6.5 million Australians watched the NRL Grand Final
A special snap Roy Morgan SMS survey taken today shows 6.5 million Australians (34.5%) aged 18+ watched Sunday night’s NRL Grand Final and a further 1.6 million (8.5%) watched ‘Just the Highlights’ while 10.8 million Australians (57%) didn’t watch the NRL decider.
Of the 6.5 million Australians who watched the NRL Grand Final 4.9 million (25.5%) primarily watched the game on TV, 330,000 (2%) watched at a friend’s house, 170,000 (1%) watched at a Pub/ Hotel, 90,000 (0.5%) watched via an App/ Website, 80,000 (0.5%) were at ANZ Stadium while a further 90,000 (0.5%) watched in a different way and 860,000 (4.5%) didn’t say.
This special snap Roy Morgan SMS survey was conducted on Monday with a cross-section of 1,626 Australians aged 18+ following Sunday night’s NRL Grand Final.
Analysis by State
Analysis by State shows New South Welshmen make up the largest share of those watching with 2.4 million watching the NRL Grand Final slightly more than the 2 million Queenslanders, 1.4 million Victorians, 400,000 West Australians and 150,000 in South Australia.
- Queensland: Watched NRL Grand Final (52.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (38%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (9.5%);
- New South Wales: Watched NRL Grand Final (38.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (53.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (8%);
- Victoria: Watched NRL Grand Final (28.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (61.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (10%);
- Tasmania: Watched NRL Grand Final (22%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (66.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (11.5%);
- Western Australia: Watched NRL Grand Final (19.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (72.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (8%);
- South Australia: Watched NRL Grand Final (11.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (83.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (5%).
NRL Grand Final – How did you watch it?
TV is still the king when it comes to big events with over 4.9 million Australians (25.5%) watching the game primarily on TV and clearly the preferred method of watching the game in all States:
- Queensland: TV (39.5%); Friend’s house (3%); Pub/ Hotel (1.5%); At the Ground (0.5%); App/ Website (1%); Other (0.5%); No answer (6.5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (47.5%);
- New South Wales: TV (29%); Friend’s house (2%); Pub/ Hotel (1.5%); At the Ground (0.5%); App/ Website (1%); Other (0.5%); No answer (4%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (61.5%);
- Victoria: TV (21.5%); Friend’s house (1%); Pub/ Hotel (0.5%); At the Ground (0%); App/ Website (0%); Other (0.5%); No answer (5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (71.5%);
- Tasmania: TV (15%); Friend’s house (0%); Pub/ Hotel (0%); At the Ground (0%); App/ Website (0%); Other (0%); No answer (7%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (78%);
- Western Australia: TV (14%); Friend’s house (1%); Pub/ Hotel (0.5%); At the Ground (0%); App/ Website (0%); Other (0%); No answer (4%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (80.5%);
- South Australia: TV (8%); Friend’s house (0.5%); Pub/ Hotel (0.5%); At the Ground (0.5%); App/ Website (0%); Other (0.5%); No answer (1.5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (88.5%).
Analysis by Gender
Analysis by gender shows more men (3.6 million) than women (2.9 million) watched the NRL Grand Final and a further 820,000 men and 830,000 women watched ‘’Just the Highlights’:
- Men: Watched NRL Grand Final (39%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (52%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (9%);
- Women: Watched NRL Grand Final (29.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (61.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (9%).
NRL Grand Final – How did you watch it?
TV was clearly the preferred method of watching the NRL Grand Final for both men and women:
- Men: TV (29%); Friend’s house (2%); Pub/ Hotel (1%); At the Ground (0.5%); App/ Website (0.5%); Other (0.5%); No answer (5.5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (61%);
- Women: TV (23%); Friend’s house (1.5%); Pub/ Hotel (1%); At the Ground (0%); App/ Website (0.5%); Other (0.5%); No answer (3%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (70.5%).
Analysis by Age
Analysing by age shows the biggest audience for the NRL Grand Final is those aged 35-49yrs old with 1.7 million watching the NRL Grand Final just ahead of those aged 65+yrs old (1.5 million viewers) and those aged 50-64yrs old (1.4 million). A further 1.3 million aged 25-34yrs old watched the NRL Grand Final and 590,000 aged 18-24yrs old:
- 18-24yr olds: Watched NRL Grand Final (26%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (63.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (10.5%);
- 25-34yr olds: Watched NRL Grand Final (35.5%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (53.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (11%);
- 35-49yr olds: Watched NRL Grand Final (35%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (58.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (6.5%);
- 50-64yr olds: Watched NRL Grand Final (33%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (58.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (8.5%);
- 65+yr olds: Watched NRL Grand Final (39%) cf. Didn’t watch NRL Grand Final (53.5%) cf. Watched ‘Just the Highlights’ (7.5%).
NRL Grand Final – How did you watch it?
