By Richard Pagliaro Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Photo credit: Antoine Couvertcelle/ROLEX
The Happy Slam is about to bring spring and winter joy to American tennis fans.
Starting this weekend, ESPN will have coverage on all 15 pitches at Melbourne Park.
Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of US East Coast time, which may allow fans to watch live AO games late at night and early in the morning.
All told, ESPN claims it will have “more than 260 hours of live coverage” at Melbourne Park.
More: ESPN talks Brad Gilbert, Pam Shriver’s futures
AO exclusive coverage begins on Saturday, On January 17, first-round games will be broadcast live on the ESPN App at 7 p.m. and on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. New for 2026, match coverage will continue throughout the early rounds, starting in prime time and ending at 7am
A three-hour encore presentation will be available daily on ESPN2 throughout the game. The Mixed Doubles Championship on Thursday, January 29 at 8pm, the Men’s and Women’s Doubles Championship on Friday, January 30 at 8pm, the Legends Championship on Saturday, January 31 at 5:30am and the Junior Singles Championship on Saturday, January 31 at 8pm will be streamed exclusively on the ESPN app.
ESPN and ESPN Deportes will have full coverage of the women’s and men’s tournaments on January 31 and February 1 at 3:30 a.m. respectively.
ESPN 2026 Australian Open TV Schedule
