Free-to-air television ratings are down this summer because of "crap programming".
SBS and Seven were hit the hardest.
Overall, free-to-air summer ratings are down 1.6% in the period from 27 November 2011 to 14 January 2012, buffered only by Ten's ratings increase of 20.7% compared to the same period last year, according to data from OzTam.
SBS suffered the worst drop of 11.6% while Nine declined 5.5%. Seven has hemorrhaged 9.2% of its summer audience so far this summer, but the network will likely get a big boost from the Australian Open.
Fusion Strategy managing director, Steve Allen, attributed the declines to "crap programming" and said Seven had been expected to be "running dead" this summer, partly because it had won the ratings year so convincingly and was saving its first run programming for the ratings year.
However, Seven's overall summer will be dependent on its Australian Open coverage. Allen predicts Seven will come close to winning the summer with its coverage of the tennis tournament but if Australian players Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt advance further, the network will perform exceptionally well.
So far, ratings for the Australian Open have been significantly up this year, following two years of sluggish results due to a lack of Australian tennis talent.
Allen said Ten's 20% increase this was a return to form for the network after the chaos of last summer's preparation for the launch of Eleven, which significantly hindered Ten's results. Ten is launching its "normal" programming this Sunday with a premium line-up of new shows.
Subscription television has benefited from the Big Bash cricket league this summer with an increase of 1.8% over last year's numbers.
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