The Race That Won The Nation.

The Race That Won The Nation.

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Network 10’s Lexus Melbourne Cup Coverage Delivers The #1 Program.
Reaches 2.65 million Australians Nationally, Peaks At 1.76 million, Plus 175,000 Live Stream Audience.

Network 10’s live and free coverage of the 2021 Lexus Melbourne Cup yesterday saw 1.87 million Australians on television and 10 Play, glued to their screens to watch Verry Elleegant deliver a memorable win to the centrepiece of the entire Melbourne Cup Carnival – the $8 million Lexus Melbourne Cup.

The national television audience for the Race peaked at 1.76 million and averaged 1.7 million viewers making it the #1 program on Tuesday and 10’s #2 program of 2021.

In the capital cities, the Lexus Melbourne Cup had 1.21 million viewers, commanding an 84.5% commercial share in total people and a whopping 90.8% commercial share in people under 50, up on 88.7% in 2020. Commercial share in Melbourne was an astronomical 88.1% and 94.3% in under 50s.

In the key advertising demographics, the Race dominated its timeslot with a commercial share of 91.4% in 16 to 39s, 90.8% in 18 to 49s and 87.4% in 25 to 54s, up on 85.5% in 2020.

On 10 Play, the Lexus Melbourne Cup race live stream had 175,000 viewers, up 17% on 2020. It was 10 Play’s biggest audience for a live stream ever. The entire day had 765,000 live stream starts, up 12% on 2020.

The Lexus Melbourne Cup was also the #1 free-to-air television program on social media yesterday with 309,400 Twitter Impressions, 64,285 Facebook engagements and over 230,000 video views, while also dominating the Twitter trends for most of the day.

The Lexus Melbourne Cup Presentation on television and 10 Play had 1.34 million viewers nationally and 897,000 capital city viewers. It dominated its timeslot with a 75.2% commercial share in total people and a massive 85.5% commercial share in people under 50.

Earlier in the day, Network 10’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup Mounting Yard on television and 10 Play had 1.16 million viewers nationally, 764,000 capital city viewers and was #1 in its timeslot. It boasted a commercial share of 75% in total people and an 82.9% commercial share in people under 50.

Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand, Beverley McGarvey, said: “The Lexus Melbourne Cup is one of the greatest sporting events of the year and we were proud to again partner with the Victoria Racing Club to bring it to all Australians and to people around the world.

“The big audiences across all of Network 10’s platforms highlight that no other sporting event captures the mood and attention of the nation quite like the Lexus Melbourne Cup. We are delighted that so many Australians engaged with our extensive and entertaining multi-platform coverage.

“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our friends and partners at the Victoria Racing Club, our sponsors –TAB, TAB Touch, Lexus, Kennedy, Harvey Norman, Penfolds, Furphy, Mumm and Diageo – and all the very talented people at Network 10 who made this year’s Cup such a success.”

Victoria Racing Club chief executive officer, Steve, Rosich, said: “This year, the ‘race that stops a nation’™ became the race that restarted Victoria, and the VRC is delighted to partner with Network 10 to again share the racing, colour and excitement of Lexus Melbourne Cup Day.

“The 2021 Melbourne Cup Carnival heralds the reopening of major events for our city and through Network 10’s broadcast, everyone, everywhere – whether watching from home with friends and family, joining in the office sweep at work or participating in the thousands of Cup Day events around the country – is able to revel in the spirit of Cup Week.

“The VRC congratulates Network 10 on its coverage, watched by an audience of 1.87 million nationally across television and 10 Play, with two magnificent days of racing still to come in Kennedy Oaks Day and Paramount+ Stakes Day. We look forward to sharing the magic and joy of the Cup with Australia through our ongoing partnership in 2022.”

Network 10’s multi-platform coverage of the Cup saw over seven and a half hours of live and free coverage from Flemington. Audiences were also able to stream the Cup live in HD on 10 Play.

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