The 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final was the highest rating event on the Eastern Seaboard this weekend as more than 3.8 million Australian based viewers and a further 277,300 New Zealand based fans joined the record 82,976 crowd at ANZ Stadium to watch the Storm’s 14-4 win over the Bulldogs yesterday.
As well as attracting the highest attendance ever in the reconfigured ANZ Stadium, the match attracted a combined metro and regional peak Australian viewing audience of 4.65 million and averaged 3.867 million making it the highest rating NRL Grand Final since 2006 when the Broncos beat the Storm 15-8.
Across Australia’s five capital cities, the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final peaked at 2.993 million on Nine yesterday,averaging 2.551 million viewers (2011: 2.16 million) and a further 1.316 million (2011: 1.15million) across regional Australia on the WIN/ NBN networks.
Sydney led the way with 1.01 million viewers (83.1% audience share), followed by a massive 803,000 in Melbourne (59%) and 600,000 in Brisbane (70.5%).
In New Zealand 235,100 viewers watched on subscription television live through Sky Television and a further 42,200 watched delayed free to air coverage on Prime.
“It was a fantastic day for Rugby League and the number of people in Australia and around the world who watched yesterday’s NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final shows just how big the event has become,” Interim NRL Chief Executive, Mr Shane Mattiske, said today.
“The event gets bigger each year and with a record crowd at the match as well, I would strongly encourage fans to buy memberships so they can ensure they are part of the excitement week in week out through the season, as well as at Grand Final time.”
Australian Averages by Region:
Sydney |
Brisbane |
Melbourne |
Adelaide |
Perth |
Regional |
|
Match Average |
1,010,000 |
600,000 |
803,000 |
61,000 |
77,000 |
1,316,000 |
Region Totals:
Australia FTA Total |
NZ Audience Total |
Australasia Total |
|
Match Average |
3,867,000 |
277,300 |
4,144,300 |