Melbourne Cup Viewership Hits an All-Time Low 20 Years ago

Despite being the race that stops the nation, only a little more than a million metro viewers tuned in to see Gold Trip win at Flemington Racecourse. It was reported that 1.024 million people watched the event across five cities; this is down from last year’s 1.213 million viewers. The Melbourne Cup also saw the lowest number of televised viewers in the past 20 years. Audiences in Australia were down by about 350,000, or 20%, from last year’s 1.695 million to this year’s 1.35 million.

Although eight thousand more people in Melbourne watched the Cup this year compared to last year, making it the only large city with more viewers, the number of people watching the Cup in Sydney decreased to 212,000 from the previous year’s total of 310,000. In Adelaide, the number of persons interested in the Cup decreased to 79,000 from 89,000 in 2021. A year ago, there were 205,000 viewers in Brisbane, and this year, only 132,000 tuned in. Perth showed a similar trend, with viewership falling to 73,000 from 89,000 a year ago.

The first race for the Melbourne Cup took place in 1861, making it one of the oldest sporting competitions in the world. Originally held over a distance of 3.219 kilometres, Australia’s adoption of the metric system in 1972 cut the race’s length to 3,200 kilometres, reducing the space by 18.688 meters. Every year since 2003, the Melbourne Cup trophy has travelled around Australia and New Zealand to show it off to local fans and celebrate the impact the race has had on Australian society, sports, and entertainment.

Legendary jockeys like Harry White, Darby Munro, and Glen Boss, and champion thoroughbreds like Archer, Peter Pan, and Rain Lover have all graced the Cup’s history. With victories in 2003, 2004, and 2005, Makybe Diva, an Australian titleholder racehorse, owns the record for most wins. Gold Trip, jockeyed by Mark Zahra and trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, won the 162nd running of the Cup conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on November 1, 2022. Gold Trip, Emissary, and Deauville Legend always remained crowd favourites and were most likely to win the top spot, according to betting sites in Australia. At the last quarter mile, Gold Trip made a bold charge to pass Deauville Legend, taking the lead and going on to win the big prize.

Ten Network Holdings’ Channel 10, a free-to-air network, broadcasted its coverage of the 2022 edition of the event, with seasoned television host Eddie McGuire at the helm and expert commentary from actor Rob Mills and presenter Tara Rushton. Channel 7 had previously owned the rights to the Melbourne Cup Carnival since 2002; however, in 2018, they were transferred to Channel 10 for a five-year contract running from 2019 to 2023. The switch in broadcasting channels was a source of some confusion as spectators who were accustomed to viewing the event on Channel 7 didn’t realize that the coverage had switched and instead tuned in to the Sydney races.

Another possible explanation for the Melbourne Cup’s record-low viewership is the growing awareness of animal rights in relation to such events. Recent reports about the mistreatment of horses in Australia’s racing industry made many celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Megan Gale, and actress Lana Condor, decide not to attend the 2019 Melbourne Cup, following which the Cup’s popularity took an impact.

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