7Two’s Australian Open late broadcast out-rates main channel as viewers fragment

The battling wins of two unheralded Australians saw Seven Network retain strong late night audiences on the opening day of the Australian Open.

The night matches from 7pm had a combined audience of 787,000, with 505,000 metro viewers watch the night matches on Seven, and 7Mate in Perth, with an extra 282,000 viewers watching on secondary channel 7Two.

However, 7Two stole a surprise ratings win from the primary channel for the late night slot with 510,000 watching the secondary channel and 440,000 following the match screened on Seven, according to OzTam metro overnight figures..

However the split viewership handed Channel Nine the channel audience share victory for the evening with 18.6 per cent to Seven’s 18.1 per cent.