Rugby rocks the world
19 Oct 2011
It seems the entire rugby world is watching New Zealand at the moment – at least on World Cup weekends.
RWC 2011 confirmed the viewership figures of the semi-final play-offs and the greatest numbers were a 73% audience share in France.
Les Bleus may have played the worst rugby at this tournament, but the French public interest in their performance was at a record high.
Among the records broken included:
*Record New Zealand television audience watch New Zealand defeat Australia
* Biggest Australian television audience since RWC 2003
*73 per cent audience share in France as Les Bleus book Final place
*Highest audience of RWC 2011 in UK sees France beat Wales
In New Zealand a record 1.97 million cumulative television audience tuned in to the host nation’s 20-6 semi-final victory over Australia via TV One, SKY, TV3 and Maori Television, not including the significant number who would have watched the compelling action in public venues across the country or online on demand.
Australians also tuned into the match in record numbers. A massive nationwide television audience of 3.23 million people watched the match – smashing the all-time Pay TV viewership record for Fox Sports and topping the free-to-air ratings on Channel Nine.
No Rugby match since the Rugby World Cup Final in 2003 has delivered an audience of the same magnitude in Australia. The tournament decider in Sydney eight years ago was watched by more than 4 million Australians. Channel Nine’s free-to-air broadcast attracted 2.5 million viewers.
It was a similar picture in France where TF1 attracted an audience of 9.5 million for the semi-final between France and Wales despite the 10:00 kick-off time. The average audience for the match, which saw France secure their first place in a Final since 1999 was equal to a viewing share of 73 per cent.
In the United Kingdom, ITV registered its highest audience of RWC 2011 with an average of 5.9 million viewers watching France’s 9-8 victory over Wales. The last 15 minutes of the match netted a peak audience of 6.6 million – a 58 per cent share.
163 Comments
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19 Oct 2011, 10:07 am
@Bod(bod)-97:
indeed.
a young senorita granted me my brown wings on a windswept ibizan beach.
if it weren’t for her moustache and mutton chops I would have been blown away.
19 Oct 2011, 10:07 am
how come viewership numbers in SA are not quoted in this report, we’re part of the ‘world’ too
19 Oct 2011, 10:09 am
@Brads(Brads)-95:
wow!
18mil off many, many hundreds of millions is how you calculate half a leg?…
wow!
19 Oct 2011, 10:10 am
@Brads(Brads)-98:
House of Plain…..
19 Oct 2011, 10:13 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-102:
Suspect the numbers were poor and didn’t gel with the story that was being painted.
Which of course suggests, confidence in the Bokke was only so so from the outset and never improved leading into the playoffs.
Hard work getting up at 6.00am to watch a team you think will probably lose.
But I am only guessing.
19 Oct 2011, 10:16 am
@Gunther(gunther)-101:
Brown wings you say?
Was that your first dip into the mud box??
I always thought of you being more of a chutney pot kinda guy
19 Oct 2011, 10:16 am
@Bod(bod)-104:
Yeah thats a start.
House of Bill and Ben
The garden shed
Plain ugly
19 Oct 2011, 10:16 am
@Gunther(gunther)-101:
Your Ibizian dream is about to turn into a nightmare….
There are no Spanish senoritas/chicas down at Ibiza, only hordes of Puking Poms.
‘Twas not a Spanish senorita/chica tash and chops you were experiencing, but indeed a Liverpool lass regurgitating her night before…
19 Oct 2011, 10:19 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-99:
but for some reason brads will not/cannot easily see it this way.
i don’t understand why….
19 Oct 2011, 10:21 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-102:
saffers don’t count because we went home in the quarters.
so they only quoted nations involved in the semis.
a self fulfilling prophecy.
19 Oct 2011, 10:23 am
@Brads(Brads)-107:
You seem too decent to be a NZ brother… in fact if you add Cane and Hurricane to the mix its starting to become scary. Far too many of you!
Bod out..
19 Oct 2011, 10:23 am
@Bod(bod)-108:
no.
she was definitely spanish.
she lisped when she slurped.
19 Oct 2011, 10:23 am
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-103:
What are you talking about.
