Nine’s summer of tennis has reached a national audience of 14.474 million viewers (Metro: 10.263 million / Regional: 4.212 million).

The broadcasts of the ATP Cup, Brisbane International, Adelaide International and Australian Open, which concluded overnight, were watched by 57% of the total population of Australia (Metro: 58% / Regional: 53%).

The bumper audiences for the tennis enabled Nine to grow its share of the free-to-air audience when compared to the tournament last year.

• With People 25-54, the Nine Network was up on 2019 by 3.8 share points
• With People 16-39, the Nine Network was up on 2019 by 5.3 share points
• With Grocery Shoppers + Child, the Nine Network was up on 2019 by 3.7 share points
• With Total People, the Nine Network was up on 2019 by 2.7 share points

Brent Williams, Director of Sport for Nine, said: “The 2020 Australian Open tournament has highlighted how this event – like few others – has the ability to capture the national conversation for much of summer. The success of this year’s AO has been driven in part by the success of Aussies like Millman, Kyrgios and Barty, but more broadly it has been the extraordinary tennis on display from day one right through to last night’s thrilling five set final.”

Our tennis coverage has also been a hit in the digital space. Across the tournaments, more than 10.6 million stream starts have been recorded on 9Now, with a total of 258.2 million minutes of content streamed. The Australian Open has driven 9Now to record highs, securing a 74% share of live content consumed across the commercial free-to-air networks throughout the duration of the event. (Source: OzTAM Live VPM, 3 Jan 2020 -2 Feb 2020. Share based on Australian Open Coverage only 14thJan – 2nd Feb 2020).

Digital Highlights:

• In the two weeks of the Australian Open, 218,2 Million Minutes of live content was viewed on 9Now which equates to 9.1 Million streams. This is up 99% and 60% respectively year on year.
• The Men’s Final is the highest live streamed match for the tournament with 13.7 Million live minutes (up 145% year on year) and a Live VPM of 70,000 (up 59% year on year).
• The Australian Open drives 9Now to the top, claiming the Top 10 live streamed programs Year to date.

Nine’s broadcast of last night’s Men’s Final of the Australian Open achieved a national peak audience of 2.668 MILLION (Metro: 1.943 million / Regional: 725,000).

The match, in which Novak Djokovic defeated Dominic Thiem, secured a national average audience of 2.043 million (Metro: 1.524 million / Regional: 519,000), making it Australia’s No. 2 program of the year to date.

Australia’s No. 1 program of the year to date was the Rafael Nadal v Nick Kyrgios fourth round match on January 27, which peaked with 3.363 MILLION (Metro: 2.536 million / Regional: 827,000) and secured an average audience of 2.473 million (Metro: 1.918 million / Regional: 555,000).

On Saturday night, Nine’s broadcast of the Women’s Final of the Australian Open achieved a national peak audience of 1.639 MILLION (Metro: 1.167 million / Regional: 472,000).

The match, in which Sofia Kenin defeated Garbine Muguruza, had a national average audience of 1.193 million (Metro: 890,000 / Regional: 303,000) watching from home.

Australian Open 2020 also produced a record commercial result for Nine, its partners and sponsors. This year’s major partners and sponsors included: Kia, ANZ, Uber Eats, APT, Peters Icecream, Swisse, Stan, Chemists Warehouse, Swinburne Online, TAL, Campbell’s Arnott’s and APIA.

Matt Granger Nine’s Director of Sales – Sport, said: “This year’s Australia Open has been a record commercial result, as we have worked to integrate our commercial partners and sponsors in and around the exceptional tennis being played on court and deliver them real results that move the needle for their businesses. We’ve been thrilled with the ways our partners have been able to capitalise on the incredible opportunity that is the Summer of Tennis that begins with the ATP Cup and then culminates in the AO.”

For full media release click here.

For further information, please contact:
Nine Network Publicity
Terry Stuart
tstuart@nine.com.au

Monday, February 3, 2020