No blues for Nine as Blues even up the State of Origin score

All is at peace in NSW but torment racks Queensland after the big win by the cockroaches over the cane toads in the second State of Origin game on Nine on Sunday night.

Nine should be happy — with the series tied at one game apiece, the third game next month in Brisbane should produce good ratings. Last night’s game averaged 2.609 million nationally — up from the 2.512 million for Game 1, which was lost by NSW. The metro audience of 1.797 million was 28,000 higher than the 1.771 million for Game 1. The regional audience rose to 812,000 from 741,000, the Sydney audience edged up to 765,000 from 730,000 and the Melbourne audience added 9000 to end up averaging 229,000. The Brisbane audience, however, fell to 594,000 from 625,000 for the first game. 

Quite a few people turned off during the game, especially in the second half as Queensland fell further behind, thereby lowering the average. Must have been after their bedtime up north.

Nothing else mattered yesterday, apart from the ABC’s Insiders — 541,000, which put it 10th nationally on the day.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (46.1%)
2. Seven (19.3%)
3. Ten (15.7%)
4. ABC (12.3%)
5. SBS (6.6%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (39.1%)
2. Seven (14.2%)
3. Ten (10.7%)
4. ABC (9.0%)
5. SBS ONE (4.1%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. GO (2.5%)
2. 7mate (2.4%)
3. 10 Peach (2.2%)
4. Gem, 10 Bold (2.1%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Origin 2: Game (Nine) — 2.609 million
2. Origin 2: Pre-Match (Nine) — 1.487 million,
3. Seven News — 1.289 million
4. Nine News — 1.190 million
5. Origin 2: Post-Match (Nine) — 839,000
6. 7pm ABC News — 826,000
7. MasterChef Australia (Ten) — 678,000
8. 7News Spotlight — 605,000
9. Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery (ABC) — 582,000
10. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 541,000

Top metro programs:  

1. Origin 2: Game (Nine) — 1.797 million
2. Origin 2: Pre-Match (Nine) — 1.026 million

Regional Top 5: Origin 2: Game, 812,000; Origin 2: Pre-Match, 461,000; Seven News, 442,000; Nine News, 319,000; 7pm ABC News, 275,000.

Losers: nothing — Origin too dominant.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Nine News — 870,000
2. Seven News — 847,000
3. 7pm ABC News — 551,000
4. 7News Spotlight — 392,000
5. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 372,000
6. Ten News First — 235,000
7. The Project 6.30pm(Ten) — 223,000
8. SBS World News — 174,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Insiders (ABC TV, ABC News) — 541,000
2. Landline (ABC) — 375,000
3. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 360,000
4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 243,000
5. Offsiders (ABC) — 193,000
6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 154,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. AFL: Collingwood vs GWS (Fox Footy) — 134,000
2. AFL: Port Adelaide vs Gold Coast (Fox Footy) — 131,000
3. AFL: North Melbourne vs Adelaide (Fox Footy) — 121,000
4. AFL: Bounce (Fox Footy) — 106,000
5. AFL: Sunday Ticket (Fox Footy) — 82,000