There was something like $500 million spent on infrastructure that was way over due being invested in.
Councils around the country had resisted spending on sporting venues for years and years. Finally they had an excuse to do something different .
The worst of the worst though is spending any money at all on Eden Park.
There were far better long term options, but they all cost more, instead the council decided to waste money on that **** house. There in I will agre ewith you.
19 Oct 2011, 10:24 am
@Brads(Brads)-105: i’ve watched 90% of the games this rwc, even the 4am ones on the weekend where the boks were not playing. it was just too good.
19 Oct 2011, 10:25 am
With all due respect.
I don’t want to see another haka! It was overdone and devalued.
19 Oct 2011, 10:26 am
gees. look at all the saffas whinging. as someone who experienced the vibe IN Nz during this world cup, I can only say that those dissing it who weren’t in the country are sour, bitter people.
the experiences of the majority of travelers will determine the success of the tournament, even if it runs at a loss.
19 Oct 2011, 10:26 am
@Gunther(gunther)-110: oh i see
19 Oct 2011, 10:27 am
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-115:
how many hakas have you seen sitting in Benoni?
19 Oct 2011, 10:30 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-116:
who is whinging?
19 Oct 2011, 10:31 am
@Gunther(gunther)-118:
Brakpan mate! You thought I was related to Charlize ne!
19 Oct 2011, 10:33 am
@Gunther(gunther)-118:
I give up tell me?
19 Oct 2011, 10:34 am
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-120:
Brakapan – Benoni
Tomato – Tomato
19 Oct 2011, 10:36 am
@Gunther(gunther)-122:
Off to Danville soon. Worried about the colour of my blood though.
19 Oct 2011, 10:36 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-114:
Apart from games in Aus or unusual places like Hong Kong or other exotic spots, most away games for the AB’s involves us fans getting up in the early hours of the morning, like 3.am
The French are good, for some reason they like playing games late at night, whether to accomodate us Kiwi’s or not I don’t know, but they are the only ones.
Anyway, I will always get up to watch.
I am such a hopeless case when it comes to watching something I have taped. I can’t help myself from fast forwarding the static bits of play and losing the feel of the game.
19 Oct 2011, 10:37 am
@Gunther(gunther)-112: Sounds Cape Spanish to me. Plagued by dental problems.
19 Oct 2011, 10:37 am
@Brads(Brads)-124:
Has the PVR not reached NZ yet?
19 Oct 2011, 10:38 am
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-115:
I am in your camp.
When the haka starts is when I refresh my drink.
19 Oct 2011, 10:39 am
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-126:
PVR?
Clearly not. What is it.
19 Oct 2011, 10:40 am
@Gunther(gunther)-118:
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-120:
X 2
@poppa69(poppa69)-116:
please, please, please explain that to brads…pretty please…
19 Oct 2011, 10:42 am
@Brads(Brads)-128:
Personal Video Recorder
19 Oct 2011, 10:43 am
Devalued? I think the haka has been pegged with the Zim Dollar.
19 Oct 2011, 10:45 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-125:
you know what?
you might be right.
I’m always getting Playa d’en Bossa and Strandfontein confused.
19 Oct 2011, 10:45 am
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-92:
Always are. The ‘Curried’ Cup is named after a Pom….the same people that sent your mates to that side of the world…..
Wouldn’t mind being home to see The Sharks playing at Kings Park…the atmosphere there is carnival-like every game…like mini RWC’s every weekend.
Imagine Hamilton having a social atmosphere…naaaah….eggaggeration is not my style.
19 Oct 2011, 10:46 am
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha)-129:
Have we been arguing over different issues?
Becuase I entirely agree with post 116 by poppa69
19 Oct 2011, 10:47 am
Hey WPTID this is for you.
Angry fans prank call wrong Lawrence
Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:23
South African rugby fans still blaming New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence for the Springboks’ World Cup quarterfinal defeat have been prank calling his home.
Trouble is, they’ve been phoning the wrong Bryce Lawrence.
The Bryce Lawrence who wasn’t a referee told the New Zealand Herald in Friday’s edition that his listed number in Auckland had been ringing virtually nonstop since it was posted online in a viral campaign against the ref.
