State of Origin game three cracks 2m metro viewers for Nine
2.002m metro viewers have tuned in to Nine to watch the NSW Blues conquer the Queensland Maroons in the final game of the 2019 State of Origin series. The pre-game coverage brought in 1.105m and 651,000 watched the post-match analysis.
That’s compared to 1.96m for game two which aired on a Sunday and 2.178m for game one on June 5. In 2018 just 1.7m metro viewers tuned in for game three after the series had already been decided in game two. Last year, 2.09m watched game two, and 2.353m for the first game.
A new #Origin dynasty begins. ? #9WWOS pic.twitter.com/Q9pAvejA4O
— NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) July 10, 2019
The pre-match, game and post-match were the three most-watched programs in all three of the key advertising demographics – 16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s.
Last week, Nine head of sport Tom Malone told Mumbrella the network is very concerned with the state of sporting rights going forward, and argued that broadcasters should have all rights for any sports they air. The network has full broadcast rights for State of Origin.
The success of the game gave Nine an easy edge over the other channels, with it holding a 42.3% audience share in metro audiences ahed 25-54, and a 48.4% share in the 16-39s. The channel overall held a 36.7% audience share and Nine had a 48.3% share as a network.
Elsewhere in sport, Nine also had success with the ICC Cricket World Cup, which saw session two of the semi final between India and New Zealand bring 254,000 metro viewers to 9Gem, making it the most-watched multi-channel with a 7.1% audience share.
Seven’s big winner was Seven News which brought in 1.095m for the first half, and 1.012m for the second which airs as Today Tonight in some cities. The channel’s most-watched entertainment programming was The Chase Australia with 653,000 metro viewers. 102,000 tuned in for Wimbledon Day Nine, and 114,000 for the later coverage.
555,000 metro viewers tuned in for Masterchef, making it the most-watched for Ten, while ABC News drew 628,000.
Beyond Nine in the audience share, Seven held 13.2%, Ten 8.8% and ABC 8.4%. Seven Network had a 19.2% audience share, while Network Ten held 13.9% and ABC Network 12.0%.
