Wallabies World Cup semi-final Sets Ratings Record
The Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks in Auckland last night attracted a massive nationwide television audience of 3.234 million people – smashing the all-time Pay TV viewership record for Fox Sports and topping the free-to-air ratings on Channel Nine.
No Rugby match since the World Cup final in 2003 has delivered an audience of the same magnitude.
The tournament decider in Sydney eight years ago was watched by more than 4 million Australians.
The highest rating match since 2003 was a Test against England in 2006 which drew almost 1.9 million viewers.
In a direct comparison with 2003, there were 800,000 more people watching the Eden Park clash last night than watched the World Cup semi-final between the Wallabies and All Blacks in Sydney eight years ago.
Channel Nine’s free-to-air broadcast attracted 1.788 million people across the five capital cities with the match being the most watched program in Sydney (710,000), Brisbane (409,000) and Melbourne (376,000) and the second most watched in Adelaide (141,000).
Channel Nine’s coverage of the game dominated Sunday’s line-up with the Rugby World Cup semi-final ranking number one for the evening across key age demographics in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, including the 16-39 year-olds.
Regionally the trans-Tasman clash also attracted strong numbers with 727,000 tuning to watch the host nation progress to next Sunday’s final against France.
The semi-final was also the most watched program in Australian subscription television history.
Fox Sports’ coverage of the Wallabies v All Blacks Rugby World Cup semi-final attracted a record 719,000 viewers. The previous record was 531,000 for this year’s Super Rugby final between the Reds and Crusaders in Brisbane.
The audience last night surpassed that number by almost 40%.
Rugby has enjoyed strong television ratings in 2011 with the game now holding down the top four most watched programs in subscription television history – and all four programs are live broadcasts of matches played this year.
Last night’s semi-final, the 2011 Super Rugby final, the Wallabies Rugby World Cup quarter-final against the Springboks last week and this year’s Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations showdown with the All Blacks in Brisbane now hold positions No.1 to No.4 on the all-time subscription television ratings.
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