There were 16,000 keen Manly fans down at wet and miserable Brookvale Oval last night, who were throwing their fair share of banter at the way of former Sea Eagle’s halfback Daly Cherry Evans. But more importantly, there were 1,510,000 fans who weren’t brave enough to withstand the conditions tuning in to Nine’s broadcast to see “DCE” have the final laugh.
A total TV national average audience of 693,000 and a BVOD national average audience of 158,000 people watched on as Evans faced his former team for the first time since he made the shock decision to depart the club that he had played 352 games for. To add to the storyline, the match was played at Manly’s fortress—meaning Evans would have to face a fan base that has still not forgiven him for leaving them.
But, there was no amount of abuse that could be hurled at DCE to wipe his cheeky grin off his face. And that is because when the referee blew his full-time whistle, the Evans and his Sydney Roosters stood victorious boasting a 33-16 score line.
Seven’s broadcast of the AFL just pipped DCE’s return, raking in a total TV national reach of 1,762,000, an average audience of 635,000 and a BVOD average audience of 89,000.
In the AFL the Geelong Cats fought out a messy eight-point win over a tenacious Adelaide Crows side in wet and wintry conditions.
Turning away from sport, Network 10’s most watched entertainment program was Gogglebox. The series where viewers watch other citizens watch TV pulled in a reach of 828,000 and an average audience of 492,000.
