Coverage of Melbourne Cup Day now concluded.
According to online guides, Darwin also has Our State on a Plate, followed by the 4.30pm news and Tipping Point.
It was a very abrupt finish to the telecast, the final Race 10 (“Channel 9 Trophy”) was delayed more than 10min due to the preceding race’s medical incident. R10’s post-race horseback interview and colour in the winner’s area was missed, as well as a day’s wrap with everyone and proper finish. Surely could’ve utilised 9Gem and had a channel change advisory?
On Thursday’s Oaks Day meeting, the final race is scheduled to start at 5.50pm AEDT, meaning there is a good chance it may run past 6pm if there is any sort of delay. I wonder if the rights agreement allows Nine to switch the race coverage to 9GEM or whether the 6pm News may need to be delayed in Melbourne/Sydney.
Same goes for Saturday.
I think the protocol is to have it on the main channel if it can reasonably start before 6pm.
9Gem aired the first 4 races in Perth. They should’ve aired Today live and the Cup on the main channel
9Now audience surges 24.8% year-on-year for the race
Nine’s live and free coverage of the 2025 Melbourne Cup was a massive ratings success, with Australians tuning in across the 9Network in huge numbers to witness history being made at Flemington.
‘The race that stops a nation’ captivated the country, with the MELBOURNE CUP - RACE segment drawing a National Total TV Reach of 2.316 million. The Total TV National Audience for the race itself was 2.079 million, a significant 8.8% increase year-on-year.
Viewing on 9Now saw explosive growth, with the race attracting a BVOD Audience of 463,000, a massive 24.8% surge compared to the previous year, as viewers streamed the event live and free.
Audiences tuned in to watch jockey Jamie Melham’s historic victory aboard the Australian-bred horse, Half Yours, in front of an energetic crowd of 84,374 at Flemington. Melham’s triumph makes her the first female jockey in history to complete the coveted Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double, and only the second woman ever to win the Melbourne Cup, 10 years on from Michelle Payne’s famous victory.
The strong results continued across the entire day’s broadcast. The MELBOURNE CUP - PRESENTATION saw its Total TV National Audience jump 13.1% year-on-year to 1.793 million, with a 9Now audience of 325,000 (up 34.9% YoY).
The MELBOURNE CUP - LATE program grew 15.4% YoY (945,000 Total TV Audience) and saw a huge 52.8% jump on 9Now. The MELBOURNE CUP - PREVIEW was also up 5.8% YoY (892,000 Total TV Audience) with its 9Now audience growing by 39%.
The comprehensive day-long coverage also posted impressive numbers for the MELBOURNE CUP - MOUNTING YARD (1.996m Reach / 1.494m Total TV Audience) and MELBOURNE CUP - EARLY (1.644m Reach / 546,000 Total TV Audience) segments.
Brent Williams, Nine’s Director of Sport, said: “Yesterday’s results are a testament to the enduring power of the Melbourne Cup as one of Australia’s premier sporting and cultural moments. We are thrilled to see such significant audience growth, particularly the huge numbers on 9Now, which proves our Total TV strategy is delivering for viewers.
“Our world-class broadcast team captured the magic of the day perfectly and we are proud to have brought Jamie Melham’s historic, race-winning ride to all of Australia, live and free. It was an unforgettable day and these numbers confirm that Australians agree.”
Paul Lang YouTube channel has the entire Seven coverage of VRC Derby Day 2003 and what happened was is that the last two races that day were happened to replayed during the Rugby World cup coverage.
Why wouldn’t they? It’s not like Nine is producing the feed.
Different graphics though, same pictures.
Today’s weather conditions will be challenging. Nine would be pleased with their performance of the carnival this year though.
For the record, Ceolwulf won the Champions Mile and Pride of Jenni finished 8th.
Via Sistina won the Champions Stakes for the 2nd time in a row
Carnival reaches 5.5 million Australians
Nine delivers huge year-on-year growth across all four days
Nine’s comprehensive, wall-to-wall coverage of the 2025 Melbourne Cup Carnival has proven a massive ratings success, with 5.5 million Australians tuning in to the 9Network across the four spectacular days of racing, fashion and entertainment.
From the monochrome magic of Derby Day to the history-making Melbourne Cup, the glamour of Oaks Day and the family fun of Stakes Day, audiences flocked to Nine’s coverage. All four days of the carnival delivered significant year-on-year audience growth, driven by an explosive shift to live streaming on 9Now.
The momentum built across the week, with Stakes Day closing the carnival in style, posting a huge 28.9% year-on-year lift in its Total TV Audience (264,000) and a 81.7% surge in streaming on 9Now.
Oaks Day also delivered a standout result. The Total TV National Audience soared by 20.4% year-on-year to 318,000, while its 9Now BVOD audience jumped by a massive 75.4%.
The week kicked off with a huge digital result for Derby Day, which saw its BVOD audience on 9Now explode by 80.9% year-on-year. The Total TV Audience grew 5.4% year-on-year to 262,000.
This outstanding carnival performance was anchored by the enormous success of Melbourne Cup Day, where ‘the race that stops a nation’ captivated 2.316 million Australians. The race itself saw its Total TV National Audience grow by 8.9% year-on-year to 2.079 million, including a record-breaking BVOD audience of 464,000 on 9Now.
Brent Williams, Nine’s Director of Sport, said: “The 2025 Melbourne Cup Carnival is one of the crown jewels of Australian sport and these numbers show its popularity is stronger than ever. We are incredibly proud to see significant, double-digit audience growth on Oaks and Stakes Day, and phenomenal digital numbers across the entire week.
“To have all four days of the carnival grow year-on-year is a fantastic result. It proves that Nine’s Total TV approach, combining the power of live free-to-air with the massive growth of 9Now, is the clear future of sports broadcasting. Together with our partners at the VRC, we delivered a world-class, premium broadcast, and Australians responded in droves.”
It will be interesting to see if audience will continue to grow for the remaining four years of Nine’s subcontract with Tabcorp.
