Here is the article pcpp is referring to.
Millions witness Maroons level the series
17 June 2004
More than three million viewers tuned in across NSW and Queensland to see Billy Slater, level the Harvey Norman State of Origin series with one of Origins most spectacular tries.
Across Sydney and Brisbane an average of 1.89million viewers tuned in from kick off, with both cities attracting their peak audience (1.169m in Sydney 894,000 in Brisbane) in the thrilling final stages.
In regional NSW and Queensland 1.29million viewers watched through the Win and NBN networks.
The total average viewing audience across Australia from kick off to full time was 3.326 million with a peak audience of over 3.5milion.
More than half the Australian population live in NSW and Queensland and there was no question which sport they were tuning into, ARL Chairman, Mr Colin Love, said today.
Along with a record crowd of 52,478 Suncorp Stadium last night provided one of the most memorable Origin contests.
It sets the scene for an incredible evening at Telstra Stadium on July 7 where NSW will be out to not only take this 2004 series but to also level the overall head to head score at 35-all as Origin enters its 25 year celebrations in 2005.
Despite late night replays in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, game two of the Harvey Norman State still attracted another 130,000 viewers across the southern states.
It is unfortunate that when people publish ratings results they compare only the capital city markets rather than the total Australian viewing audience. Mr Love said.
By any measure the ratings for game 2 of the Harvey Norman State of Origin Series show that State of Origin Rugby League remains one of the nations most significant sporting events.
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