Millions tune in to athletics broadcasts as Gout Gout attracts huge viewing numbers
The debut of Gout Gout at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo was Australia’s most popular television program on Wednesday night, out-performing ratings juggernaut The Block, and drawing more than three million viewers across the unusual free-to-air double act of Channel Nine and SBS.The Nine broadcast peaked at 2.2m viewers, securing the title of the evening’s highest rating programme ahead of The Block.Across Nine’s entire athletics broadcast, which finished close to midnight on the east coast, the audience averaged 519,000 viewers per minute.Australian Athletics’ president, Jane Flemming, used a team welcome at the Australian embassy in Tokyo to take a shot at the footy codes which traditionally dominate September on television.
“Last night we had amazing viewer figures, more [on SBS and Nine combined] than the Friday night AFL finals and more than the Friday night NRL finals,” she said.“Not that I’m competitive, but take that.”The coverage on SBS, featuring veteran commentator Bruce McAvaney, was also popular, delivering the network its best result for the week.The audience peaked at just over 1m viewers for Gout’s successful heat, and averaged 280,000 viewers.Australian Athletics chief executive Simon Hollingsworth said the result reflected the potential of the sport.
“It has been sensational to hear today that 3.2 million viewers tuned into the World Athletics Championships last night across both networks to support our athletes,” he said.“It confirms what we have known for a long time and that is that athletics is a sport for everyone.”Hamish Turner, executive director of Channel Nine/9Now, said there has been “a surge in growth” in recent nights, “and it’ll do even bigger numbers tonight as we get into the semis”.He said the commitment to athletes by two networks elevates the sport to where it can become a “water cooler conversation”.
“What free-to-air does really well is it gives this raised the sense of importance, and you start getting that kind of flurry of momentum and support,” he said.The unprecedented duplication of world championships coverage has been a win-win for fans, who can choose between local presentations.Injured Paris gold medal-winning pole vaulter Nina Kennedy has been on Nine’s coverage, while injured sprinter Lachie Kennedy has featured for SBS.Sign up to Australia SportGet a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports deskafter newsletter promotionKen Shipp, director of sport at SBS, said it was fantastic to see athletics reach such a wide audience, and his network considered it was the “home for die-hard fans” of athletics.“With our legendary commentary team – Bruce McAvaney, Tamsyn Manou and David Basheer – viewers can trust they’re getting an authentic, world-class experience that truly honours the sport and its athletes,” said.
Although Channel Nine only announced it would be screening the Tokyo meet in June, the network had been considering acquiring rights since mid-2023, having secured the long-term Olympics rights,“At that point, we knew of Gout and the legacy that was growing, but also more broadly we knew Matt Denny, we knew a lot of those field events that we had really good medal chances for the Paris Olympics, and then we just looked at where those rights were,” Turner said,“Now, at that point, SBS already had non-exclusive rights for it [Tokyo], so as part of our conversations and our dealings, we pursued those co-exclusive rights,”While Gout’s meteoric rise has elevated the prominence of the sport, Hollingsworth said there is more to Australia’s athletics appeal than just the teenager,“We already know we are in a golden era but there is so much more to come as the strength of our squad grows as we get closer to LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032,” he said.
“There’s lots to be excited for and we’re looking forward to seeing more Australians experience what the sport has to offer.”
Nick Clegg: US-UK tech deal is ‘sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley’
A multibillion-dollar transatlantic tech agreement announced to coincide with Donald Trump’s state visit represents “sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley”, Nick Clegg, Meta’s former president of global affairs, has said.The former deputy prime minister said the deals, heralded with great fanfare by the government as it tries to foster growth in the UK, were “mutton dressed as lamb” and would make the country ever more reliant on US tech firms.The announcements have included some of the biggest companies in the tech world, such as chipmaker Nvidia and the ChatGPT developer OpenAI. One announcement featured a Microsoft investment that was said to be worth $30bn (£22bn).However, speaking at a Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, Clegg said the relationship between the UK and the US tech sector was “all one-way traffic” and that the announcements suited the companies
A wake-up call for all of us to resist the far right | Letters
Peter Kyle, the business and trade secretary, has said that he was not disturbed by the Tommy Robinson march on Saturday (Trump has fanned the flames of divisive politics around the world, says Sadiq Khan, 16 September). Well I certainly was. The levels of threatening hate and violence should be a wake-up call, not just for government ministers but for all of us. Stand Up to Racism has done its best to mobilise people to tackle this threat, but it’s clear that we have to find a new way forward to reinforce this work. I am urging people in all civil society organisations to start talking about the situation and in each sector to start talking to each other
‘Privatisation premium’: billions from UK energy bills paid to shareholders
A quarter of the average UK energy bill was funding corporate profits last year, according to analysis that reveals the hidden cost of privatising some of the UK’s key industries.The study – part of a wider Who Owns Britain project by the Common Wealth thinktank – found that a sum equal to 24.2% of the average energy bill went to the pre-tax profits of the major electricity generators, networks and household suppliers in 2024.In addition, the analysis reveals the scale of wealth extracted from bill payers since the privatisation of Britain’s energy system. It found that shareholders of Britain’s privatised energy companies have taken at least £70
Lucy Powell hits out at ‘sexist’ talk that she is Labour proxy for Andy Burnham
Lucy Powell has hit out at the “sexist” framing of her deputy Labour leadership campaign, with people claiming she and her rival, Bridget Phillipson, are standing as “proxies” for two men.With the contest to replace Angela Rayner under way this week, the pair have been forced to contend with political rumours that they are stalking horses for a future leadership battle.It has been heavily speculated that Andy Burnham, a longtime ally of Powell, is among the senior Labour figures eyeing up a leadership challenge if the prime minister’s recent turmoil continues. Phillipson, meanwhile, is seen as a Keir Starmer loyalist.Powell, the MP for Manchester Central and former cabinet minister, lost her role as leader of the Commons in the recent reshuffle
Labour must rethink growth strategy to curb rise of far right, says top economist
Defeating far-right populism will require Labour to radically overhaul its “arid” approach to raising living standards in left-behind communities, the former Bank of England chief economist has said.Andy Haldane warned that Labour’s growth plans were failing to support parts of the country where voters feel neglected and disenfranchised.With ministers under pressure to respond to a summer of unrest, he said the “single most important thing” Keir Starmer’s government could do was to rethink its economic approach before the autumn budget.He said: “We need a story of growth that isn’t aridly told from 30,000 feet, but speaks to the lived experience and to the prospects and opportunities of workers in the everyday economy.“A sense of people progressing in their lives, of being invested in, is the absolute foundation stone of curbing disaffection with the incumbent parties – and therefore doing something to turn the tide of populism
France proposes ceiling on value of UK components in €150bn EU defence fund
France has proposed limiting the use of British-produced military components in the EU’s €150bn defence fund, in a move that could complicate negotiations over the UK’s entry into the scheme.Four diplomatic sources told the Guardian that French officials had proposed a 50% ceiling on the value of UK components in projects financed through the EU’s €150bn Security Action for Europe (Safe) fund.The €150bn loans scheme is part of the EU’s drive to boost defence spending by €800bn and re-arm the continent. The European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, lauded the scheme on Tuesday, telling an audience of policymakers in Brussels that the commission had assigned loans to member states in less than six months since the idea was first mooted – “the sense of urgency we need”.The door to greater UK participation was pushed open in May when Keir Starmer and von der Leyen signed an EU-UK security and defence partnership
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Hospital league tables will harm, not heal, the NHS | Letters