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Blockbuster NRL grand final peaks at 4.2m and grabs a bigger national audience than AFL

nrl queensland cowboys winLast night’s blockbuster NRL grand final where the Queensland Cowboys overcame the Brisbane Broncos with a golden point win gained a larger audience than the AFL on Saturday with 4.227m viewers at its peak.

The national audience of 3.667m was higher than the AFL’s 3.523m, although the five city metro audience was down  on the AFL with 2.437m compared to 2.635m viewers due to no Sydney side being in the final.

However the 4.227m peak was well above the AFL’s 3.989m for a match that went down to the last kick.

While it was also down on last year’s audience of 3.95m the combined metro and regional audience makes it the second most watched show of the year behind the second State of Origin clash.

That match saw a combined audience of 3,922m viewers with 2,653m metro and 1.268m regional viewers.

Despite a strong regional following of the Townsville-based Cowboys this year’s final had a lower regional audience with 1.23m viewers compared to 1.35m last year.

The OzTam system does not take into account viewers watching out of home, while this year the game was simulcast on Channel Nine and high definition channel Gem.

Sydney was the biggest single market for the match with 952,000, while in Brisbane 788,000 watched their local team lose at the death, the highest rating NRL Grand Final in the city since 2006.

The final helped Nine secure a network audience share of 45.2 per cent, with 40.5 per cent on the main channel.

That left Seven with just a 16.4 per cent share, with Ten floundering on 8.6 per cent behind the ABC on 10.8 per cent.

Nine News grabbed 1.27m viewers at 6pm ahead of Seven News’ 1.04m, while Sunday Night on Seven had 869,000.

The Biggest Loser Families on Ten had just 324,000 viewers up against the NRL at 7.30pm, as Seven has shifted the X Factor to Monday night from now on.

Alex Hayes

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