The Nine Network is “rapt” with the ratings performance of the Rugby World Cup so far, and is expecting an audience of more than one million for this Sunday’s Australia-New Zealand semi-final clash.
Nine, which has free-to-air rights to show Wallabies games and a number of other selected World Cup matches, received a metro average audience of 807,000 for last Sunday’s live Australia-South Africa quarter-final, according to OzTam. Average ratings for Nine’s World Cup matches have hovered around the 200,000 to 400,000 mark, with delayed screenings of Australia’s games against Ireland scoring 607,000 and against the USA scoring 415,000.
“We’ve been rapt with the viewing support so far,” Sam Brennan, Nine’s Melbourne sales manager - network sport, told AdNews. “It’s a great endorsement for our broadcast. Audiences are 6% ahead of what we thought they’d be.”
ABC’s Media Watch program tore into Nine on Monday night over the frequent changing of its scheduling of World Cup games, which has also draw the ire of some rugby fans. Some games have been shown on Nine's main channel in Sydney and Brisbane, while others have been broadcast on Gem in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Brennan said: “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. We’re happy with what we’ve done.”
Brennan said Nine was “thrilled” with the ratings result from Australia’s quarter-final, and is expecting the semi-final audience to be a lot higher than those who tuned in for the Springboks game.
“Cracking 1.5 million would be a terrific result,” he said.
Barry O’Brien, CEO of PHD, told AdNews the Wallabies-All Blacks semi-final is a “tremendous” game and it is a “bit of a shame it's not the final”.
“Everyone was planning on it,” he said.
O’Brien believes the semi-final clash between the traditional trans-Tasman rivals “could crack 1.5 million to 2 million” in terms of audience.
Steve Allen, managing director of Fusion Strategy, believes an expectation of 1.5 million “is a little ambitious”.
“It it were a normal [ratings] weekend, it would be in trouble,” Allen told AdNews.
“If they get 1.5 million on Sunday that would be a sensational result and not what we would expect”.
The Australia-South Africa quarter-final last Sunday was the second most-watched program in pay TV history, with it picking up 468,000 viewers, according to OzTam all people data. That puts it second behind the 2011 Super Rugby final, which attracted an audience of 531,000 viewers.
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