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AFL supreme in TV battle of the codes
MICHAEL BODEY
The Australian
September 16, 2013 12:00AM
TV audiences are up for the AFL this year and mixed for the NRL. Off-field scandals, it seems, don't work for all.
At the end of the home and away season, Fox Footy's average audience of 222,000 per game is up 8 per cent on the previous year, and the channel ranked No 1 on the subscription-TV platform for 14 consecutive weeks (and 18 weeks overall).
The picture at free-to-air broadcaster Seven is a little more complex, as it has moved its AFL coverage in the Sydney, Brisbane and Perth markets to multichannel 7mate, and is no longer time-shifting matches into prime time in Western Australia.
Nevertheless, Seven's metropolitan reach (people who watched any AFL coverage) was 8.24 million viewers this year, compared with 8.27 million last year, an insignificant variation given the multichannel migration.
Its move to screen AFL in Perth on 7mate was a major fillip for the multichannels, akin to Nine's Ashes results on the Gem channel.
The picture has not been as rosy on the rugby league front, with NRL audiences affected by a number of factors -- including some unfortunate scheduling and a number of blowout results. A poor season by the Brisbane Broncos (in failing to make the top eight) -- and the fact that only one of three Queensland teams made the competition's finals -- did not help.
Nine's Sydney/Brisbane's audience was down 9 per cent on last year's ratings figures. However, the five-city audience for the NRL was up by 6 per cent year on year because of gains made in broadcasts in "non-NRL" states.
The State of Origin series metro audience was down 2 per cent with an average metro audience of 2.534 million.
Friday Night NRL average metro audiences fell from 673,000 to 626,000 and Sunday afternoon was well down due to some poor matches. But the introduction of Thursday Night NRL was a success, with average audiences of 641,000.
Nine will be confident of numbers for the coming grand final, which is likely to feature two teams from a group of the code's best supported teams: South Sydney, Melbourne, Manly and the Sydney Roosters.
Meanwhile, Fox Sports' average NRL audience of 240,000 was down 8 per cent on the same time last year.
On the AFL front, Seven's results are particularly good given the poor performances by the three major teams in WA, SA and Queensland: the West Coast Eagles, Adelaide Crows and Brisbane Lions, the former two of whom were expected to play finals. The poor form of the interstate teams was offset by the on-field rejuvenation of Victorian powerhouses Richmond and Essendon and their latent supporter bases.
Essendon's victories, particularly on Friday Night Football, while embroiled in its drugs scandal boosted audiences. A May clash between the then undefeated Bombers and Geelong scored the biggest Friday night audience of the year for Seven.
On Fox Footy, Essendon's audience had the biggest year-on-year increase (17 per cent), to become the second most watched team on the platform behind Collingwood. The seemingly endless drugs scandal also propelled weekday viewing for Fox Footy, with AFL 360 and On The Couch regularly winning the night for all Foxtel channels.
The AFL's general manager, broadcasting, scheduling and major projects, Simon Lethlean, said the code was pleased with "very good" TV audiences and anticipated a strong finals series.
He said the partnership between Seven and Fox Footy had settled and Seven's move to multichannelling in some states was a positive progression.
"We've seen now that 'live' was what the viewers and (match) attendees were happy with," Lethlean said.
"Perhaps the viewers' patience for 'non-live' sport had dried up, and we got to 'live' at the right time."
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