The science of nanotechnology – the manipulation of matter at an atomic level – has long been the purview of white-coated boffins. But don’t be fooled; the real work is being done in Australia's TV publicity departments.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal during the men’s singles final at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday. Credit:AP
Almost 11 million Aussies caught at least a few minutes of the Open on Nine; roughly the same as last year. And more of us are choosing to stream the Open on our phones: 110 million minutes this year, compared to 94 million in 2018.
So what's going on?
At one level, it's business as usual; each network furiously spinning the numbers to suit themselves. But the unpredictability of live sport adds migraine-inducing levels of complexity.
One year, a men's final might be over in a couple of hours; another year, it could stretch well past midnight. Famous players usually attract more viewers than up-and-comers. Whether a game airs on a main channel or a secondary channel also matters.
All of this makes like-for-like comparisons fraught with peril.
Not to mention the Australia Day public holiday, which fell on the Monday after this year's men's final. One network insider believes people took advantage of the warm weather by going away over the long weekend – as a result, many tennis fans were not near a TV on Sunday.
It sounds plausible, but it doesn't explain why the metropolitan ratings for Saturday's women's final were up a little on last year.
The women’s singles final between Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova drew more viewers than last year’s. Credit:Eddie Jim
Media analyst Steve Allen, managing director of Fusion Strategy, is no stranger to industry spin.
"Every network sends us these Excel spreadsheets, and they all claim theirs is the correct interpretation of the ratings," he says.
Sometimes, they have a point. In this instance, Allen believes the truth lies somewhere between Nine's self-boosterism and Seven's bubble-bursting counterclaims.
"Very broadly, the tennis ratings are flat," he says.
"There are individual variations on different days but, overall, the numbers haven't really gone up or down compared to last year. That might not be the sexiest angle – but it's the truth."
Source: Read Full Article