Sport dominated Thursday night, with Seven’s AFL coverage and Nine’s NRL coverage going head-to-head for top entertainment program of the night.
Seven’s coverage of Collingwood’s clash with Adelaide pulled in a Total TV National Reach of 1,844,000 and a Total TV National Average Audience of 716,000, as the Magpies ran out convincing 34-point winners at Adelaide Oval. The final score was 108 to Adelaide’s 74.
Nine’s NRL coverage wasn’t far behind in fourth, with a national reach of 1,410,000 and an average audience of 590,000. Penrith managed to edge out Parramatta 24-18 in a tense Western Sydney derby. The Eels had an early 12-0 lead before Penrith clawed its way back, despite playing a stretch of the match with only 12 men after Thomas Jenkins and Isaiah Papali’i were sent to the sin bin.
Beyond the football, quiz show formats held their usual ground against the sport. Nine’s Tipping Point Australia had a national reach of 1,396,000 and an average audience of 765,000, edging out Seven’s The Chase Australia, which had a reach of 1,353,000 and an average audience of 695,000.
Further down in twelfth, ABC’s Hard Quiz pulled in a national reach of 722,000 and an average audience of 398,000. Contestants tackled specialist subjects including the Mazda RX-7, French comic series Asterix, the Melbourne Cup and Wonder Woman.
Ten had a near-total absence from the Top 30. The network managed just a single entry across being 10 News. It landed at twenty-second with a national reach of 543,000 and an average audience of 277,000, leaving it well off the pace with rivals Seven, Nine and ABC.
