The first four months of 2024 brought record TV viewing for women’s sport in the UK, according to a new report by the Women’s Sport Trust.The Women’s Sport Trust report, using data from Futures Sport & Entertainment, revealed 20.9 million people watched 3 minutes or more of women’s sport coverage from 1 January to 30 April 2024. This compares to 20.6 million in 2023.The increase was driven by more coverage hours on Pay TV, including Sky Sports & TNT Sports, as well as more prominence on free-to-air channels including BBC1 and ITV1.A third of these viewers (6.8m) were new to women’s sport this year, having not watched any women’s sport in 2023.The majority of those new viewers came from the increased free-to-air coverage of women’s football and rugby.Increasing prominence helped drive bigger audiences for the major head-to-head clashes in the Barclays Women’s Super League and encouraged people to watch these games for longer.A similar trend happened in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations where more viewers than ever tuned in across the tournament and the title decider between France and England, which drew in an average audience of 1.3m (and a peak of 1.9m) on BBC1.In the Barclays Women’s Super League (BWSL), shown on Sky and BBC:
- Live Viewing Hours were up 10% to 31.6m (Viewing Hours is a combination of hours broadcast and average viewers).
- People are watching more with the average minutes viewed rising to 40 mins (up 3 mins year on year).
- The number of people watching the Manchester Derby was up 7% on last year’s biggest game (Spurs v Arsenal), with an average of 813k tuning in.
- Viewers of BWSL matches on BBC1 have risen by 22% year on year – from 637k to 775k so far this year.
- Sky simulcasting games on its basic entertainment channels, Sky Showcase and Sky Max, helped grow the average number of viewers by 5%.
The FA Cup also shows an upward trajectory of viewers with the average audience of the rounds leading up to the final averaging 537k - an increase of 10% on last year’s 489k average.Initial viewing figures from Sunday’s final show a 3% year on year rise in live match time viewing with 1.194m people tuning in.The Women’s Six Nations, shown on BBC:
- Was the most viewed on record with 8.1m tuning in for 3 minutes or more (33% more than in 2023).
- Viewing hours is also up, to a record 13m (from 10m last year).
- Games featuring England were especially popular, with a 42% rise in viewership year on year.
- Attracted a higher % of the desirable ABC1 audience to BBC1 and BBC2, compared to 2023.
Tammy Parlour, Women’s Sport Trust chief executive, said: “It’s been another strong start to the year for women’s sport. However, it is not a given that this will continue, particularly with the Lionesses not competing in a major women’s football tournament this year. We’re still in a test-and-learn phase, and broadcasters are being rewarded for their decision to give women’s sport more airtime and greater prominence. With millions of new viewers still coming through we have clear evidence of a growing and engaged fanbase.“The Red Roses bringing in a peak of close to 2m on BBC1 on a Saturday teatime proves its value. And with a record 813k people tuning in for the Manchester Derby in the BWSL, surpassing the viewing record for last year, we’re excited to see how the close finish between Man City and Chelsea in the BWSL title race helps drive audiences this weekend.”
Copyright © 2024 Media Business Insight Limited.