NRL headquarters becoming master spruikers these days, i think that's the first time we have beaten afl on Thursday or Friday night since it came back and it was a very minor win, i think channel 9 will be pretty underwhelmed with the results this year. V'landys has definitely got the media on side at the moment though.
NRL headquarters becoming master spruikers these days, i think that's the first time we have beaten afl on Thursday or Friday night since it came back and it was a very minor win, i think channel 9 will be pretty underwhelmed with the results this year. V'landys has definitely got the media on side at the moment though.
Rd 7 Thursday Storm v Roosters FTA Metro 339k Regional 267k STV 266k Friday Canberra v Dragons STV 214k Eels v Cowboys FTA Metro 274k Regional 203k STV 246k Saturday STV Wests v Panthers 284k Warriors v Broncos 256k Titans v Sharks 159k Sunday Manly v Knights FTA Metro 273k STV 229k Bulldogs v Rabbits STV 218k Ref https://tvtonight.com.au/category/ratings/ https://www.mediaweek.com.au/category/television/tv-ratings-australia-analysis/
377,000 with 226,000 in Sydney and 113,000 in Brisbane. When the Gem numbers are added for Thursday its: Storm v Roosters 910,000 Nein 644,000 (Metro 377,000 Regional 267,000) Fox 266,000 When there included Friday : 747,000 Nine 501,000 (Metro 298,000 Regional 203,000) Fox League 246,00 Media week
I think one of the reasons that AFL games rate better than NRL (and are better attended) is that AFL fans love their code a bit more than NRL fans do. The main point is they will watch/attend games that don't involve their team. Whereas I think NRL fans are more likely to not watch a game unless their team is involved. That's me. If Parra are playing Ill watch every second. If they are not I'll tune in and out a bit at best. However, if Parra is having a good season I am more likely to watch neutral games. Solution: I think you could boost crowds and TV ratings by having 4 conferences of 4 teams each or 3 conferences of 6 teams each. Conferences build rivalries and interest in neutral games. The NRL could even support each conference in advertising and building narratives of rivalry. Even the construction of the conferences would build controversy and interest.
"AFL games rate better than NRL" is true of Free To Air television, which is essentially a dying medium. It's like a news organisation bragging they have the best paper circulation. And the only reason they're even strong in FTA is because their product is available to more main channel viewers when it's broadcast live - whereas only 2 states and a territory ever take NRL live on their primary FTA channel.
What also is not helping the NRL rating's cause on FTA is the pathetic form of the Broncos,and both the Cows and Tits have been very meh so far.Whilst the Qld fumblers are dong well. The Cows need to knock over the Roosters this week and the Broncos need to start winning.
Its not dying but it is diminishing, FTA audiences are still triple any other platform. It will exist as tth emain format for many years to come yet. What we really need is Kayo figures, regional figures every game and for NIne to include the Perth,Melbourne and Adelaide figures in its metro ratings. Then we will get better comparisons of how the two codes are fairing against each other for tv audiences. Having Ch9 drive audiences away with its terrible coverage isnt helping either. Be nice in next deal if we had Ch10 give the game some respect and put out a decent product with a Thur,Fri,Sat and Sun game on FTA. I suspect the chances of that are gone as Vlandys would have sold Sat to Fox already for next 7 years.
Friday is like there night of nights. Something compels them to watch even if its a blowout and the game is over by quarter time. NRL viewers seem more selective. But there Saturday and Sunday ratings are no better than ours.
Nine have or own, NBN- Newcastle Broadcast New-SW Which has according to them close to 2 million population stretching from the Central coast to the Gold Coast border/ however many Gold Coasters pick up the signal and watch NBN. I remember the lasts TV rights negotiations with Nine saying how much Rugby League means to this area. https://www.nbnnews.com.au/about-us/ So Nine don't really bother to much with the 5 cites/Metro figures and I am sure they their adverting dollars they write has the North coast NSW ( I did not forget QLD rural) tightly targeted and so rating wise, to these areas.
I've argued before that NRL clubs would go in to regional ratings more than AFL. Hell...one is international ratings. Canberra / Riverina St George-Illawarra / South Coast All those on the Central Coast. All those in the Newcastle / Hunter area. All those in the Northern NSW catchment with Newcastle etc. Gold Coast Central / Rural Qld North Qld. and NZ All well and good for "oh...AFL are trouncing us" but none of their teams...perhaps if we exclude Gold Coast, maybe Geelong, are based in areas outside of this arbitrary 5 Metro system. And considering Qld and NSW have a large %age of the Australian population, and would likely to be watching RL, and their "regional" team, then you'd have to say a lot more people than are counted watch NRL. At the end of the day, the ratings aren't apples for apples.
Thats mostly true for the AFL as well though. generally most games in NSW, QLD and even WA are on 7mate.SA, Victoria and Tasmania are always primary channel (even if Tasmania is regional), but the combined population would be less than NSW/QLD Regional ratings are counted though, including Northern and Southern New South Wales. Theres no data for NZ that would be accurate, and I cant get any for the UK. NZ matches in 2015 averaged 27k with 5 games a week shown. Warriors games averaged 122k. theres been no data since. There is no UK, Canada or US data. US data in 2017 when it was last available gave a narrow average win to the AFL (we're talking the difference between 1-3k, and total ratings were in the US margin for error). US ratings are rare as hens teeth at that level now.
With the Broncos struggling, that is not going to help with the ratings. At a time like this, a second Brisbane side would've been handy. It feels like the NRL has put all their eggs in the Broncos basket hoping they make finals every year and go deep in September to bolster tv ratings. But not having a second Brisbane team is hurting the game in more ways than one. There is one less pathway for Brisbane youngsters to come through. And in a financial sense, with no second Brisbane team, it seems like the NRL has left money on the table.
Thursday Cowboys v Roosters Metro 314k (Syd 194k Melb 4k Bris 103k Adel 5k Perth 8k) Regional NSW & Qld 201k Fox League 218k Nationally = 733k ======================== Fri N NRL Rabbitohs v Tigers Metro 307,000 (Syd 180. Qld 100) Regional 199,000 Foxs: 268,000 Total 774,000 Titans v Warriors Fox 224,000 Data: Oztam ---------------------------------------------------------- #FoxLeague Raiders v Storm 314,000 Broncos v Bulldogs 278,000 Sharks v Panthers 195,000 Total: 787k ========================================== SUNDAY AFTERNOON NRL LIVE Nine Knights v Eels Metro 308,000(syd. 191, Qld 117) gem? Fox 292k Total: 600k + Gem + Regional Sts v Manly 215 ================================================ weekly Total = 3.3m (missing about 280k) source Media week / media spy
