After Nine’s hellish 2024, senior executives would have hoped its Australian Open broadcast rights meant some early ratings wins, especially compared to rival network Seven and its coverage of cricket’s Big Bash League. They would have had every right to be optimistic, too, with the tennis tournament coming off the back of record-breaking attendance in 2024.
However, the first six days of the 2025 Australian Open tell a different story, despite crowds numbers being on track to demolish last year’s figures. Nine’s coverage of the Open has fairly consistently topped ratings for TV viewership and streaming on free-to-air services (excluding subscription options). But the Big Bash League has drawn more viewers than some tennis night sessions, with Seven also posting competitive viewership figures for domestic cricket despite the international marquee event.
On January 17, the sixth night session of the Open ranked third with 1.894 million total TV viewers. Hot on its heels was the Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder in fourth with 1.76 million, beating out the second AO night session despite it featuring Australian Aleksandar Vukic and Brit Jack Draper’s four-hour thriller.
On January 16, Brisbane vs Hobart beat out the second night session of the tennis, which saw Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev upset by American qualifier Learner Tien.
The first day of the Open saw a significant win for cricket on Seven as well, with the Melbourne Derby on Seven pulling almost level with day one coverage of the tennis. Seven’s coverage of the first Women’s Ashes one day international was also sitting sixth with 1.22 million viewers.
It contrasts with 2024, when the Australian Open on Nine consistently and significantly beat Seven’s cricket coverage, despite a Test series ongoing. Other factors may also have been at play: 2024 was the first year since 2002 that none of the “big three” of men’s tennis — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic — won a Grand Slam, and only Djokovic is competing at Melbourne Park this year. Likewise, recognisable drawcards such as Ash Barty and Serena Williams have left women’s tennis over the past few years.
The end of major sporting events such as the Australian Open is typically a chance for broadcasters to segue into home-spun shows that will hold audiences for as long as possible, with the incoming season of Married at First Sight Australia airing following the Open’s conclusion.
Nine has heavily promoted MAFS throughout the tennis, but will now go up against free-to-air coverage of Australia’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, the first time overseas bilateral Test cricket has been on free-to-air television in Australia since 1997. Time differences with Sri Lanka mean the cricket will air from 3:30 pm to approximately 10:30 pm on Australia’s east coast, directly clashing with the primetime slot in which MAFS will air.
Seven’s last-minute coup of the broadcast rights for the Sri Lanka tour was completely unexpected by industry insiders. Crikey understands even members of Seven’s sports production team were blindsided.
Meanwhile, Nine’s month got worse when its papers reported the company’s sports presenter Alex Cullen was stood down earlier this week after allegedly accepting $50,000 from billionaire Adrian Portelli to call him “McLaren Guy” instead of “Lambo Guy” on air, a reference to the $3 million McLaren Senna GTR that Portelli keeps in the living room of his 57th floor Melbourne apartment.
Nine said in a statement that Cullen’s actions were taken “extremely seriously”.
“Appropriate action has been promptly taken, including arranging for the funds to be returned.”
If that wasn’t enough, veteran presenter Tony Jones (who has his own controversial broadcast history) has apologised to Djokovic after mocking a group of his Serbian fans on-air as they cheered in the background of the Nine broadcast.
“Novak, he’s overrated. Novak’s a has-been. Novak, kick him out,” Jones chanted over the top of the Serbian supporters, referencing Djokovic’s 2022 deportation from Australia after refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Djokovic boycotted an interview with Nine following his fourth-round win over Czech Jiri Lehecka, describing Jones’ remarks as “insulting and offensive”.
In Jones’ apology, he said, “I considered [the remarks] to be humour, which is consistent with most things I do”.
The Jones faux pas is the talk of the Australian Open media centre. Reporters from Nine competitors, including overseas outlets, were overheard in the media room dismissing Jones’ mea culpa as a “non-apology apology”, with others suggesting “It’s time for Ch 9 to retire that fella” and “This is a product of … matey Australian TV culture.”
“It was wildly unnecessary from Chompers,” another local reporter told Crikey.
It’s not just about Nine’s reputation either, they argued. Jones continues to “act like an inappropriate and unfunny uncle without consequence. It’s embarrassing and now it’s embarrassing on a global scale.”
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