Seven’s broadcast of the first AFL State of Origin match since 1999 won by Victoria against Western Australia saw an average of 843k tune in. That was made up of main channel coverage in Victoria and South Australia and 7Mate elsewhere. The Pre-Game (433k) and Post Game (580k) also appeared in the rankings.
It was another golden day for Australia in the Olympic Winter Games. Nine’s Day 8 coverage included the Women’s Dual Moguls where Jakara Anthony won Australia’s third Gold Medal in prime time. Night Session 2 topped the rankings with 946k for the top non-news show of the night. That was after the Night Session had 728k. Then the Late Session still had 590k watching with 286k for the post midnight Late Extended. There were 5 other entries for the Olympics that made the top 30.
ABC’s UK drama’s Call The Midwife ( 411k ) and Midsomer Murders ( 437k ) were the top prime time entertainment options. Seven had The Mummy Returns in three states as the movie of the night that averaged 171k.
With Seven and Nine on a “coding frenzy” these was no space for anything from 10 in the reach table for the first time this year.
At 6pm Nine News had its fifth consecutive Saturday win with a +100k margin. Weekend Sunrise stayed just above 400k with Weekend Today doing well with 359k.
Winter Olympic Games 2026 Night Session, Day 8 (19:00-21:00) - was the No. 2 non-news program of the night with Total People and all key demos in Sydney and the No. 1 non-news program with Total People in Brisbane. It achieved a National Total TV Reach of 1.894 million , a Total TV National Audience of 728,000 and a BVOD audience of 103,000 .
Winter Olympic Games 2026 Night Session 2, Day 8 (21:00-22:30) – was Australia’s No. 1 program of the night with Total People by reach across Australia. It was also the No.1 non-news program of the night with Total People and GS18+ and the No. 1 program of the night with People 25-54 across Australia. It secured a National Total TV Reach of 2.002 million , a Total TV National Audience of 946,000 and a BVOD audience of 129,000 .
Winter Olympic Games 2026, Late, Day 8 (22:30-24:00) – dominated its timeslot across Australia with Total People and GS18+. It recorded a National Total TV Reach of 1.563 million , a Total TV National Audience of 590,000 and a BVOD audience of 87,000 .
Winter Olympic Games 2026 Late Extended, Day 8 (24:00-02:00) – registered a National Total TV Reach of 759,000 , a Total TV National Audience of 286,000 and a BVOD audience of 44,000 .
The 9Network was the No.1 network on Saturday across the 5 City Metro with Total People and all key demos.
9Now was the No. 1 CFTA BVOD platform on Saturday across Australia with Total People and all key demos.
Agree that if there was no Winter Olympics, the AFL State of Origin could have cracked the million mark, or close to it. An average of 843k is good though for a Saturday night and against tough competition.
Weekend Sunrise Early failed to make the “Reach Top 30” for the first time in a while (thanks to the various sports codings from Seven and Nine).
AFL would be happy too. 850k on 7 & probably 300-350k (maybe more on Fox). So overall it definitely did 1mill + & without Olympics it probably does more.
Also for 7, the 7+ number looks good too. @TV.Cynic this is probably the highest for a non final match for 7+?
For a three hour game that aired on the main channel in two markets, against the Olympics, and simulcast on Fox, a total average of 843k is disappointing?
Executives at the AFL and Seven would be popping champagne corks this morning.
Let’s not disregard that the match also aired on Fox Sports and Kayo. There were a lot more viewers than just these FTA numbers. It easily would’ve averaged over 1million with those taken into account.
I don’t think the number was disappointing. Against the Olympics I was expecting 700-800k as a Maximum figure. So getting almost 850k is very good. With Fox also having it I think the number overall would be 1.1-1.2mill.
As I said and as others said the number would be another 100-150k more if there was no Olympics.
This is not the NRL Origin. This is just a hyped up pre season match. So getting 58k crowd and 850k FTA audience would definitely be considered a success.
It was only below the Finals Series & ANZAC for FTA ratings. The Legends game was a 7 exclusive and this got similar to that while having simulcast on Fox.
Really? I predicted 600k-odd total national average in that thread, considering Winter Olympics and their trajectory this year (bar Friday night).
IMO Seven and the AFL, save for Foxtel, would be happy with those figures this morning.
I actually think Nine would be a little disappointed and perhaps shocked that the AFL Origin even beat the Winter Olympics (at least “Night” in edt), suggests Victoria and maybe Wa significantly performed and probably easily beat Milano Cortina. Melbourne had been the Olympics strongest market too AFAIK.