WBD Sports Europe drives record fan engagement on Discovery+ and digital platforms during Australian Open
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe is enjoying record breaking digital audiences for its coverage of the Australian Open following week one of the tournament and is celebrating its biggest ever digital audience at the halfway stage.
On discovery+, which provides exclusive streaming coverage of the tournament in 10 markets in Europe, audiences have grown by 13% overall after eight days of competition (compared to 2023) with minutes watched rising by 17%.
Double-digit audience growth has been witnessed in multiple markets, underpinned by the strong performances of local heroes and a growing appetite for live tennis content including in Finland (+45%), Denmark (+26%) and Germany (+24%). The trend in increasing live match consumption has been mirrored in markets where the Eurosport app provides streaming access of every moment including in Hungary (+25%) and France (+13%).
Tennis fans have also been attracted to Eurosport.com to consume even more tennis content, news and videos than ever before. Eurosport’s strategy to extend the storytelling beyond the premium live on-court action has seen it secure double-digit growth (17%) in unique users on its free Eurosport.com sites across all markets as well as increasing free video minutes watched by almost a half (49%).
Local rises in digital audiences visiting Eurosport.com include Norway (52%); Romania (33%); Italy (32%); France (17%) and the Netherlands (15%).
This is complemented by growing social media engagement for free highlights clips and additional expert-led content that have contributed to more than doubling video views on Eurosport’s Tennis YouTube during week one, and more than doubling video views and engagement on Instagram compared to last year.
This year, WBD Sports’ coverage exclusive coverage of the Australian Open across Europe features the expert views of former Grand Slam champions John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Justine Henin and Boris Becker who regularly join Alex Corretja, Tim Henman, Laura Robson and Barbara Schett to better connect fans with their tennis heroes. For the first time, the former Australian Open doubles champion Nick Kyrgios has also featured in Eurosport’s match commentary and international studio analysis show.