1.59m but Men’s Final down on 2018
1.59m metro viewers watched Novak Djokovic's win over Rafael Nadal.
- Published by David Knox
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1.59m metro viewers watched Novak Djokovic’s win over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open Men’s Final last night, as the top ranking show of the evening.
623,000 viewed in Melbourne with 476,000 in Sydney. Adding in regional audiences it climbed to 2.09m viewers
It was the biggest audience so far this year, but it was also down on 2018 which was 1.74m viewers (nat: 2.37m).
Perhaps falling on a long weekend impacted the figures, it was the lowest since 2011. Even with the Men’s Final Nine was unable to win a night in Perth, with Seven proving unbeatable.
But the Women’s Final on Saturday night at up to 1.27m was higher than 2018’s 1.03m.
Nine won last week with a convincing lead and is up 13.1% share points when compared to the corresponding two weeks last year.
Nine also looks to the digital success of its Summer tennis. Across the four tournaments, more than 6.2 million stream starts have been recorded on 9Now, with a total of 121.8m minutes of content streamed. The Australian Open has driven 9Now to record highs, securing a 78% share of live content consumed across the commercial free-to-air networks throughout the duration of the event.
Tom Malone, Director of Sport for Nine, said: “Our inaugural broadcast of the Australian Open has been a phenomenal success, exceeding all our expectations. Nine’s share of audience is up dramatically year-on-year. We’re also very proud to have attracted a younger demographic to the Australian Open, with our broadcast often ranking No. 1 with People 16-39 across the 14 days. Nine has grown the AO, and the AO has boosted Nine.”
“Acquiring the tennis has also been a very profitable move. The decision to switch from cricket to tennis has delivered a $35 million-dollar swing to Nine. We’ve lowered our cost base from cricket, held our revenue, and increased our profitability. Significantly, there is great potential for even more revenue growth in the future as Nine acquired all rights across all platforms, so we can reach consumers anytime anywhere.
“The tennis is a better audience fit for Nine, at a better time of year, with the world’s best tennis players competing in high class matches for 14 consecutive days and nights. We’ve closed the roofs for rain and heat allowing us to deliver consistent audience for advertisers. It’s the greatest aggregator of eyeballs on consecutive nights on Australian television, which makes it a great platform for marketers to reach consumers, and for Nine to promote its year of programming.”
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11 Responses
Simple equation. Women’s Final had two deserving, fair and likeable contestants (ie not Williams). Men’s Final had two nice contestants who are so well-known that there are no surprises, and neither of them was Roger.
Nine are right. I’m a big tennis fan so watched a lot of the action during January. I’ve now seen the MAFS, New Amsterdam, Dynasties (David Attenborough) and Travel Guides promos more than I would’ve any other year. Meanwhile, apart from MKR, Good Doctor and The Resident, I wouldn’t have a clue what 7 is showing.
I thought the rating would be a bit lower because Roger Federer wasn’t in the Finals, the truth is he definitely attracts more eyeballs and fans. And yesterday’s match was a one sided affair, it was Novak Djokovic all the way.. Though Channel Nines coverage of the Australian Open has improved dramatically as shown on all the ratings/demographics and digital viewers online. Well done Channel Nine, massive Congrats.!! And reckon next year will be even better for them especially if Roger Federer is in the Final and wins.!!
Yes Federer definitely a factor.
This comparison between last year and this years ratings is a nonsense. It depends on who’s playing. This would be the same for all matches, not just the finals.
The match was one-sided, Nadal never got a foothold in the match. And it didn’t feature Roger Federer. So not surprising it rated a bit less.
Well done 9. I actually really enjoyed it on 9 this year. Jelenas commentating was a highlight.
I do wonder if 7 are happy with the swap, with matches shared on foxtel it does spit viewers.
I don’t understand why the Australian coverage of the Australian Open is nowhere as good as overseas broadcasters. Nine had almost no player or coach interviews and the presenters were clearly not even casual tennis fans (commentaters were mostly great). Meanwhile Eurosport and ESPN had post match interviews and analysis with players, coaches and journalists who understood what they were talking about.
Given how happy Nine seem with the results I guess we have the same lacklustre coverage to look forward to next year.
Channel 9 is trying to get a mass audience, whom they are trying to get to watch Married At First Sight. Eurosport and ESPN and specialist sports channel broadcasting to die hard Tennis fans who expect a high level of expert analysis, and are paying a month subscription fee to get it. Cable sports coverage is better and has less ads. The exception to the rule is the Golf Channel which dumbs things down to catch US cable viewers flicking over from the porn channels.
Golf Porn-the quips just write themselves…
valid point @pertinax. Aussies are lucky to get tennis on fta (at least 2 of the 4 majors). I am currently working o/s and was happy with the streaming available on 9now.