Come on Channel Nine, we want the Origin games to end on Wednesday night, not Thursday morning. Why did last night’s game start around 8.22pm when the introductory stuff started at 7.30 pm? Why not junk A Current Affair for the night, start the pre-match rubbish at 7pm and get the game going at 7.30pm? It’s a joke, the game ended well after 10 pm. How many young kids stayed up well past their bedtime as a result? And can you quit with the constant references to betting, odds etc — at one stage last night I hid behind a chair, fearful that Tom Waterhouse was going to pop up on screen like a dinosaur from Jurassic Park (before on screen betting ads and references were supposedly reduced by Nine (ha). I can still remember when State of Origin games were played without reference to betting odds and the games were just as good, rough and tough and great viewing spectacles.

Origin meant it was Nine’s night. Now to game two in Melbourne (which is another cause for concern for long-time rugby league supporters). The national audience was 3.757 million — big, but well under the 4.058 million for game one last year and the all-time peak of 4.193 million for game two last year.

Metro audience for the game was 2.5479 million, down a bit on game one last year, and well under the 2.7 million who watched game two. The Sydney game recorded a 9% drop in viewers and was the lowest game one audience for four years, based on the preliminary figures. The regional audience was 1.211 million, down 200,000 or so on game one last year and well under the near 1.5 million people who watched game two last year, the all-time high. The toughest program on all TV last night — the NRL 360 program on Fox Sports 1 last night at 8.30pm, which attracted 69,000 diehards. It had to be pre-recorded. Who in the right mind would talk about rugby league live when the first half of the first game of the 2015 Origin was underway?

In the morning a rare win by Today in the metros over Sunrise, 317,00  to 315,000. Nationally it was Sunrise with 525,000 viewers, 102,000 ahead of Today.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (44.4%)
  2. Seven (21.3%)
  3. Ten (17.2%)
  4. ABC (12.4%)
  5. SBS (4.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (37.6%)
  2. Seven (14.1%)
  3. Ten (12.9%)
  4. ABC 1 (8.7%)

SBS ONE (3.7%)

  1. Top five digital channels: 
  2. 7TWO (4.1%)
  3. GO (3.6%)
  4. Gem (3.2%)
  5. 7mate (3.0%)
  6. Eleven (2.5%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. State of Origin Game 1 Match (Nine) – 3.757 million
  2. State of Origin Game 1 Pre-Match (Nine) – 2.340 million
  3. State of Origin Game 1 Post- Match (Nine) –1.643 million
  4. Nine News  – 1.585 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.432 million
  6. Seven News — 1.296 million
  7. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.241 million
  8. MasterChef Australia (Ten) — 1.206 million
  9. ABC1 News — 1.130 million
  10. Nine News 6.30 — 1.081 million

Top metro programs:

  1. State of Origin Game 1 Match (Nine) — 2.457 million
  2. State of Origin Game 1 Pre-Match (Nine) — 1.515 million
  3. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.197 million
  4. Nine News — 1.099 million
  5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.081 million

Losers: Viewers of the Origin game who were surprised at how long the Nine coverage went on for.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.197 million
  2. Nine News — 1.099 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.081 million
  4. Seven News — 999,000
  5. Seven News/Today Tonight — 929,000
  6. ABC1 News – 745,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 627,000
  8. Ten News — 615,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC1) – 601,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 481,000

Morning TV:

  1. Today (Nine) – 317,000
  2. Sunrise (Seven) – 315,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  99,000 + 52,000 on News 24) — 151,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 141,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 122,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 49,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox8  (2.3%)
  2. TVHITS, Lifestyle  (1.8%)
  3. Nick Jr, Arena,  (2.0%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 100,000
  2. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 91,000
  3. The Simpsons (Fox8) –881,000
  4. Family Guy (Fox8) – 74,000
  5. NRL: 360 (Fox Sports 1) – 69,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.