NRL’s Macklemore pick tops AFL Killer performance

US rapper Macklemore’s performance at the NRL grand final was a bigger draw on TV than The Killers’ at the AFL decider.

Macklemore performs ahead of the 2017 NRL Grand Final between the Melbourne Storm and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium, Sydney. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Richmond Tigers’ historic victory against a disappointing Adelaide Crows to claim their first AFL premiership in 37 years edged out the NRL grand final in the battle between the Seven and Nine networks.

But US rapper Macklemore’s controversial performance of pro same-sex marriage song Same Love at the NRL grand final was a bigger draw with television viewers than The Killers, who performed for the AFL.

Tony Abbott reignited the controversy over the choice of the rapper for the NRL grand final, saying an Australian should have been hired for the gig, and revealing he was a fan of former Australian band Savage Garden. The controversy also sparked a brawl between two of Australia’s shock jocks, Ray Hadley and Neil Mitchell.

Seven got the better of Nine as an average audience of 130,000 more people tuned in to watch Saturday’s AFL grand final over the NRL version on Sunday.

A comfortable win for the ­Tigers, who won by 48 points, ­attracted an average audience of 3.5 million viewers on Saturday for Seven. The NRL match ­between the North Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm drew an average metro and ­regional audience of 3.39m viewers on Nine. The Cowboys were thrashed 34-6 by the Storm.

Mr Abbott yesterday told 2GB it was a “good question” why Australian pop singer John Farnham was not asked to sing at the NRL grand final instead of Macklemore.

He added that he was a fan of the Traveling Wilburys and ­Savage Garden, whose gay lead singer Darren Hayes has married his partner Richard Cullen three times as an act of solidarity with those fighting for same-sex marriage rights.

However, Hayes who is now based in the US, responded to Mr Abbott’s praise for his music, saying on social media, the affection is not mutual. “I’m no fan of Tony Abbott,” he tweeted.

Hadley’s team at 2GB played a Macklemore parody song instead of the live Same Love song during the station’s broadcast of the NRL grand final.

Mitchell from sister station 3AW slammed the move and called him “unprofessional” and “embarrassing”, drawing a strong response from Hadley. About 1.37m people watched Macklemore on Nine compared with 1.04m for The Killers, who performed a tribute to Australian rock band Midnight Oil.

Broadcasters and sports codes are preparing for a post-TV era by experimenting with shows broadcast via digital platforms and watched on smartphones.

At the same time, tech giants Amazon, Google’s YouTube, Facebook, Netflix and Twitter are eyeing up sports rights, but it ­remains to be seen if live sport will be as profitable on the internet as it has been on TV.