hit. We are thrilled with the WBBL ratings to date and are excited to be working with Cricket Australia on this initiative.”
Ben Amarfio, CA’s executive general manager for media, communications and marketing, added: “We want as many people to be exposed to the game, so to have another two WBBL matches move to Ten’s primary channel is a great endorsement for the growing appeal of women's cricket.
“There is a proven TV appetite with the five WBBL broadcast matches so far this season averaging a TV audience of just under 250,000 across Ten's secondary and primary channels, including a record national average of 372,000 tuning in for the women’s Melbourne derby last weekend.”
Ten’s decision comes just days after CA chief executive James Sutherland spoke of his confidence that the WBBL would soon secure its own broadcast deal.
He told the ABC Grandstand programme: “I think the support that we are seeing through those television ratings is really important but I think just as important, or more important, is the psyche around the fact that cricket is a sport for girls too.
“I really sense that people are starting to understand that and men, who perhaps have had a particular mindset in the past, are starting to encourage young girls and perhaps their own daughters into the game of cricket and saying 'this is a sport my daughter can love, and the opportunities for her are absolutely huge as she progresses through the ranks'.”