GWS Giants knock off NRL heavyweights to win TV ratings war
As the NRL grapples with concerns over the effect of refereeing controversies, the GWS Giants‘ brilliant victory over Collingwood has given the AFL a huge ratings win against rugby league.
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On the back of the GWS Giants grand final fairy tale, the AFL has scored a knockout win over rugby league in finals TV ratings from the weekend.
All up the two AFL finals in Melbourne attracted 1.2 million more viewers than the NRL playoffs.
On Friday night the South Sydney Rabbitohs v Manly Sea Eagles thriller on Channel 9 and Fox League had 700,000 less viewers than the Richmond v Geelong game on Channel 7 and Fox Footy.
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It was a similar story on Saturday with the GWS v Collingwood game getting 536,000 more than the Melbourne Storm v Parramatta Eels game.
The figures are a concern for the NRL’s planning for the next TV broadcast deal and their hopes of improving on their current $2 billion contracts with Channel 9 and Fox Sports in a tough media market and advertising slump.
AFL boss Gill McLachlan played down his code’s big win when contacted by The Daily Telegraph.
“I don’t want to get into comparisons,” he said, “We just focus on what we’re doing.
“We’re really pleased with our finals series and it’s going to be a great grand final this weekend.
“It’s exciting a Sydney team as part of it.”
Not that the NRL seems overly concerned about the figures.
“The top three most watched television shows in all of Australia this year are rugby league, no other sport is in the top 10,” a spokesman said
“And 30 of the top 50 most watched shows on Fox Sports this year are rugby league.
“It’s important to note that our competitions are in different stages. The AFL played their preliminary finals last weekend and our preliminary finals are this weekend.
“Importantly, our share of the TV audience is higher than the corresponding week in last year’s finals series.”
There is a concern in the NRL that refereeing controversies in recent weeks are driving long-time fans from the game.
The GWS Giants have been in the AFL for only eight years, smack bang in the middle of rugby league heartland in western Sydney that is home to the Eels, the Penrith Panthers, the Wests Tigers and the Canterbury Bulldogs.
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“We have enormous respect for rugby league,” says their CEO Dave Matthews, “There’s no us against them. We’re not trying to take over and we’d like to think NRL fans see us as their AFL team.
“We play a style of footy that would appeal to western Sydney people. We’ve faced adversity but we play very tough football.”
A grand final victory will no doubt give the AFL a much bigger footprint in this city.
“There’s nothing like the shot in the arm you get from winning a flag,” says Giants communications boss James Avery, “Your profile and brand goes up another level.”