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AFL Grand Final lowest metro audience since 2001; Nine steals the week

Saturday’s AFL Grand Final on Seven – which saw the Geelong Cats beat the Sydney Swans with an 81-point win at the MCG – topped overall TV viewing over the weekend, also winning all three key advertising demos.

The footy game which saw 2.179 million metro viewers tune in and aired at the traditional 2:30pm timeslot, was the lowest rating decider since OzTAM began in 2001. It brought in 95,000 viewers on streaming platforms.

In Melbourne, 1.066 million people tuned in to watch the final, while Sydney saw 375,000 metro viewers tune in, Perth pulled in 300,000 metro viewers, Brisbane had 232,000 metro viewers, and Adelaide brought in 207,000 metro viewers. Total TV numbers will be released next week.

Last year’s finals game, which was aired during primetime, saw 3.006 million metro viewers tune in to watch the Melbourne Demons defeat the Western Bulldogs. The result gave the AFL Grand Final its highest ratings since 2016, surpassing last year’s showdown between the Richmond Tigers and Geelong Cats which brought in 2.979 million metro viewers. It’s important to note this was during a time of disruption due to considerable Covid lockdown activity.

Seven West Media managing director and chief executive officer, James Warburton said: “Seven’s live, free and exclusive coverage of the unmissable premiership decider captivated the nation and demonstrated once again why the AFL is Australia’s #1 winter sport.

“It is a vital part of Seven’s unbeatable sporting content and we are delighted to work with the AFL, the players, clubs and fans for many years to come as we take the AFL’s free-to-air coverage into a new era,” he said, adding, “We will always support the decisions the AFL makes for the fans. The numbers and comparisons are clear for all to see to support a primetime AFL Grand Final. It’s a national game and a twilight or primetime bounce will maximise the audience for the code.”

The NRL preliminary final between the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs registered 414,000 viewers in Sydney compared to the 375,000 for the AFL decider.

It was Nine which beat Seven in the week ending 24 September with a network share of 30.8% over Sevens 30.2%, while ABC finished the week at 17.9%, followed by Ten on 13.2%. The win was all thanks to The Block, NRL Finals and the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II coverage.

Nine also won the primary channel share for the week, with a 23.7% share ahead of Seven’s 23%, and the top multi-channel for the week was ABC News with 3.4% thanks to Monday’s Royal Funeral coverage.

In the latest Daily Consolidated Total TV Report for 18 September, The Block on Sunday was the #1 program nationally across linear, with 1.785 million viewers, including 300,000 on BVOD, and an uplift of 32%. The biggest uplift of the week was an episode of Silent Witness on ABC with an uplift of 73%, a total audience of 438,000, and a total BVOD audience of 63,000.

Taking a look at Sunday’s TV viewing, Nine the Block topped the night overall and entertainment, with 1.040 million metro viewers tuning in. The episode also won all three key advertising demos.

Next in entertainment, Farmer Wants a Wife on Seven pulled in 489,000 metro viewers, followed by an episode of Spicks and Specks on ABC with a metro audience of 446,000.

Savage River was next with 323,000 metro viewers, while Ten’s The Amazing Race episode on Sunday aired to 291,000 metro viewers.

In news programming, Seven News on Sunday was #1 with 917,000 metro viewers, followed by Nine News on Sunday with a metro audience of 829,000. 60 Minutes was next with 559,000 metro viewers, while ABC News on Sunday had 528,000 metro viewers. 10 News First brought in 242,000 metro viewers.

Nine won the night, taking an overall network share of 34.6% over Seven’s 27.5%, while ABC had a share of 16.2, and Ten took a 13.5% share.

Nine also won the primary channel share, and the top-rating multi-channel on Sunday was 7mate on 4.2%.

 

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