Only one program mattered last night — the first Rugby League State of Origin game on Nine from Brisbane which was won by NSW (Yippee). So how did the ratings stack up for Nine?  Well, it was a record audience nationally (up 16% from the previous high in 2013), and new all-time highs for metro, regional markets, Sydney and Melbourne. But not in Brisbane where the audience again fell short.

The game had a record 4.058 million national/ 2.487 million metro/ 1.436 million regional viewers. That made it the most watched program on TV so far in 2014. There are still two games to go and if it is one all going back to Brisbane for the decider we could see last night’s highs given a workout.  The previous national high was 3.484 million set last year for Game Three (lost by NSW after being one-all), meaning an extra 574,000 viewers tuned in last night.  Brisbane’s record 809,000 watching Game Three in 2011 was not beaten last night when the audience was 747,000, which was a noticeable shortfall given all the hype. Perhaps that was complacency because Queensland were strongly tipped to win. The regional audience of 1.436 million was 152,000 above the previous high of 1.284 million who watched Game Three in 2004.  Sydney’s 1.228 million beat the long time high of 1.108 million set for Game Two in 1999. Melbourne’s 426,000 topped the previous high of 387,000 set for Game Three last year. It outrated Seven’s House Rules in Melbourne which had 325,000 viewers, a notable achievement given Melbourne is the heartland of the AFL.

Ten, the ABC and SBS at least offered a decent alternative to the Origin game. As a result, MasterChef held up reasonably well with 1.086 million national / 779,000 metro / 307,000 regional viewers. (And SBS seemed to not be hit at all). Seven ran dead in NRL markets, which was to be expected. Tonight it has the regular House Rules on Seven in Sydney and Brisbane (dropped last night for the Origin game), with the Swans/Geelong AFL game on Seven in other markets or on Gem. House Rules is on Seven in Sydney and Brisbane tonight.

Nine of course won the night easily in metro and regional markets.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (44.6%)
  2. Seven (23.2%)
  3. Ten (16.2%)
  4. ABC (12.0%)
  5. SBS (4.0%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (37.4%)
  2. Seven (16.0%)
  3. Ten (11.5%)
  4. ABC1  (7.7%)
  5. SBS ONE

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (3.9%)
  2. Gem (3.4%)
  3. 7TWO (3.3%)
  4. 7mate (3.1%)
  5. Eleven (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. State of Origin Game 1 (Nine, Gem) – 4.059 million
  2. State of Origin Game 1 Pre-Match (Nine, Gem) — 2.871 million
  3. State of Origin Game 1 Post-Match (Nine, Gem) — 2.211 million
  4. Nine News — 1.870 million
  5. Seven News — 1.583 million
  6. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.492 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.302 million
  8. Nine News 6.30 — 1.239 million
  9. ABC News — 843,000
  10. Seven News / Today Tonight — 1.162 million

Top metro programs:

  1. State of Origin Game One (Nine, Gem) — 2.596 million
  2. State of Origin Pre-Match (Nine), Gem — 1.776 million
  3. State of Origin (Nine, Gem) — 1.435 million
  4. Nine News — 1.265 million
  5. Seven News — 1.239 million
  6. Nine News 6.30 — 1.239 million
  7. Seven News / Today Tonight — 1.162 million
  8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.086 million

Losers: Pay TV’s audience share fell by around 30% last night because of the impact of Origin. It will bounce back tonight.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 1.265 million
  2. Seven News — 1.239 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.239 million
  4. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.162 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.086 million
  6. ABC News — 843,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC1) — 663,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 626,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 621,000
  10. The Project 6.30 (Ten) — 414,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 360,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 303,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 164,000
  4. Mornings (Nine) — 128,000
  5. News Breakfast (ABC1,  78,000 + 49,000 on News 24) — 127,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 37,000

Top pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.0%)
  2. TVHITS! (1.9%)
  3. LifeStyle  (1.8%)
  4. UKTV (1.5%)
  5. A&E, Disney Jr. (1.4%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. NRL: Origin Special  (Fox Sports 1) – 62,000
  2. The Simpsons (Fox 8) – 59,000
  3. Futurama (Fox 8) – 54,000
  4. The Simpsons (Fox 8) – 54,000
  5. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 53,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.