Who wins the battle of the canned crowd noises?

AFL v NRL, network v network. A meeting of the giants — Richmond v the Wobbles. In Brisbane, the Broncos (not much liked south of the border) against the Manly Sea Eagles (not much liked anywhere). Like Collingwood, Brisbane led early. Unlike Richmond, Manly managed to come back for the win. The NRL produced a thrilling win; the AFL a “thrilling” draw, if there is such a thing. 

In ratings, though, a clear winner — the AFL’s return saw 1.27 million viewers for the game. The NRL game could only manage 618,000 on Nine and 259,000 on Foxtel. Seven’s total share 36.6%, Nine 22.6% — a real hiding.

The one thing the two games shared was the canned crowd noise, which you become used to. The question is: will audience numbers continue to slump for the NRL next weekend and beyond as the season proper settles in?

In the regions: Seven News on 631,000, Seven News 6.30, 582,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 410,000, 7pm ABC News, 344,000, Nine News, 318,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (36.6%)
2. Nine (22.6%)
3. Ten (20.3%)
4. ABC (12.3%)
5. SBS (8.1%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (25.2%)
2. Nine (16.1%)
3. Ten (14.6%)
4. ABC (8.5%)
5. SBS ONE (4.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate (5.4%)
2. 7TWO (4.4%)
3. 10 Bold (3.6%)
4. 19 Peach (2.1%)
5. ABC Kids/Comedy (1.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News —1.734 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.632 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.298 million
4. AFL (Seven) — 1.275 million
5. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.217 million
6. MCA (Ten) — 1.157 million
7. 7pm ABC News— 1.066 million
8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.051 million
9. ACA (Nine) —1.012 million
10. Hot Seat (Nine) — 803,000

Top metro programs:

1. Seven News — 1.104 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.050 million
3. Nine News — 1.002 million

Losers: NRL, Nine

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.104 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.050 million
3. Nine News — 1.002 million
4. Nine News 6.30 — 907,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 722,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 698,000
7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 516,000
8. 7.30 (ABC)— 426,000
9. Ten News First — 382,000
10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 341,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 459,000/283,000
2. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 314,000/207,000
3. Today (Nine) — 311,000/195,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 248,000
5. Today Extra (Nine) — 146,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 77,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. AFL (Collingwood v Richmond (Fox Footy) — 342,000
2. NRL: Manly v Brisbane  (Fox League) — 259,000
3. AFL: Post Game  (Fox Footy) — 160,000
4. AFL: Pre – Game  (Fox Footy) — 139,000
5. AFL: First Crack  (Fox Footy) — 84,000