(Image: Twitter)

Contrasting results last night for the head-to-head between the NRL and AFL. The ping pong (AFL, 885,000) easily won the free-to-air battle for Seven over the NRL match (really a near-80 minutes of water polo, such as the rain) on Nine with 663,000. But on Foxtel, the NRL game easily beat the AFL game with (273,000 to 243,000). That’s due to the still-higher subscriber numbers for Foxtel in regional NSW and Queensland which are NRL strongholds. 

And what did we learn from the AFL? Dustin Martin was the difference in the Tigers 25 point win over Carlton, while in the NRL game the Eels (an appropriate mascot for a waterlogged ground) slithered and slid to an 16-12 win over the Storm and there was nothing in it.

More than 1.12 million watched the AFL on Seven and Foxtel, more than 830,000 watched the NRL game on Nine and Foxtel. That’s close to 2 million people watching the two codes last night, not even including streaming.

In the regional top five: Seven News, 544,000; Seven News 6.30, 494,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 305,000, ABC 7pm News, 292,000; Nine News 6.30, 245,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (33.8%)
  2. Nine (25.0%)
  3. Ten (18.8%)
  4. ABC (15.0%)
  5. SBS (7.3%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (23.7%)
  2. Nine (17.8%)
  3. ABC (12.2%)
  4. Ten (10.4%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.3%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7mate (4.5%)
  2. 7TWO (3.6%)
  3. 10 Bold (3.2%)
  4. 10 Peach (2.9%)
  5. Gem, ABC Kids/Comedy/Plus (2.3%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.362 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.307 million
  3. Nine News  — 1.063 million
  4. Nine News  6.30 — 1.042 million
  5. AFL (Seven) — 885,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 882,000
  7. 7.30  (ABC) — 742,000
  8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 728,000
  9. Gogglebox Australia (Ten) — 694,000
  10. A Current Affair (Nine) — 693,000 *

Top metro programs: None with a million or more viewers

Losers: No one really, not with the AFL and NRL back on screen

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine/NBN News — 824,000
  2. Seven News —817,000
  3. Seven News 6.30 — 812,000
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 797,000
  5. 7pm ABC News — 590,000
  6. 7.30 (ABC) — 506,000
  7. ACA (Nine) — 486,000 *
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 356,000
  9. Ten News First — 309,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 253,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 440,000/248,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 295,000/189,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC) — 275,000/171,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 211,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 145,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 52,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. NRL: Parramatta vs Melbourne (Fox League) — 273,000
  2. AFL: Richmond vs Carlton (Fox Footy) — 243,000
  3. NRL: The Late Show With Matty Johns (Fox League) — 140,000
  4. AFL Thursday Night Footy On Fox (Fox Footy) —119,000
  5. NRL: Pre-game (Fox League) — 76,000