Network Ten's Big Bash claimed a ratings win against the Australian Open's on Monday, demonstrating again why commercial networks are lining up to secure BBL broadcast rights next summer.
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Session two of the Hobart Hurricanes' win over the Brisbane Heat garnered an average viewership of 794,000 in capital cities, while the first half of the match was watched by an average of 667,000 individuals.
That put the BBL clear of Network Seven's opening night session of the tennis, which averaged 589,000 viewers on its main channel.
It is worth noting, however, that Seven splits its tennis broadcast over multiple channels. Seven Mate shows different matches to the main channel, while Seven Two takes over when the news is broadcast from 6-7pm.
Monday's evening schedule was also not as attractive as Tuesday's offering, which included defending Roger Federer, Australia's No. 1 ranked female player Ashleigh Barty and rising star Alex de Minaur.
The Big Bash consistently outrated the Australian Open last year, before the tennis finished strongly on the back of its two dream finals - Serena versus Venus Williams in the women's, alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the men's.
And it hasn't slowed down this summer on the back of a range of new superstars including Hobart's D'Arcy Short and Afghani leg spinner Rashid Khan who has become a cult hero at the Adelaide Strikers.
"There's a few things this summer that have been great, D'Arcy Short has been fantastic, KP's [Kevin Pietersen's] farewell tour has turned into a beauty, and the fact that leg spinners are dominating T20 cricket," Network Ten executive for Big Bash David Barham said.
"Who would've thought that was going to happen, now it looks like you can't win it unless you've got a good leg spinner. It just keeps changing, and it changes so quick that you've got to keep up with it and that makes it great.
"We are particularly happy with the ratings between the 25 to 54 demographic and that's a big one for us. We're having an all time high ratings for 25 to 54s which is the market you want."
Monday's Big Bash fixture was a clear winner on the night with the 25 to 54 age bracket. Hobart's run chase fetched an average of 381,000 viewers in that demographic, ahead of the 338,000 who watched the first session.
They were well clear of third on that list, which was Nine News at 6.30pm.
Opening night of the tennis was 10th on that particular list with 209,000 average viewers.
Network Ten pays about $20m per year for Big Bash broadcasting rights, but this is the final season of their current deal which is expected to spark a bidding war in the coming months.
Cricket Australia hopes a new broadcast deal will be in place by April, and while Ten is keen to retain the BBL, Nine and Seven are also expected to bid for the popular competition.
Ratings and crowds are slightly down on the record 2016-17 summer but Network Ten remains a popular platform for the BBL.
"You really just try to concentrate on what you've got to do, you concentrate on getting your coverage right, getting your commentators right, make sure you put on good coverage every night," Barham said.
"You start working on that from June July, you get your head down and that's what you do. Outside of that you can't do much more."
