The Australian Open 2022 has witnessed record-breaking viewership numbers through its linear television broadcast partner, Nine Network. The live coverage of the sensational competition achieved a national audience of a whopping 12.5 million viewers, who experienced the tournament on Channel 9 and 9Gem.
The women’s final showcased the exciting victory of the Australian tennis player, Ashleigh Barty, over Danielle Collins and garnered a total of 3.52 million views on the Nine Network. This astonishing number led the event to become the most-watched Australian Open women’s final of all time and also made it the most-viewed broadcast in Australia for this year.
In addition to this, the media network also gained a total of 2.46 million views on the men’s doubles final that starred the win of the native athletes, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios. This event became the most-watched doubles game in the Australia-based Grand Slam history.
The emphatic win of Rafael Nadal over Daniil Medvedev to win his 21st Grand Slam title, going ahead of the tennis greats, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, became the most-viewed Australian Open men’s final in the past four years. It garnered a significant audience of 2.15 million viewers.
Nine Network, while achieving a humongous viewing response on its linear channels also gained successful viewership on its streaming service 9Now. It engaged an average of 391,000 tennis fans every day by streaming 636 million minutes of exclusive tennis content covering the whole tournament.
OzTAM is a television audience measurement organization that recorded viewership data for the Australian Open. The combined commercial audience share of total people roped in by the women’s singles final and men’s doubles final came out to be 78.6 per cent, which is the highest primetime commercial share ever calculated in OzTAM history.
Michael Healy, Nine’s Director of Television, commented on this historical achievement and said, “The Australian Open is the undisputed number one summer sport and we’re thrilled that so many viewers tuned in across the tournament, including record breaking figures for the Women’s Final and Men’s Doubles Final. Last night’s epic Men’s Final was the highest rating in four years. Our BVOD numbers also set a new Australian Open record, with 227,000 viewers live streaming the Men’s Final on 9Now and almost 250,000 viewers live streaming the Women’s Final on 9Now. I’d like to commend Craig Tiley and everyone at Tennis Australia for staging such a magnificent event as well as the entire Wide World of Sports team for their brilliant coverage.”