While I agree the crossover does effect ratings hence why I take them with a grain of salt.
You are looking at it still as a whole, Those crossover games do affect the total numbers BUT ch7 in particular are able to run the game specific to a state.
In return they are able to sell ad space at a premium because they know they will get a higher number from that area.
Like the crossover game you speak of. 4th v 18th is a poo slinger however Adelaide it will rate fairly decent as it has an Adelaide team in it
I'd imagine as an SA business you'd want to get in on a Port Adelaide or Adelaide game during this time of the year?
So while generally yes that is a horrible time. There are more opportunities to make it up due to certain things that can be done. Which can't be in RL and hence RL is always less
In a few hours we can compare the relevant Thurs night game ratings. Then put in how much ad space each game would of had. NRL was a good one for commercials last night with the injuries and a few tries
I'm looking at it at both a micro and macro level.
Yeah they can run the game to a specific state. But it's not Sunday night. It's Saturday arvo. The gain in Adelaide will be in the low 10k's, if that. There's just not that many people watching TV in general, let alone for the AFL at that time. Also you may not have noticed but some of those Saturday arvo clash games have rated so low guys like The Wookie haven't actually been able to record them as they're not in the Top 30s. And when both have rated, even combined they have gotten outrated by 1 NRL game.
Go take a look at the ads that typically run in those Saturday afternoon slots across all networks. When you're seeing ads for small local businesses, it's because they're the cheapest to run. When you see the exact same national brand ad run every single break, it's because the network hasn't filled all their slots, so they run on loop to fill the unsold space as part of the national campaign buy because they run on spread volume, not just targeted slots. You'll also see an uptick in extended informercials. Again because they're cheap and longer to fill the slots. I repeat -- it's called the Dead Zone for a reason.
If they got the same deal then people can’t use game length as a reason for nrl getting less than afl.
the issue about nrl getting bigger ratings really became clear only a few years ago once streaming data was made available
previously all the commentary was about nrl ratings flatlining. Then the streaming data included and that was shown to be wrong
And yet I see over and over, and even last week, by people involved in their game for the game to be shortened.
It isn't just a RL issue BUT the issue is people want games without commercials.
Viewers aren't just migrating to streaming, they already have done it. Watch the post news drop off on 7 & 9. They used to hold 80-90% of those number post 7pm 25 years ago. But now the news finishes and people stream. And once the boomers die off, the 6pm News on FTA will be on death's door too.
Streaming doesn't need a tonne of ad breaks. Some services want that but on the whole most streaming viewers are streaming to get away from commercials. And what streaming services want is premium content in prime time when people are actually home and watching, with fewer stoppages to stop channel/service changers.
In the not too distance future, the majority of AFL & NRL games will run back to back to back in prime time, no talking head interruptions, no commercials. One game's whistle ends, the next game's whistle starts. Constant content with minimal opportunities for subscribers to choose to look elsewhere.
Anybody who can't see that coming shouldn't be in the business.
