Thursday night delivered another tight prime-time ratings battle across sport, news and entertainment, with Thursday Night NRL Live on Nine drawing a total national reach of 1,422,000, with an average audience of 620,000.
The fiery match between the Wests Tigers and Canberra Raiders did big things for Nine’s coverage, with the Tigers defeating the Raiders 33-14 on Thursday night, in a game broadcast through the network’s Thursday Night Football lineup.
The result also marked a milestone, with the Wests Tigers recording their first-ever win over Canberra Raiders at Leichhardt Oval (or as the NRL pundits call it, the 8th wonder of the world).
The game started with early momentum for the Tigers, who quickly built a 10-point lead before the Raiders clawed back to go into halftime ahead by four.
But in front of 17,500 home fans, the second half belonged firmly to the Tigers, who ran in four unanswered tries to secure a convincing 33–14 victory and spark celebrations at the ground and across broadcast audiences.
While Nine’s NRL coverage delivered strong reach, Seven’s rival code coverage also performed strongly, with Seven’s AFL: Thursday Night Football posting 1,999,000 reach, including 627,000 broadcast and 87,000 BVOD, narrowly ahead in total reach and underscoring the ongoing split-screen battle between the two codes on Thursday nights.
Nine’s broader sports offering, including the Thursday Night NRL Live pre-match, added a further 862,000 reach, while Seven’s AFL pre-game coverage brought in 626,000, highlighting the growing importance of lead-in programming for live sport franchises.
And over on news, Seven News led the night with 2,157,000 reach, followed closely by 9News on 1,971,000, continuing the competitive nightly news rivalry between Seven and Nine.
Nine also maintained strong depth across its schedule, with Tipping Point Australia (1,431,000) and A Current Affair (1,415,000) both performing solidly, reinforcing the network’s early-evening and pre-prime strength.
Seven’s The Chase Australia delivered 1,255,000, while Home and Away continued its consistent scripted performance with 1,162,000 reach and a strong BVOD contribution of 252,000, remaining one of the most-watched entertainment titles in catch-up viewing.
ABC also maintained steady performance across its slate, led by ABC News (1,190,000) and 7.30 (1,052,000), while Gogglebox Australia on 10 delivered 836,000 reach.
