Origin smashes ratings records!

[DIEHARD]

Origin smashes ratings records

For the second year in a row, Harvey Norman State of Origin has smashed ratings records with an average of 2.322 million viewers across the five capital cities tuning in to watch the first game of the 2009 series last night.

This was more than 177,000 viewers ahead of the previous highest Origin television audience of 2.145 million in Game 3, 2008.

A crowd of 50,967 was on hand at Melbourne?s Etihad Stadium to witness the XXXX Queensland Maroons defeat the NSW Aussie Blues 28-18.

Adding to the enormous metropolitan television audience was an impressive 1.156 million viewers in regional Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

In Sydney, the match was the number one program of the night attracting an average of 991,000 viewers (2008: 897,000) and 40.5 per cent audience share.

The match also dominated the market in Brisbane taking a 56.4 per cent audience share with an average of 845,000 viewers (2008: 710,000).

The Melbourne television audience increased on last year with the live broadcast of the match attracting an average audience of 330,000 (2008: 283,000).

?State of Origin continues to captivate fans and it is pleasing to see yet another ratings record,? ARL Chief Executive, Mr Geoff Carr, said.

?NSW showed plenty of heart last night but they will need the crowd behind them to stop Queensland from making it four straight series wins.

?I encourage all Blues fans to get to ANZ Stadium on June 24 and help NSW level the series.?

NRL Chief Executive, Mr David Gallop, said State of Origin had again demonstrated the depth of support that exists for Rugby League.

?Once again the unique skills of our players highlighted the strength of the game as did the size of the audience both at the ground and on television.

?There have been a few challenges this year but if anyone needed a reminder about how much they love Rugby League then last night provided it in style.?

Source: http://www.NRL.com

[DIEHARD]

Rugby league answers critics with record Origin 1 TV ratings

RUGBY league hit back at its critics last night, scoring record ratings for the first game of this year's State Of Origin series.

Despite analyst predictions the showcase would suffer in the wake of the Christchurch sex scandal and other off-field controversies, the Channel 9 telecast drew a national audience of more than 2.287 million viewers (up 9.32% on the opening game in 2008).

The drama started before kick-off for Nine, with commentator Ben Ikin quitting in protest over A Current Affair's investigation of his father's involvement in a $10 million company liquidation.

The action on the field also captured audiences early, with NSW star Jarryd Hayne denied a try in the 8th minute of the first half by a laboured refereeing blunder.

Not surprisingly, the state-versus-state clash drew its biggest ratings in Sydney (971,000 viewers) and Brisbane (834,000).

The Blues comeback in the second half also compelled the Queensland and NSW audiences to stay tuned to the post-match program, with more than 1 million fixed on their televisions (up 26.48 per cent on last year's figures).

But Melbourne viewers are still not convinced by the game, where Origin coverage was beaten by Ten's MasterChef Australia (408,000 viewers) and a repeat of Da Kath And Kim Code on Channel 7 (345,000).

TV analyst Steve Allen, of Fusion Media, was forced to admit his predictions the game would shed viewers after its run of negative headlines, stating this morning that "NRL controversy counts for nothing when it comes to audience support.''

Source: http://www.news.com.au

[daveyk]

you could probably multiply those figures by 5 for when you think that alot of people have Origin parties

and just think how many people were at pubs and clubs for the game

i would put the figure at more like 10 million viewers

[DIEHARD]

Good point Davey, sporting events do suffer a disadvantage from standard programming such as Masterchief etc when it comes to ratings.

The Melbourne ratings are very encouraging and now the Storm are putting on a stunning show for Victoria tonight as well. Great crowd as well.