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FIFA World Cup, Women’s State of Origin and AFL leave Ten in last place in Friday night ratings battle

TV viewers had a plethora of sporting options last night, with 525,000 metro viewers tuning in for the AFL match between Port Adelaide Power and the Melbourne Demons on Seven, 507,000 choosing the Brazil vs Costa Rica FIFA World Cup Match on SBS, and 370,000 watching the inaugural Women’s State of Origin Match on Nine.

The various football viewing options across different codes and networks left Ten struggling to attract an audience. Ten’s main channel ultimately placed last with 10.3% of the audience, behind SBS’ 10.6%, ABC’s 12.1%, Nine’s 15.6% and Seven’s 21.7%, according to OzTAM’s overnight preliminary metro ratings. 

Between the cities, however, viewing habits were quite different.

In Sydney, the FIFA World Cup match between Brazil and Costa Rica at 9:30pm on the SBS main channel was most popular, with 177,000 tuning in across the city. Slightly earlier, at 7:45pm, 159,000 tuned in for the Women’s State of Origin clash – taken out by New South Wales – on Nine.

The AFL match, which didn’t include a Sydney team, screened on 7mate in Sydney, attracting 29,000 viewers.

In Melbourne, unsurprisingly, it was all about the AFL, with 279,000 viewers watching. 149,000 watched the soccer on SBS, while just 4,000 watched NSW take on Queensland in the Women’s State of Origin match on Nine’s multi-channel 9Gem.

Adelaide also picked the AFL, with 135,000 tuning in to see its team triumph over Melbourne. 51,000 watched the World Cup on SBS, and just 1,000 went to the multi-channel to see the Women’s State of Origin.

Brisbane’s favourite sporting option was the State of Origin, with 117,000 tuning in. 69,000 watched the World Cup, while – despite not having a horse in the race – 19,000 watched the AFL match on 7mate.

Perth viewers were also drawn to the World Cup (62,000) and the AFL (64,000), but didn’t care much for the Women’s State of Origin (6,000).

Ten struggled in the face of the various sporting battles. Its most-watched program was The Living Room with 439,000 metro viewers.

Overall, the most-watched program of the night was Seven News, which attracted 915,000 metro viewers. The most-watched entertainment program was The Chase, also on Seven, with 594,000.

Tonight’s television ratings battle will also likely centre on sport, with SBS screening the Belgium vs Tunisia match – thanks to Optus’ ongoing streaming problems – and Ten banking on the deciding Rugby clash between the Wallabies and Ireland.

Seven will screen the AFL on its main channel in Melbourne – as the Western Bulldogs take on the North Melbourne Kangaroos, and will rely on movies for the non-AFL-loving states.

Nine will screen movies, including Jurassic World, in some cities, but in Sydney is showing the NRL Pacific Test between Toa Samoa and Mate Ma’a Tonga.

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