After a delayed start and a shortened schedule, the AFL has finally completed the home and away portion of its season.
With six fewer rounds and 45 less matches, along with an expected lack of atmosphere due too little to no attendance at matches, ratings were expected to take something of a hit.
The season finished with 75.797 million viewers across the Seven and Foxtel (excluding streaming) networks. This figure is up 4.3% on the total for the first 18 rounds of 2019, but down 15% on aggregate against the full 2019 year.
As usual, streaming figures are not included unless stated, and all data is sourced from OzTAM and RegTAM, using overnight preliminary data.
The AFL averaged 4.2m viewers per round this season, up from 4.03m viewers in the first 18 rounds of 2019, and up from 3.88m viewers over the full 2019 season.
Metro viewing rose 3.14% to an average of 263,000, while regional viewing dropped 3.79% over the same period. The ratio of regional to metro viewers dropped 9% in 2020 – regional viewers now represent 31% of the AFL audience.
The AFL had something of a renaissance on Fox, with the pay-tv broadcaster averaging 192,000 viewers over the season, up 13.2% on 2019 to date, and up 17.5% on the full-year average. Foxtel viewing – without streaming – accounted for 38.9% of the total audience, up 9% on 2019. This does not include streaming where we have little data – Fox having announced five matches worth of data at this point.
Friday Night footy averaged 979,000 viewers, while Thursday nights averaged 860,000 over the course of the season. In total, 9 games passed the million audience mark in 2020, down from 17 in 2019.
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AFL viewing rose in its largest market, up 12.7% in Melbourne to an average audience of 303,000, as well as in Brisbane where ratings were up 31.5% to an average audience of 36,000. Sydney dipped below 30,000 (-5.41%), and Perth averaged just over 92,000 (-5.22%) were both down, while Adelaide ratings copped a hiding on the back of a poor Crows season, down 16.86% to an average of 80,000 viewers.
Richmond was the most-watched AFL team in the metro FTA markets with 6.388m viewers at an average of 399,000 per game, however Collingwood was the most-watched metro team on average with 417,000 viewers. Geelong, Essendon and West Coast rounded out the top 5 on aggregate, while Carlton, Essendon and Geelong rounded out the top 5 on average.
Collingwood was the most-watched team on Foxtel with 3.979m viewers at an average of 234,000 per game. The top 5 was rounded out by Richmond, Geelong, Carlton and Hawthorn. This does not include streaming.
In Sydney, the AFL match average dropped to 29,000, down -5.41%, with the Swans averaging 39,000 per game and Giants 34,000. The highest rating game in Sydney this year on Seven was Richmond v Sydney in Round 2 with 63,000.
In Melbourne, the AFL match average was up 12.7% to an average of 303,000 – which broadcasters have accredited mainly to the ongoing lockdown. Here again, Richmond lead the charge averaging 379k, giving it a narrow lead over Collingwood at 373k. The highest rating game of 2020 in Melbourne was the Collingwood v Richmond clash in Round 2 with 668,000 viewers.
In Brisbane, Seven experienced a ratings hike of 31% off a relatively low base with the city averaging 36,000. The Lions averaged 55,000 for the season, while the Suns had the lowest rating of any team in its home market at 30,000 per game.
In Adelaide, the cities ratings tanked in 2020, down 16% on 2019 to 80,000 viewers per game. AFL Minor Premiers Port Adelaide scored the bragging rights this year with an average audience of 101,000, while the Crows managed 86,000 on their home screens on Seven – it’s worth noting that this includes at least three matches for each side that were delayed coverage.
In Perth, the ratings drop was less dramatic, down 5.2% to an average of just over 92,000. Fremantle averaged 108,000 viewers per match, while West Coast averaged 143,000 per game – it’s worth noting that like Adelaide, this includes at least three matches for each side that were delayed coverage.
