http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...n/news-story/a814d4bc2711543591d5b43d77ae62d5
North Queensland Cowboys the most popular NRL team on Fox Sports, thanks to Johnathan Thurston
Phil Rothfield, The Sunday Telegraph
44 minutes ago
THE Cowboys are the NRL’s most popular team on pay television this season … thanks to one player.
Like in the days when Andrew Johns was working his magic and the Newcastle Knights were the highest rating side on TV, immortal-in-waiting Johnathan Thurston has done the same thing.
A Fox Sports TV ratings analysis reveals the Cowboys have attracted most viewers for the first time in the club’s history, even without their champion playmaker for six weeks.
Fox Sports head of television Steve Crawley has no doubt it’s Thurston’s extraordinary popularity and hero status with younger fans.
“The kids love JT,” Crawley said,
“When Joey Johns played the Knights were the top rating team. When he quit they dropped to third- last in the rankings.
“Same with Freddie Fittler at the Roosters in 2002 when they won the comp and rated highest.
“There’s no doubt the superstar players and kids controlling the remote are the major reason.”
The support they picked up from winning the 2015 grand final built an even stronger support network in North Queensland.
“They are absolutely fanatical,” Crawley said, “They’ll drive six hours to watch their team play. They won the comp in 2015 in a thriller and picked up lots of admirers.”
Another reason is that TV production costs in Townsville are almost double that of a Sydney game and Channel Nine often avoids their home matches to leave Fox Sports to show them exclusively.
Melbourne is up very high because of Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater.
Cronulla is the highest-rating Sydney club on the back of winning last year’s premiership. The analysis shows pay TV viewers also love the adventurous attacking style of the Canberra Raiders, who are third-highest in the competition.
The surprise is Penrith rating poorly despite having the most exciting young side in the competition.