Foxtel records record viewing numbers for the NRL

[Manfred Mann]

Foxtel's viewing numbers are up 18% compared to the same period in 2019.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/08/19/foxtel-records-record-viewing-numbers-for-nrl/

Note that the round 5 clash between Sydney Roosters and Parramatta Eels wis a record for any rugby league game on Foxtel.

[The Rocket]

Thanks Manfred. I think the NRL just needs to hold its nerve on the free to air figures and they will come good. The transformation of the game as a viewing product this year has been nothing short of astounding.

You can tell something is working when the other codes are continually comparing themselves to it.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Vlandys has already earned his place in the pantheon of great administrators. 

[unapologetic pedant]

When the Fox bloke says "The record ratings for Fox League reflect the increasing appetite among Australian audiences for sport", surely that should read "for NRL".

This is relevant in the context of the suspicion that last time Fox either overpaid for AFL, underpaid for NRL, or a combination of the two. Whatever the mitigating factors relating to AFL figures it`s clear that in recent years NRL has driven the take-up of Fox subscriptions more than AFL. Yet that hasn`t been reflected in the respective amounts paid for each. Maybe this will change under V`landys.

How do they measure the streaming service ratings? Does this mean that the figures for Foxtel published on media industry websites are not the true picture?

[Heritage XIII]

9 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

How do they measure the streaming service ratings? Does this mean that the figures for Foxtel published on media industry websites are not the true picture?

Streaming figures would be quite easy to ascertain but for some reason it's only starting to come out, the figures that is.

 

In terms of Fox League ratings, as with all other programs, when a rating of say 200,000 comes out for a match, one shouldn't take that as a literal figure as perhaps a whole family or friends are watching the game. The match could literally have an audience of 600,000 in homes for all we know (not to mention pubs & clubs).

[Sports Prophet]

10 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

When the Fox bloke says "The record ratings for Fox League reflect the increasing appetite among Australian audiences for sport", surely that should read "for NRL".

From recent memory, AFL Fox viewing figures have exploded also, along with V8 Supercars, so the statement would appear fitting.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, Sports Prophet said:

AFL Fox viewing figures have exploded also

SP , I don`t come on here to hear good news about the `shirt pullers`, please no voice of reason.

Signed:   Dedicated afl  Deathrider.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Outside of Football and North American sports, is NRL the biggest league in the World, in terms of viewing figures and attendances (obviously attendances pre Covid)

[The Rocket]

7 hours ago, Heritage XIII said:

Streaming figures would be quite easy to ascertain but for some reason it's only starting to come out, the figures that is.

 

There was an article in todays paper with those figures, I`ll go back and have a look later but I recall them adding about 1/3 to a 1/2 to the published Foxtell figure. So a game that rates about 200 000 could be up to 300 000 with other services provided.

The other thing that has not been mentioned , there has been a 12% reduction in Foxtel subscribers which makes the increase in viewing figures even more pleasing. The consensus is that the drop in subscribers is related to the reduced income and increased belt-tightening due to the virus and should reverse when we get through this.

I`ll check those figures and correct them if their wrong.

[Pulga]

18 hours ago, Manfred Mann said:

Foxtel's viewing numbers are up 18% compared to the same period in 2019.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/08/19/foxtel-records-record-viewing-numbers-for-nrl/

Note that the round 5 clash between Sydney Roosters and Parramatta Eels wis a record for any rugby league game on Foxtel.

If I remember correctly last year's highest rated game (a Storm game) was the highest rated show of all time on Foxtel. 

[unapologetic pedant]

8 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

From recent memory, AFL Fox viewing figures have exploded also, along with V8 Supercars, so the statement would appear fitting.

The relative NRL/AFL figures are much the same as previous years, i.e the average for an NRL game on Foxtel is substantially higher than the average for an AFL game. There are complicating factors for AFL (timezones, overlap), but that doesn`t alter the fact that for Fox, subscriptions are driven more by NRL. The AFL seem to have been playing a game a day in recent weeks, which is presumably a factor unique to this year.

