Ten’s Bathurst 1000 coverage reached 5.54 million Australians across three days, underlining the growing popularity of V8 Supercars racing and giving Ten a huge win on Sunday.
An average national audience of 1.6 million viewers watched yesterday's drama-filled race in which Will Davison took line honours by less than a car length from Supercars Championship leader Shane Van Ginsbergen in one of the closest finishes in the race's history.
This means Ten had an average 1.6 million people tuning in for the 6 hours and 19 minutes it took for Davison and teammate Jonathon Webb team to complete 1,000 laps of Mount Panorama.
Even more viewers, 2.2 million, tuned into the podium presentation and the post-race wrap-up also attracted an impressive 1.63 million viewers.
“Once again, the Bathurst 1000 has confirmed its status as one of the greatest sporting events in Australia. The action, excitement and talent of all the drivers ensure it is an extraordinary sporting spectacle,” Network Ten chief executive officer Paul Anderson says.
“Australia witnessed a fantastic competition over the past three days, brought to Ten Entertainent Network’s viewers by our highly experienced and very talented commentary team.”
44.5% audience share
The race helped Ten dominate Sunday viewing in terms of top programs, with five of the top six for viewers under 55. Nine's The Block was the other high-rating show with 1.156 metro viewers. It helped Ten win the day with a commercial share of 44.5% to Nine's 29.7%.
On Saturday, the Top 10 Shootout attracted 868,000 viewers nationally and peaked at 1.08 million. In capital cities, it ranked number 1 in its timeslot in 25 to 54s with a 50.4% commercial share, as well as number 1 in total people (45.6%) and number 1 in men 25 to 54 (61.5%).
The popularity of Supercars was highlighted earlier this year when Fox Sports revealed it was their third highest rating sport after the AFL and NRL.
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