Australian Open tennis scores TV viewers across the board

The data indicates that the Australian Open tennis telecast has a slightly stronger appeal for women than men. 51% of these Australian Open TV viewers are women (representing 37% of all Australian women aged 14+ years) whilst 49% are men (representing 36% of the Australian male population aged 14+ years).

In terms of sport participation, 1.35 million Australians 14+ play tennis regularly or occasionally, representing only 7% of this population.Tennis participation among Australians 14+ skews towards men, who make up 59% of this group. In fact, the men outnumber the female tennis players by 44%.


Australians who watch Australian Open tennis on television, compared to those who play tennis


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, October 2010 - September 2011 (n = 18,581).


While the Australian Open TV broadcast appears to have a broad appeal in terms of gender, looking at the data for the different generation groups reveals that the Australian Open is slightly more popular among older TV viewers. For example, it is watched by nearly half of the Pre-Boomer generation group, but by less than a third of each Generations Y and Z.


Australian Open television viewers Vs. regular/occasional tennis players – by generation group


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, October 2010 - September 2011 (n = 18,581).


Looking at a breakdown of the TV audience reveals that 44% of Australian Open viewers are Baby Boomers or Pre-Boomers, whilst Generations Y and Z account for 29% of Australians 14+ who almost always or occasionally watch the Australian Open on TV.


Generation group breakdown of Australian Open TV audience Vs. regular/occasional tennis players


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, October 2010 - September 2011 (n = 18,581).


Conversely, participation in the sport shows a distinct skew towards the younger generations, with Generations Y and Z accounting for 56% of all Australians aged 14+ who play tennis (regularly or occasionally), compared to just 19% that is made up by Pre-Boomers and Baby Boomers.

In the middle, Generation X is the only group that makes up nearly the same proportion of both TV viewers and participants: they account for 26% of ‘almost always/occasional’ Australian Open TV viewers and 25% of regular/occasional tennis players.

George Pesutto, Industry Director – Media, Roy Morgan Research says:

“Whilst the TV audience for the Australian Open does skew slightly to older generations, we’re still seeing that a significant proportion of each of the other generations is tuning in to the Australian Open – demonstrating that this event definitely has a very broad appeal.

“The Australian Open is the clear winner in terms of TV sports watched by women – in fact it’s the only major sport that’s watched by more women than men.This event clearly provides a great opportunity for sponsors and advertisers wanting to reach both men and women.

“You obviously don’t have to play the game in order to be a fan. In fact, given the size of the Australian Open TV audience, it’s almost surprising that more people don’t pick up a racquet.”

Purchase the detailed Roy Morgan Tennis Australian Open Viewer Profile. Purchase from our detailed range of sport viewer profiles including – Tennis, AFL, Cricket, A-League Soccer and many more. Tennis Players and Tennis Spectators profiles are also available.

Purchase froman extensive range of detailed Roy Morgan media profiles, across print, internet, radio, television, and more. These profiles provide a broad understanding of the target audience, in terms of demographics, attitudes, activities and media usage in Australia.

Click here to browse thousands of accurate, insightful quantitative Roy Morgan research reports and profiles ready to download now.


For more details contact:

info@roymorganonlinestore.com