The Melbourne Cup is known as the race that stops the nation but a recent downward trend in TV ratings suggest that may no longer be the case.
1.21m metro viewers tuned in to watch the Melbourne Cup on Network 10 and while that figure might sound impressive it’s no doubt a cause of concern for network bosses.
This years Melbourne Cup was the lowest rating in modern history, recording 200,000 less viewers than last year and less than half the viewers that the Melbourne Cup had only ten years ago.
While the downward trend is a concern it must be said that it doesn’t take into account viewers that tuned in to watch the days coverage on Racing.com and those who streamed the race via 10Play or Racing.com.
Australian metropolitan television viewers since 2012
| Year | Viewers | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2.767 million | Seven Network |
| 2013 | 2.310 million | Seven Network |
| 2014 | 2.178 million | Seven Network |
| 2015 | 2.130 million | Seven Network |
| 2016 | 2.066 million | Seven Network |
| 2017 | 1.824 million | Seven Network |
| 2018 | 1.908 million | Seven Network |
| 2019 | 1.441 million | Network 10 |
| 2020 | 1.412 million | Network 10 |
| 2021 | 1.213 million | Network 10 |