Correct me if I`m wrong but most motor sport shows rate between 50 and 80k. And our old friend Ruggerball have two Aussie games a week which on average rate about 100k combined. Neither of these two sports can be anywhere near as important to the Fox business model as NRL, where a typical round of games gets about 1.8 million.

[Sports Prophet]

6 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

The relative NRL/AFL figures are much the same as previous years, i.e the average for an NRL game on Foxtel is substantially higher than the average for an AFL game. There are complicating factors for AFL (timezones, overlap), but that doesn`t alter the fact that for Fox, subscriptions are driven more by NRL. The AFL seem to have been playing a game a day in recent weeks, which is presumably a factor unique to this year.

Correct me if I`m wrong but most motor sport shows rate between 50 and 80k. And our old friend Ruggerball have two Aussie games a week which on average rate about 100k combined. Neither of these two sports can be anywhere near as important to the Fox business model as NRL, where a typical round of games gets about 1.8 million.

You are pretty much correct. All I was bringing to attention is that there has been an increase in viewership of many sports, which correlates with what was written in the article.

You also assume that viewing numbers should equally equate to the value Foxtel should have for each individual sport. That is not how it works for two very simple reasons.

1. The number of unique viewers is different to the number of unique viewers. Just because the RL have higher average viewership figures per game per round, does not necessarily mean that more people watched RL than AFL over the round.

2. Not sure about Sky, but there is commercial advertising on pay TV in Aus. If advertisers want to pay more to advertise during AFL matches than RL matches, then viewer figures and subscriptions are not necessarily the be all and end all.

[The Rocket]

19 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

anywhere near as important to the Fox business model as NRL, where a typical round of games gets about 1.8 million.

 

13 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

2. Not sure about Sky, but there is commercial advertising on pay TV in Aus. If advertisers want to pay more to advertise during AFL matches than RL matches, then viewer figures and subscriptions are not necessarily the be all and end all.

Yes, unfortunately League fans are viewed as coming from a lower socio-economic demography and therefore seen as less valuable. Interestingly though, I did see an advertisement for Audi (amongst the fast-food advertisements) on Sunday afternoon football. Does this mean there are union types settling in for a bit of working class rough on weekends. Certainly the relentless pace of our game this year has been getting a lot of coverage in the union press. Their having a sneaky look on weekends. Sprung !! the advertisers are on to you. 

As long as we don`t start getting ads from Qantas with the bloody Qantas wallabies choir belting out `We still call OZ home`.

[Whippet13]

14 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

As long as we don`t start getting ads from Qantas with the bloody Qantas wallabies choir belting out `We still call OZ home`.

Can't see Qantas jumping on the NRL bandwagon anytime soon, they have just announced losses of almost Aus $2billion. If anything they should be cutting their RU sponsorship, but they seem to have been run by RU fans for years I so doubt that will happen.

[The Rocket]

2 hours ago, Whippet13 said:

Can't see Qantas jumping on the NRL bandwagon anytime soon, they have just announced losses of almost Aus $2billion. If anything they should be cutting their RU sponsorship, but they seem to have been run by RU fans for years I so doubt that will happen.

Not sure about `run by RU fans` Grant Fenn was in their senior management, now CEO of Downer who have sponsored World Nines and Friday Night League since he has been in charge. Suspect he is a League sympathiser. Qantas were probably more interested in national and global reach.

[thirteenthman]

On 20/08/2020 at 08:44, The Rocket said:

There was an article in todays paper with those figures, I`ll go back and have a look later but I recall them adding about 1/3 to a 1/2 to the published Foxtell figure. So a game that rates about 200 000 could be up to 300 000 with other services provided.

The other thing that has not been mentioned , there has been a 12% reduction in Foxtel subscribers which makes the increase in viewing figures even more pleasing. The consensus is that the drop in subscribers is related to the reduced income and increased belt-tightening due to the virus and should reverse when we get through this.

I`ll check those figures and correct them if their wrong.

This is an article which shows the breakdown between the linear and streaming platforms for the top games from rounds 11 to 14. The figures for the AFL are also given:-

https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2020/08/21/record-audiences-for-afl-and-nrl-drive-subscription-boom-for-fox-sports-and-kayo/