Australian Open 2023: Channel 9’s decision to wipe Novak Djokovic from telecast backfires
Channel 9 has come under heavy fire following the network’s decision to brush the greatest Australian Open champion from its telecast.
Another day and another ratings hit for Channel 9’s coverage of the Australian Open with a 28 per cent fall year-on-year for day 2.
Heat and rain suspending plays throughout the day and night sessions will doubtless have impacted viewing figures, but perhaps the bigger question is the network’s decision not to show Novak Djokovic’s opening clash on either channel.
Instead of the 9-time champion’s Rod Laver match, Nine opted to show Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis in their opening encounters.
The decision infuriated fans who took to social media to vent their fury and it showed in the daily numbers released on Wednesday morning.
Combined sessions for the main channel show a 28 per cent decrease on 2022 which when further broken down equate to a 26 per cent drop in the night session and 31 per cent for the day.
Nine eventually switched their Gem channel to show the Djokovic clash after Kokkinakis v Fognini was rained off.
In some good news for the broadcast giant, day 2 did pull in a bigger audience than The Chase and Home & Away - which is an improvement on day 1.
NINE’S NIGHTMARE SCENARIO AS BBL SMASHES TENNIS
- BEN HORNE
The Big Bash League’s mighty resurgence has enabled cricket to score a clean ace on the opening night of the Australian Open.
Monday night’s last ball Brisbane Heat victory over the Melbourne Stars captivated a combined 612,000 TV audience on Fox Cricket and Channel 7, smashing the 493,000 fans tuning into the tennis on Channel 9.
The unmitigated disaster for Nine that is not having Ash Barty or Nick Kyrgios part of this year’s draw was laid bare on opening night, with the tennis ratings down 44 per cent on last year when Barty kicked off the tournament.
In its halcyon days, the BBL did occasionally beat the tennis, but Monday night’s triumph was the first time cricket has trumped the Australian Open for several years.
But it’s a chastening scenario Nine might need to brace for again over the next two weeks, with Big Bash ratings up over 10 per cent in a major comeback for the T20 league.
For Foxtel Group, that year on year growth is up over 20 per cent — while Kayo streaming numbers has also had a significant growth for BBL numbers.
Prime time simulcast matches on Seven, Fox and Kayo are regularly rating over 800,000 across television and streaming this year.
The 612,000 TV audience Monday night was down on the overall BBL performance for this season, but only relatively speaking because the general sports audience is spread much thinner once the Australian Open starts.
Sunday’s top of the table Sixers v Perth Scorchers clash rated well over 900,000 with Kayo streaming numbers added in.
At certain moments, for example when Australian Test star Steve Smith was batting – the BBL was peaking well over the magic million number.
It’s territory the BBL has not reached since its golden years well before the pandemic, and suddenly there is genuine optimism the competition is back from the dead.
Fox and Seven have managed to get future BBL competitions down from 61 matches to 43 games which will further boost the number of prime time clashes and concentrate the length of the tournament.
Nine ultimately did not have enough cash to bid for the cricket rights after outlaying so much on tennis and the Olympics – however, the massive investment on the tennis over the next five years relies on a new generation of tennis superstars coming through.
With no Roger Federer, Ash Barty and Serena Williams, the tournament really needs local wild man Nick Kyrgios to raise the roof.
Big Bash crowds are also on the rise, with 674,498 people attending the first 44 games of the season.
That is well and truly surpassing the Covid affected full season numbers for the past two years.
BBL average crowds are 15,330 – with fans flocking back after the Covid affected seasons.
It remains possible the BBL could surpass one million fans through the gates for the season – although that will depend on how the finals series matches fall.
TV RATINGS SHOCKER AS AUS OPEN BEATEN BY HOME AND AWAY
Lauren Wood
The Australian Open’s “best field ever” has delivered an early blow to broadcasters with a 44 per cent drop in TV ratings for the first night of the tournament year-on-year.
It marks a 44 per cent drop for the average metropolitan audience when examining all age groups.
Last year’s opening night saw local hope and eventual-champion, No. 1 seed Ash Barty, take to the court.
This year’s event saw current No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek take down German Jule Niemeier in straight sets before Russian Daniil Medvedev - playing under a neutral flag - demolished American Marcos Giron, dropping just three games.
The opening night of competition was defeated by quiz show The Chase Australia (477,000) and long-running homegrown soap Home and Away (463,000).
The 18-49 year old demographic also saw a drop-off of more than 40 per cent compared to last year for the night session.
Nine signed a new broadcast deal in November, estimated to be worth $500 million, in the wake of last year’s ratings bonanza and Barty’s historic victory.
The women’s final featuring Barty delivered a huge 2.838 million viewers, with fellow Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis’ men’s doubles victory pulling in more than 1.7 million viewers.
Tournament director Craig Tiley last week declared he was “proud of the fact that this year is our best field”.
This is despite the absence of Barty (retired), champion Roger Federer (retired), two-time champion Naomi Osaka (pregnant), Serena Williams (retired), Venus Williams (injured), No. 1 men’s player Carlos Alcaraz (injured), 2018 finalist Simona Halep (doping ban) and the withdrawal of top-ranked Australians Kyrgios and Ajla Tomljanovic due to injury on the eve of the tournament.
“As far as the entries go, every single player – we’ve had a few pullouts as you know from injury, but this is our best field we’ve had both on the men and the women,” Tiley said last week.
There could be some respite for broadcasters with the stronger side of the draw - including nine-time champion Novak Djokovic - in action on Tuesday.
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