The Nine Network has secured the biggest audience of the year for its coverage of Game 1 of the 2019 State of Origin series.
State of Origin Game 1 had an average metro audience of 2,178,000.
The audience in Sydney was 950,000 while in Brisbane it was 746,000.
Across other capitals: Melbourne 273,000, Adelaide 90,000 and Perth 118,000.
In regional markets: Queensland 350,000, NNSW 318,000, SNSW 221,000.
The football clash delivered not only the biggest TV audience of the year, but also the biggest shares. Nine had 39% for the night, with Nine Sydney on 51% and Nine Brisbane on 60%.
The Game 1 audience last year was 2,353,000.
The biggest Game 1 audience ever is also the biggest State of Origin audience ever – 2,708,000 in 2016. The combined metro and regional audience for that game was 3,934,950.
Here is a list of the big audiences Nine and its regional broadcast partners have been attracting for the three State Of Origin matches every year since OzTAM took over management of TV ratings in 2001.
The metro audience didn’t hit 2m until game 3 in 2006.
The biggest metro State Of Origin audience was 2,708,000 for game 1 in 2016.
| DATE | MATCH | METRO | REGIONAL | COMBINED |
| 6/5/01 | State Of Origin 1st | 1,571,376 | – | 1,571,376 |
| 10/6/01 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,430,205 | – | 1,430,205 |
| 1/7/01 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,460,808 | – | 1,460,808 |
| 22/5/02 | State Of Origin 1st | 1,679,598 | – | 1,679,598 |
| 5/6/02 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,686,521 | – | 1,686,521 |
| 26/6/02 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,995,605 | – | 1,995,605 |
| 11/6/03 | State Of Origin 1st | 1,929,720 | 1,363,143 | 3,292,863 |
| 25/6/03 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,741,266 | 1,292,219 | 3,033,485 |
| 16/7/03 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,570,976 | 1,152,805 | 2,723,781 |
| 26/5/04 | State Of Origin 1st | 1,670,345 | 1,160,129 | 2,830,474 |
| 16/6/04 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,833,634 | 1,255,170 | 3,088,804 |
| 7/7/04 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,781,218 | 1,284,179 | 3,065,397 |
| 25/5/05 | State Of Origin 1st | 1,733,363 | 1,230,280 | 2,963,643 |
| 15/6/05 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,757,542 | 1,245,004 | 3,002,546 |
| 6/7/05 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,861,270 | 1,236,553 | 3,097,823 |
| 24/5/06 | State Of Origin 1st | 1,876,172 | 1,242,574 | 3,118,746 |
| 14/6/06 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,644,173 | 1,255,337 | 2,899,510 |
| 5/7/06 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,019,141 | 1,300,606 | 3,319,747 |
| 23/5/07 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,020,403 | 1,266,614 | 3,287,017 |
| 13/6/07 | State Of Origin 2nd | 1,961,033 | 1,312,100 | 3,273,133 |
| 4/7/07 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,889,862 | 1,107,427 | 2,997,289 |
| 21/5/08 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,091,768 | 1,270,284 | 3,362,052 |
| 11/6/08 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,083,724 | 1,233,569 | 3,317,293 |
| 2/7/08 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,145,058 | 1,260,289 | 3,405,347 |
| 3/6/09 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,322,075 | 1,156,319 | 3,478,394 |
| 24/6/09 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,134,173 | 1,113,120 | 3,247,293 |
| 15/7/09 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,907,129 | 1,049,735 | 2,956,864 |
| 26/5/10 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,454,880 | 1,168,538 | 3,623,418 |
| 16/6/10 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,160,088 | 1,066,840 | 3,226,928 |
| 7/7/10 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,782,106 | 1,063,407 | 2,845,513 |
| 25/5/11 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,235,234 | 1,282,824 | 3,518,058 |
| 15/6/11 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,158,876 | 1,262,073 | 3,420,949 |
| 6/7/11 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,475,263 | 1,311,535 | 3,786,798 |
| 23/5/12 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,515,321 | 1,444,847 | 3,960,168 |
| 13/6/12 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,498,094 | 1,375,573 | 3,873,667 |
| 4/7/12 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,679,313 | 1,360,610 | 4,039,923 |
| 5/6/13 | State Of Origin 1st * | 2,506,643 | 1,442,731 | 3,949,374 |
| 26/6/13 | State Of Origin 2nd * | 2,346,396 | 1,389,310 | 3,735,706 |
| 17/7/13 | State Of Origin 3rd * | 2,698,574 | 1,496,162 | 4,194,736 |
| 28/5/14 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,616,166 | 1,439,767 | 4,055,933 |
| 18/6/14 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,698,808 | 1,460,371 | 4,159,179 |
| 9/7/14 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,136,889 | 1,211,255 | 3,348,144 |
| 27/5/15 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,459,948 | 1,228,445 | 3,688,393 |
| 17/6/15 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,638,898 | 1,296,052 | 3,934,950 |
| 8/7/15 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,213,816 | 1,101,317 | 3,315,133 |
| 1/6/16 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,708,000 | 1,243,000 | 3,951,000 |
| 22/6/16 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,404,000 | 1,143,000 | 3,547,000 |
| 13/7/16 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,070,000 | 953,000 | 3,023,000 |
| 31/5/17 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,348,000 | 1,179,000 | 3,527,000 |
| 21/6/17 | State Of Origin 2nd | 2,380,000 | 1,103,000 | 3,483,000 |
| 12/7/17 | State Of Origin 3rd | 2,488,000 | 1,165,000 | 3,653,000 |
| 6/6/18 | State Of Origin 1st | 2,353,000 | 1,103,000 | 3,456,000 |
| 24/6/18 | State Of Origin 2nd (Sunday) | 2,122,000 | 1,057,000 | 3,179,000 |
| 11/7/18 | State Of Origin 3rd | 1,774,000 | 909,000 | 2,683,000 |
Source: Nine Network/OzTAM
*On GEM in Perth in 2013