The Australian Open is losing one very important battle

CHANNEL Seven’s Australian Open coverage has been rocked by a game-changing shift that has diminished the grand slam.

People aren’t keen to get on board the Tomic train.

NICK Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic have emerged as the chief culprits behind cricket’s overwhelming bash of the Australian Open this week.

Network 10’s Big Bash has risen to become a very real threat to Channel Seven’s Australian Open prime time ratings pot of gold — a serious concern for the home grand slam broadcaster that has been compounded by the behaviour and reputations of Australian tennis’ bad boys.

Going head to head with the Australian Open on Monday night and Tuesday night, Ten’s Big Bash smashed it’s way to comfortable ratings wins in prime time national average audience figures supplied to news.com.au by Network 10.

The Big Bash topped the tennis on Monday 1.013 million to 862,000 national average viewers on the network’s primary channels.

The cricket also trumped the action at Melbourne Park on Tuesday 1.052 million to 758,000 national average viewers on the network’s primary channels.

Kyrgios’ epic five-set rollercoaster loss to Andreas Seppi on Wednesday night is the only fixture that has given Channel Seven a win over the Big Bash with Kyrgios’ match attracting a 1.024 million national average audience compared to the Adelaide Strikers’ win over the Sydney Thunder with a national average audience of 870,000.

However, Kyrgios’ Wednesday night audience is the exception to the rule for the first week of Seven’s Australian Open coverage, according to Fusion Strategy boss and renowned media analyst Steve Allen.

Channel Seven trumpeted its ratings win on Wednesday night with a combined night time national audience average of 1.15 million viewers across its tennis broadcasts on Channel Seven and Seven Two.

However, Seven’s tennis ratings have dipped significantly from last year, even accounting for Kyrgios’ Wednesday night thriller.

Kyrgios’ audience failed to reach the same ratings Lleyton Hewitt’s first round match reached on day two of the 2016 event which attracted an audience of 1.198 million.

Even Kyrgios struggles to watch himself sometimes.

The ratings figures provided by Channel 10 show Seven’s average national audience has dropped 26 per cent from 1.187 million to 881,000, comparing the first three nights of the 2016 and 2017 Australian Open national average audience.

Allen says Seven’s drop off is not as significant as the raw numbers suggest, but believes there is a simple explanation for the dipping tennis ratings.

The Australian audience is sick of Kyrgios and Tomic.

“They’re not turning on,” Allen told news.com.au.

“They don’t trust their behaviour or the outcome. When Aussie s have a real chance of winning we watch, but with those two and (Sam) Stosur, we are losing our love affair for them. We’re no longer prepared to take the chance.

“Some personalities for all kinds of reasons are not trusted as much. They don’t attract as big a lift. Stosur folds. She hasn’t been able to win in Australia. It might be because of Kyrgios and his histrionics. It might be because of Tomic and his histrionics. They’ve really been our three mainstays since Hewitt retired last year and they’ve all got problems with the public and support from the public for different reasons.”

Allen said the diminished attraction of Kyrgios and Tomic will hurt Seven in the hip pocket, but expects the Australian Open ratings in the second week to return to similar levels from previous Opens when interest in international superstars, including Serena Williams and Roger Federer, spikes.

He also believes the impressive performances from unheralded Australians, including 17-year-old Alex De Minaur, at this year’s Open will result in a ratings “scorcher” for Seven in 2018 because of the growing public interest in a larger number of Australians competing.

Tomic isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Despite Seven’s promising potential for the 2018 Open, Allen says the dominance of 10’s Big Bash is undeniable.

“The tennis has been problematic shall we say this year, but there’s still been some pretty good audiences,” he said. “They are down in ratings. There’s no question. They are not as strong as they were the previous year.

“Ten, obviously, is doing well with the Big Bash, but they’re up-selling it for all it’s worth.”

While Seven’s audience has been dented by the reputations of Kyrgios and Tomic, the Big Bash owes a significant part of its growth to its players.

Network 10’s head of Big Bash David Barham said it was incredible to see its overall market share increase this season.

He said Network 10’s Big Bash coverage has received particularly strong growth in audiences tuning in specifically to watch their local team in action.

“It’s really taken off this year,” Barham said.

“It’s gone to another level. There is a parochialism around the teams that is really good. It’s a lot more like footy season now.

“What amazes me is that a local cricket competition is now rivalling and sometimes surpassing one of the big four tennis majors. If you’d said three or four years ago that a cricket match between NSW and Victoria was going to be bigger than the tennis, people would have laughed at you.”