Sandy
Channel 10 in Brisbane have a half-hour program called Queensland Rules. It was screened every Saturday arvo. They have announced that the show will be cancelled if Channel 10 don't have the rights to screen AFL games this year.
Without starting a new thread on TV ratings here are the lions TV ratings in South-East Queensland:
Brisbane Lions Average Qld. TV Ratings
1 St Kilda (Thu Night - Gabba) 234,000
2 Port Adelaide (Sat Night - AAMI) 184,000
3 Sydney (Sat Night - Gabba) 168,000
4 Hawthorn (Sat afternoon - MCG) 134,000
5 West Coast (Sun afternoon - Gabba) 115,000
6 Essendon (Sat Night - Docklands) 195,000
7 Western Bulldogs (Sat Night - Gabba) 199,000
8 Adelaide (Sat Night - AAMI) 181,000
9 Richmond (Sat Night - Gabba) 161,000
10 Kangaroos (Sat Night - Gabba) 156,000
11 Fremantle (Sat Night - Subiaco) 182,000
12 Carlton (Sat Night - Docklands) 193,000
13 Geelong (Sun afternoon - Gabba) 165,000
14 Melbourne (Sat Night - Gabba) 164,000
15 Collingwood (Sat Night - Gabba) 211,000
16 West Coast (Sat Night - Subiaco) 217,000
17 Essendon (Sat Night - Gabba) 177,000
18 Western Bulldogs (Sat Night - Docklands) 168,000
19 Hawthorn (Sun afternoon - Gabba) 128,000
20 Sydney (Sun afternoon - Telstra) 120,000
21 Port Adelaide (Sat Night - Gabba) 149,000
22 St Kilda (Sat Night - Docklands) 108,000
Average: 169,000
2004 average: 175,000
Sat Afternoon games average: 134,000
Sat Night games average: 165,000
Sun afternoon games average: 132,000
Here are my comments on another site about TV ratings in this area:
...To summarize (for the Brisbane region):
1) Not one home & away AFL game made the top 10 watched programs for any week;
2)Not one home & away AFL game made the top 100 TV programs for the season;
3) NRL GF got 778,000 to the AFLs 341,435 (last year's AFL GF got 590,000);
4)10 RL programs were in the top 25 for the years & the all beat the AFL GF which came in at 24th on the list.
5) The RL programs came 1st, 2nd ,3rd,4th, 5th,6th 8th,equal 10th (Anzac Test), 18th & 22nd.
Egan
Do you know anything about football-particularly the rugby codes?
I ask this question because I my view the Western Force RU team is virtually no threat whatsoever to AFL in WA. This is because of a number of factors including:
1) a third of the Super 14 season is over before the AFL start;
2)the Super 14 is over in early May;
3)RU games will only ever be played every fortnight whereas AFL games can be played every week in WA. Union is heavily dependant on interstate & overseas teams-the AFL in WA isn't;
4)just a cursory glance over the playing talent reveals they have very few exciting of talented players in their squad. Bookmakers have installed them as equal rank outsiders to win the competition.
It is two years since the 2003 RUWC in Australia. This event was to be the watershed when RU was supposed to takeover everything in Australia.
Look what has happened since:
1) No RU game made the top 100 TV programs in Australia in 2005;
2) Southern states are refusing to take RU tests live;
3) RL test (screened after a 2 hour delay) now out-rate RU test shown live in Queensland & NSW. The Anzac Test out rated the last Bledisloe Test by 100% in Brisbane & nerrly the same in Sydney;
4)Reports are in that actual playing numbers have dropped;
5)the aggregate crowds to the 2005 Super 12 games have fallen to below 400,000.
Union in Australia is all hype & no substance. They barely have 120 pro-players. Their new talent is very thin on the ground & they have an ageing national squad that has won 2 games in the last 10 played.
The last time the British & Irish Lions played a WA side (2001) the WA side was beaten 114 to nil. I believe the WA side may have had a couple of ring-in from the eastern states. My bet it will take more than a basically transported team to improve RU's standard in the short term. The WA AFL teams are nearly world's best.
If I was a impressionable junior (potential) footballer in WA it is pretty obvious who I would pick to aspire to be-it won't be union in that location