TV ratings for 2009

[Cheer Squad]

Sydney tunes in and turns on to NRL as AFL drops out

We will fight them on the couches: league outrates AFL for first time

The AFL has it's work cut out to improve it's TV ratings in Sydney, which are way behind every other Australian city.

In terms of aggregate premiership ratings by capital city, Sydney (5.23 million viewers) comes dead last, even behind Brisbane (5.36 million viewers).

Given that Sydney's population is more than twice the size of Brisbane's, you would have to be worried if you were Andrew Demetriou. The 19.5% decline in Sydney's viewing figures can't all be blamed on the Swans having an off-year, as there was a slight dip in Brisbane's viewing figures as well (-1.5%), despite the Lions having a good season.

Makes you wonder about the wisdom of charging ahead with a second team in Sydney.

[Reggi]

I'll be honest. Five years ago I could watch two to three games a weekend, but watch sydney games now, as footy is boring. Who wants to watch on bulldogs player kick to another miles on their own.

Speeding it up has made it boring, after a while the rule changes are incomprehensible

The other reason is many of the less popular teams are at the top of the ladder

[ShockOfHair]

It's the opposite - the AFL is going into west Sydney in order to build its TV ratings.

[goswannie14]

It's the opposite - the AFL is going into west Sydney in order to build its TV ratings.

Yep, I would have thought that was pretty obvious.

[hammo]

This is part of an ongoing, one man campaign by Fairfax hack Roy Masters to boost the television rights money received by the NRL.

Masters has a pathological dislike of AFL and writes this same article several times a year. It's a very poor reflection on the Herald that it keeps publishing this rubbish.

The key paragraph is surely this one:

The figures are revealed in an NRL-commissioned study shown to the club CEOs earlier this month, Admittedly, it's not an apples-with-apples comparison: league figures include Origin and rep games (12,024,381 viewers) and the under-20s Toyota Cup competition (3,450,252), which AFL does not have, although the AFL figures include the pre-season NAB Cup (7,642,000).

[barry]

Roy Masters is using the old "regionals" argument for rugby league to get on top of AFL.

This has been discredited so many times its not funny. Just to summarize, large parts of AFL friendly Australia arent included in Regional figures, and some parts of RL friendly Australia are counted twice due to regional overlaps.

It accounts for up to 2 million people being wrongly represented.

Cheers Roy!

[liz]

Isn't NRL shown on FTA at peak times on Friday and Saturday nights too? I am not suggesting that non-Swans AFL games shown at these times would get viewing figures similar to NRL's but it is hard for the casual viewer to get into AFL on TV unless they have Fox because they will have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.

[Wardy]

God love Roy - he's just a sad and bitter little old man - he trots this tripe out where ever he can - he will shut up eventually - but then I guess he's teaching the other serial idiot, Dean Ritchie how to be a good scare mongerer.

[msb]

Aaahh who cares! The AFL wouldnt be worried about what some rugby boofhead writes, we all know rugby is and always will be the number 1 game in sydney, nothing knew there so the figures dont surprise me at all, especially with the swans having a rather average year.

[goswannie14]

Aaahh who cares! The AFL wouldnt be worried about what some rugby boofhead writes, we all know rugby is and always will be the number 1 game in sydney, nothing knew there so the figures dont surprise me at all, especially with the swans having a rather average year.

Sorry to be the pedant, he's actually a Rugby League boofhead!

[msb]

Sorry to be the pedant, he's actually a Rugby League boofhead!

Oh year, forgot about union

[top40]

Roy's such a stirrer. But here are a couple of important stats not highlighted:

1. In relation to the Five City Free-to-Air ratings, the AFL thrashed the NRL 77 million to 58 million.

The NRL just got ahead overall primarily through its strength in the Regions and on Cable. The former is always strong for Rugby League, because the states with the biggest Regional population are the two Rugby League, NSW and QLD. The later is a problem for the AFL because every October the year before the season they draw the so called 'weakest' games on Fox, leaving the stronger games for Free-to-Air.

