AFL claims grand final TV ratings win, but still plenty for V’landys to crow about

The AFL has claimed the mantle as this season’s most-watched sporting grand final after trumping Sunday’s NRL decider by about 230,000 viewers.

The Roosters’ thrilling 19-18 defeat of Newcastle drew an average audience of 4.29 million for broadcasters Nine (publishers of this masthead), according to Voz viewership figures released on Monday by TV ratings agency OzTAM.

With Newcastle’s fairytale run to their first grand final in 25 years and the game going down to the final play, the audience figures were the second highest in NRL history, behind only last year’s record average of 4.46 million for the Broncos-Storm thriller.

But this year’s all-NSW decider still fell short of the AFL’s cross-country grand final between Brisbane and Fremantle on September 26 at the MCG. That iconic clash also made history with a record-breaking 4.52 million average audience.

This year’s NRL grand final build-up was dominated by consternation around the game’s pre-game entertainment, which was ultimately filled by a musical tribute to retiring Rabbitohs star Jai Arrow and former Wallaby Nathan Charles, who were both diagnosed with motor neurone disease earlier this year.

Australian artists Amy Shark, The Screaming Jets’ Dave Gleeson and Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson performed a medley of songs before kick-off in the grand final.

OzTAM figures indicated an average of 2.25 million viewers tuned in for the pre-game show, which fell in the prime Sunday evening time slot.

There were rave reviews for Kylie Minogue’s performance at the AFL decider, but it drew an average of 1.86 million viewers for the Saturday afternoon slot.

The strong TV audience for this year’s grand final came as the NRL on Monday proclaimed on social media that “for the sixth consecutive year, the NRL was Australia’s #1 most-watched sporting code”, citing cumulative average audience figures across the NRL season.

In July, the NRL sealed a record $5.3 billion, seven-year media rights deal with broadcasters, including Nine Entertainment, Foxtel and New Zealand TV network Sky, until 2034.

More grand final coverage

• ‘Boots, pompoms’ and premiership bling: Inside Leniu’s kitbag for last Roosters ride
• With one last magic moment, DCE shows he’ll be a Hull of a big loss for the NRL
• NRL grand final player ratings: Who shone brightest on league’s biggest day
• Despite heartbreaking result, Knights remain the people’s choice
• ‘It’s been a sin bin all year’: The Ponga shot on Radley that left Roosters furious