Damien Cook (centre) in action during game one of the 2021 State of Origin series (Image: AAP/Darren England)

State of Origin game three managed 2.52 million nationally (1.74 million in the metros, 774,000 in the region). The game couldn’t crack a million viewers in the biggest market in Sydney — 902,000, still very solid but a million or more looks better. Likewise in BrisVegas, 502,000 is also very solid, but a figure of more than 700,000 would have shown real interest.

The game averaged 155,000 in Melbourne and was easily beaten by Seven’s The Front Bar with 213,000. It was a wonder the game was played at all given the COVID disruptions in the lead up.

Tonight — AFL and the Tour de France (the latter with 241,000 last night and early today). A killer stage and another tonight with two massive mountains to climb in the short 129km.

Regional top five: State of Origin game three, 774,000; Seven News, 678,000; Seven News 6.30, 638,000; State of Origin Pre-March, 412,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 391,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (40.3%)
  2. Seven (24.6%)
  3. ABC (13.7%)
  4. ABC (12.9%)
  5. SBS (8.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (33.8%)
  2. Seven (18.1%)
  3. ABC (9.2%)
  4. ABC (7.1%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (3.2%)
  2. 10 Bold (3.0%)
  3. 10 Peach (2.3%)
  4. ABC News (2.2%)
  5. ABC Kids/Plus (2.0%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. State of Origin Game 3 (Nine) — 2.520 million
  2. Seven News — 1.893 million
  3. Seven News 6.30 — 1.776 million
  4. Nine News  — 1.390 million
  5. State Of Origin Pre-Match (Nine) — 1.320 million
  6. Nine News 6.30 — 1.265 million
  7. 7pm ABC News — 1.199 million
  8. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.007 million
  9. Farmer Wants A Wife (Seven) — 1.001 million
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1 million

Top metro programs: 
1. State of Origin Game 3 (Nine) — 1.746 million
2. Seven News  — 1.215 million
3. Seven News 6.30 — 1.139 million
4. Nine News — 1.049 million

Losers: None really because of the dominance of Origin.

Metro news and current affair

  1. Seven News — 1.215 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.139 million
  3. Nine News —1.049 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 938,000
  5. 7pm ABC News — 827,000
  6. 7.30 (ABC) — 645,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 504,000
  8. Ten News First (ABC) — 444,000
  9. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 301,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 462,000/260,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 345,000/227,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC) — 313,000/202,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 287,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 200,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) —  66,000

Top five Pay TV programs: 

  1. Credlin (Sky News) — 81,000
  2. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 64,000
  3. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 63,000
  4. Mr INBETWEEN (Fox Showcase) — 58,000
  5. Newsday (Sky News) — 54,000