2. Let's look at the bigger and weaker codes side by side for Sydney and Melbourne.

For the bigger code contest, the AFL in Melbourne comfortably beat the NRL in Sydney by nearly 10 million. For the weaker code contest, it was a thrash, with AFL in Sydney very easily outrating NRL in Melbourne by about a 2 to 1 ratio.

[Cheer Squad]

It's the opposite - the AFL is going into west Sydney in order to build its TV ratings.

Yep, I would have thought that was pretty obvious.

How? Where's the evidence of unmet demand for televised AFL in western Sydney?

Where are these thousands and thousands of people supposedly keen to start watching AFL in such numbers as to significantly increase the ratings?

[BSA5]

How? Where's the evidence of unmet demand for televised AFL in western Sydney?

Where are these thousands and thousands of people supposedly keen to start watching AFL in such numbers as to significantly increase the ratings?

They don't exist. Which is exactly why the AFL is going in there, to CONVERT them. Now I know what you're thinking: if these people haven't converted to the Swans, what makes you think they'll convert to a new side? Well, it's fairly simple. The Swans are too small an entity to successfully convert the whole of Sydney. Bringing in a new side will open new markets, not just provide another option. Not only that, but it will bring more games per week to Sydney, meaning further exposure. Thirdly, there is a huge amount of publicity surrounding GWS already, and they're not even close to entering the competition. There will be massive buzz around the team, attracting new people. Like it or not, the Swans will never be able to match the buzz that GWS will have in its first 1-2 seasons. That will also attract new fans. Finally, the potential for a cross-town rivalry within the code in Sydney will build and consolidate the support of a portion of those fleeting AFL supporters, those that don't mind watching but don't really commit. Nothing reinforces one's beliefs better than having them challenged by somebody you don't consider worthy. A "sometimes" Swans fan confronted by a GWS supporter, whether through friendly banter or a blue at a game, will walk away feeling better about their team and worse about the other. That person may then feel more inclined to support the team, to (subconsciously) prove a point.

So there are a bunch of reasons why its obvious. Pick your favourite.

[Cheer Squad]

They don't exist. Which is exactly why the AFL is going in there, to CONVERT them. Now I know what you're thinking: if these people haven't converted to the Swans, what makes you think they'll convert to a new side? Well, it's fairly simple. The Swans are too small an entity to successfully convert the whole of Sydney. Bringing in a new side will open new markets, not just provide another option. Not only that, but it will bring more games per week to Sydney, meaning further exposure. Thirdly, there is a huge amount of publicity surrounding GWS already, and they're not even close to entering the competition. There will be massive buzz around the team, attracting new people. Like it or not, the Swans will never be able to match the buzz that GWS will have in its first 1-2 seasons. That will also attract new fans. Finally, the potential for a cross-town rivalry within the code in Sydney will build and consolidate the support of a portion of those fleeting AFL supporters, those that don't mind watching but don't really commit. Nothing reinforces one's beliefs better than having them challenged by somebody you don't consider worthy. A "sometimes" Swans fan confronted by a GWS supporter, whether through friendly banter or a blue at a game, will walk away feeling better about their team and worse about the other. That person may then feel more inclined to support the team, to (subconsciously) prove a point.

So there are a bunch of reasons why its obvious. Pick your favourite.

At least we agree on something.

Unfortunately for your absolutely-best-case-scenario, there is simply no evidence whatsoever that people in western Sydney want their own AFL team, let alone want to watch it on TV.

If there really was such an insatiable appetite for the code out there, it would already be showing up in the ratings for existing AFL broadcasts, especially those not involving the Swans.

Of course, we'll all find out for real in a couple of years, but I think that in spite of all the AFL's huffing and puffing, they'll find their western Sydney balloon has a great big hole in it.