TV was the preferred method of watching the NRL Grand Final for all age groups:
- 18-24yr olds: TV (18%); Friend’s house (1.5%); Pub/ Hotel (1.5%); At the Ground (0%); App/ Website (1%); Other (1%); No answer (3%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (74%);
- 25-34yr olds: TV (27.5%); Friend’s house (3%); Pub/ Hotel (0%); At the Ground (0%); App/ Website (0.5%); Other (0%); No answer (4.5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (64.5%);
- 35-49yr olds: TV (25%); Friend’s house (1.5%); Pub/ Hotel (2%); At the Ground (1.5%); App/ Website (0.5%); Other (0.5%); No answer (4%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (65%);
- 50-64yr olds: TV (24.5%); Friend’s house (1.5%); Pub/ Hotel (0.5%); At the Ground (0.5%); App/ Website (0.5%); Other (0%); No answer (5.5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (67%);
- 65+yr olds: TV (30.5%); Friend’s house (1.5%); Pub/ Hotel (0.5%); At the Ground (0.5%); App/ Website (0%); Other (0.5%); No answer (5.5%); Did not watch/ ‘Just the Highlights’ (61%).
Gary Morgan, Executive Chairman, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“Over 6.5 million Australians watched the Melbourne Storm deliver departing superstar Cooper Cronk a second Premiership last night with 4.9 million (25.5%) choosing to watch the game on TV. A further 330,000 (2%) watched the game at a friend’s house and 170,000 (1%) watched the game at a local pub or hotel.
“Telstra’s NRL Live pass now claims more than 500,000 subscribers – however only around 100,000 Australians (0.5%) primarily watched the NRL Grand Final via an App or Website, only slightly more than attended the match at ANZ Stadium (80,000).
“It is no surprise to see the two Rugby League strongholds dominating viewership, but New South Wales with 2.4 million viewers only just edges out the much smaller State of Queensland with 2 million viewers tuning in to see how the local team, the North Queensland Cowboys, fared while the home of the Melbourne Storm, Victoria, had an impressive 1.4 million viewers cheering their team onto victory.
“Although viewers in Western Australia nor South Australia currently have a local NRL team to cheer for as many as 400,000 West Australians and a further 150,000 South Australians decided to watch the NRL show-down on Sunday night.
“Earlier today we released results from a special Roy Morgan SMS survey of AFL Grand Final viewership which showed over 8.4 million Australians watched the AFL’s decider on Saturday between Richmond and the Adelaide Crows – see here for full details.
Finding No. 7358 – This special snap Roy Morgan SMS survey was conducted with a representative cross-section of 1,626 Australians aged 18+ on Monday October 2, 2017. They were asked “Did you watch the NRL Grand Final?” If YES: “Did you primarily watch the NRL Grand Final on TV, App, Website, Friend’s House, Pub/Hotel, At the Ground or Other?”
Roy Morgan SMS Polling was extremely accurate at the last few Federal Elections. Results analysed by Roy Morgan Helix Personas are available on a subscription basis. www.HelixPersonas.com.au
Questions:
“Did you watch the NRL Grand Final?” If YES: “Did you primarily watch the NRL Grand Final on TV, App, Website, Friend’s House, Pub/Hotel, At the Ground or Other?”
Analysis by Age & Gender – Watching NRL Grand Final
| Total | Gender | Age | ||||||
| Men | Women | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | ||
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| TV | 25.5 | 29 | 23 | 18 | 27.5 | 25 | 24.5 | 30.5 |
| Friend’s house | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Pub/ Hotel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| At the Ground | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| App/ Website | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Other | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.5 |
| No answer | 4.5 | 5.5 | 3 | 4.5 | 3 | 5.5 | 5 | 5.5 |
| TOTAL WATCHED | 34.5 | 39 | 29.5 | 26 | 35.5 | 35 | 33 | 39 |
| ‘Just the highlights’ | 8.5 | 9 | 9 | 10.5 | 11 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| Didn’t watch | 57 | 52 | 61.5 | 63.5 | 53.5 | 58.5 | 57.5 | 53.5 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Analysis by State – Watching NRL Grand Final
| State | Region | ||||||||
| Total | NSW | VIC | QLD | WA | SA | TAS | City | Country | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| TV | 25.5 | 29 | 21.5 | 39.5 | 14 | 8 | 15 | 22.5 | 31 |
| Friend’s house | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 1.5 | 2 |
| Pub/ Hotel | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| At the Ground | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| App/ Website | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Other | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| No answer | 4.5 | 4 | 5 | 6.5 | 4 | 1.5 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| TOTAL WATCHED | 34.5 | 38.5 | 28.5 | 52.5 | 19.5 | 11.5 | 22 | 31.5 | 39.5 |
| ‘Just the highlights’ | 8.5 | 8 | 10 | 9.5 | 8 | 5.5 | 11.5 | 9.5 | 7 |
| Didn’t watch | 57 | 53.5 | 61.5 | 38 | 72.5 | 83 | 66.5 | 59 | 53.5 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
