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British women’s tennis hit a generational peak when Emma Radacanu lifted the U.S. Open trophy on Saturday, Sept. 11, a moment viewed by over 10 million people in the U.K. after Amazon Prime and broadcaster Channel 4 agreed on a last-minute deal to ensure fans could watch the final live.
Prior to her victory, 18-year-old Raducanu had already become the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977 and the first to do so as a qualifier in the history of the sport.
The seven-figure broadcast deal, struck within hours of the final, was not the first time the broadcasters had partnered. The duo worked together in 2020 to deliver coverage of rugby tournament The Autumn Nations Cup.
As a result, both broadcast teams were familiar with one another, and Channel 4 was able to quickly agree on the deal to share the live broadcast of the tennis final with Prime, which held exclusive rights to stream the tournament’s coverage for the U.K. Raducanu’s victory went on to become Prime’s largest tennis viewing audience in its history.
While Amazon does not release audience numbers, Channel 4 recorded a peak of 9.2 million viewers, who watched Raducanu’s triumph over Canadian Leylah Fernandez. The Channel 4 broadcast featured the branding for both channels throughout, taking Amazon Prime to a larger audience that it has previously reached in the U.K.
“Partnership has always been in Channel 4’s DNA, and remains a fundamental part of our new Future4 strategy,” Alex Mahon, chief executive of Channel 4, told Adweek in a statement. “Partnerships enable us to offer the UK audience unique, exclusive and free-to-air event television that brings the nation together. That’s why we partnered with Amazon Prime Video to broadcast the U.S. Open final. It was an opportunity for Channel 4 to work with a like-minded organization, and offer the British public the chance to enjoy and be part of a historic sporting moment.”
“In total, on Saturday night, over 12.5 million people came together on Channel 4 for the game. It’s the very definition of public service broadcasting—delivering impact by putting the audience first,” she added.
A tweet on Sunday by Channel 4’s press office also revealed that the broadcast received a 39.9% share of total audience and 48% of the 16 to 34 demographic.
“We didn’t know we’d secured the deal until late on Friday night and so many people have gone above and beyond to make it happen,” said Ian Katz, chief content officer for Channel 4 in a statement on the deal. “But Channel 4 is all about finding ways to let our viewers share great national moments, whether it’s Bake Off or big sporting events like the cricket World Cup final or U.S. Open final.”
In response to the broadcast, Liam Brennan, global head of innovation and lead consultant for Mediacom, shared his view that as well as the financial aspect, the deal has allowed Amazon to use the event as a showcase for its sports broadcasting.
“Amazon’s deep pockets has helped them obtain the rights to leading UK sports such as the Premier League and International Rugby, with match viewing numbers like those seen on cable providers like Sky and BT who previously owned, or share rights, for those sports,” he said. “Like Netflix, Amazon has been slowly chipping away at paid-cable subscriber bases, but live sports remain one of the jewels in paid cable crown that has prevented complete cord cutting.”
The partnership not only allowed Prime to promote itself as a streaming offering to 12.5 million U.K. households, but also helped it continue its efforts to reposition itself as a platform for live event viewing—and the advertising dollars that come with it.
“Amazon was essentially able to leverage Channel Four’s national reach to deliver a three-hour infomercial for Prime’s live sports coverage to an audience of 9.2 million—as well as additional reach from branded highlights shared across social media—all the while having Channel 4 cover a great deal of the budget originally paid for the rights. A mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties in the short term—but a much larger long-term win for Amazon,” Brennan said.
Amazon Prime was not available to comment due to the limited availability of its team at the weekend as it planned for the premiere of the new film “Everyone is Talking About Jamie,” following the release of “Cinderella” earlier in September.