He told the Herald he’s spoken to his telephone provider and the police, and believes his number has been removed from websites.
Since defending champion South Africa’s 11-9 loss to Australia last Sunday, more than 66,000 people have signed on to a Facebook petition “to stop Bryce Lawrence ever reffing a rugby game again.”
The Springboks commanded possession and territory but couldn’t score a try, and Lawrence has been accused of failing to properly whistle the breakdowns, where the Wallabies crucially won a flood of turnovers.
One online video records a prank call apparently to Lawrence in the middle of the night, with someone saying, “This is a little bit of payback, just to let him know how South Africa feel about him.”
Afterwards, the narrator adds, “At least he knows how we feel … I’ve got his number if you want it.”
The Bryce Lawrence who was not a referee said he was taking all of the abuse in stride.
“Well, these things happen,” he said. “It’s one of these things in life.”
SAPA-AP
19 Oct 2011, 10:49 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-131:
How do the opposing teams manage to stop themselves from laughing….I get an urge to laugh when I see those silly faces with the bulging eyes and tongue action….no wonder the Poms were able to colonise the islands…once they’d stop rolling around on the floor they proceeded to wipe out the local indigenous population and take the islands away from them.
19 Oct 2011, 10:50 am
@Bill Reyts(Gumboots)-130:
Unless it is a new thing or you meant VCR?
Nah, these days it is all digital recording.
Doesn’t make any difference what it is, I have always messed about with the fast forward and back play modes when watching recorded matches.
Seems to annoy the hell out of others watching as well for some reason.
19 Oct 2011, 10:53 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-131:
19 Oct 2011, 10:53 am
@Great White Shark(Predawn)-136:
there is always one twatstick that spoils a bit of banter.
19 Oct 2011, 10:54 am
@Gunther(gunther)-132: In future, should you require clarity, you must pay closer attention to the authenticity of the Barca top. Dead giveaway.
Also, try to take a swig of her drink. In Spain they don’t say those kinds of things about your mother.
19 Oct 2011, 10:57 am
@Gunther(gunther)-139:
Still whining and whinging ouma Gunts…
19 Oct 2011, 10:59 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-140:
come to think of it.
her fino was on the sweet side.
i just assumed joumatheputhaare was some sort of Andalucian dialect.
19 Oct 2011, 11:01 am
@Brads(Brads)-113:
ok.
i think you are making progress on accepting the truth to the following statement that:
‘though this rwc is an unqualified success in terms of the spectacle put on as an event, it has been a very expensive finacial loss making event for the nz people all the same’
this is all we were saying and all we/i wanted you to accept…nothing more, nothing less.
glad we’re on the same page.
19 Oct 2011, 11:03 am
Hope Australia get a mention for this RWC…they did after all lend their greatest minds to the special effects on the opening night.
19 Oct 2011, 11:10 am
@Brads(Brads)-134:
well then, just to be clear i’ll restate what pops said, and which you and i agree with:
.
yes – there are some saffa’s whining and dissing.
yes – the tournament is a great success because thats what the majority of travellers as well as viewers around the world think it is (including me, even though we were cheated).
and yes – it was a helluva expensive event which had run at a helluva loss.
.
there then…simples…ja…
19 Oct 2011, 11:16 am
Got to laugh at some of these…ahem… “records”.
Specially the highest NZ and Aus TV audience…
When its played in a convenient time in a particular timezone of course viewership will be higher…Except this timezone, though beneficial for the antipodeans, is a fckup for potential viewers in the rest of the world
But we shouldn’t let the facts get in the way of some “exciting” records…
19 Oct 2011, 11:19 am
I see Will Carling is subtly punting Nick Mallet for the England coaching job.
19 Oct 2011, 11:20 am
And Robbie Deans reckons Nathan Sharpe rates alongside Matfield as the best line-out locks of the decade.
19 Oct 2011, 11:22 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-147: Not just Will Carling… Guscott and a few others too.
19 Oct 2011, 11:24 am
@Heavens Game(Heavens Game)-149: Sounds like Nick finds himself in a seller’s market.
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