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The first NRL game of 2020 brings 619,000 metro viewers to Nine

The NRL is back for its delayed 2020 season with the Brisbane Broncos going down to the Paramatta Eels in the first game, played at Suncorp Stadium. The Eels took a convincing 34-6 win over the Broncos, with 619,000 metro viewers tuning in to Nine to watch the game.

Nationally 952,000 viewers watched across two channels – the match aired on Nine’s main channel in Sydney and Brisbane and on 9Gem in other markets.

The full financial details of the 2020 season are yet to be revealed, but shortly before the game began Nine announced it had signed another deal with the NRL for the next three years. Foxtel has gone a step further, securing the sport until 2027. The match drew 355,000 viewers on Fox League.

Mark Frain, Foxtel Media CEO, said the match drew over 600,000 viewers across all channels and streams.

“Like most of Australia, we are delighted to welcome back the NRL to Australian screens. Last night 683k people tuned in to watch the Eels triumph against the Broncos! What a record-breaking night for Foxtel and Foxtel Media.

“With the NRL rights now secured we are excited to be offering an unprecedented depth of coverage for audiences on Foxtel, and of course to be offering the best platform for advertisers to connect with footy fans. As the home of NRL til 2027, there is no better place to reach sports audiences than Foxtel,” said Frain.

Up against the NRL, Ten’s Masterchef brought in 960,000 metro viewers and 1.241m nationally. Seven’s block of three episodes of Home and Away brought in 524,000 metro viewers and 865,000 nationally. Nine filled the gap on its main channel with RBT for the states which didn’t air the NRL, bringing in 239,000 metro viewers.

In Sydney and Brisbane, NRL was the most-watched program in the slot, drawing 286,000 in Sydney and 249,000 in Brisbane. Comparatively, Masterchef delivered 276,000 and 168,000 in the cities respectively.

Masterchef was again the winner in the key advertising demographics (16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s) while Nine News took second place in the two older demographics and the NRL took second with the 16-39s.

Overall, the most-watched show of the night was Seven News with 1.102m metro viewers and 1.731m nationally. Nine News delivered 1.063m and 1.391. ABC News secured 801,000 and 1.174m nationally.

The most-watched channel of the night was Nine with a 21.8% audience share for its main channel. As a network Nine also won the night on a 30.3% audience share. Ten held 16.2% for its main channel and 22.1% as a network while Seven secured 15.7% and 23.6%. ABC held a channel share of 10.5% and a network share of 15.2%. The most-watched multi-channel was 7TWO with 3.7%.

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