After an emphatic Melbourne Storm win in the NRL on Thursday night, three major NRL and AFL games also saw clear victories for three of the teams involved which drove the biggest Friday TV ratings audiences.
The biggest win was the Penrith Panthers dishing out a hiding to the Cronulla Sharks with a 50-0 scoreline in the early Friday Fox League match. Later in the evening in the Nine/Fox League match, the Eels overcame the Roosters.
The Nine NRL clash was on 374,000 across Nine and 9Gem with 219,000 watching in Sydney.
In the AFL, Seven’s Friday TV ratings victory was set up by the much-anticipated Tigers v Geelong clash. It was a close contest during the first half, but the Cats ran away with the game after halftime as they eventually doubled the Tigers score to win 126-63.
The metro audience for the AFL match was 590,000 with 343,000 in Melbourne.
Away from the sporting field, an ABC Vera repeat was on 519,000, while Seven’s Better Homes and Gardens outrated ABC’s Gardening Australia, with both shows just over 400,000.
The Living Room on 10 was on 300,000.
See also: Weekend TV Ratings Friday April 30, 2021
Friday TV ratings metro shares primary and network
ABC 14.0% (18.2%)
Seven 22.7% (32.6%)
Nine 19.8% (28.0%)
10 8.5% (14.2%)
SBS 4.4% (7.1%)
Friday TV ratings Metro top 20 all people
| 1 | NINE NEWS | Channel 9 | 842,000 |
| 2 | SEVEN NEWS | Channel 7 | 801,000 |
| 3 | SEVEN NEWS AT 6.30 | Channel 7 | 789,000 |
| 4 | NINE NEWS 6:30 | Channel 9 | 775,000 |
| 5 | SEVEN’S AFL: FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | 7mate, Channel 7 | 590,000 |
| 6 | A CURRENT AFFAIR | Channel 9 | 576,000 |
| 7 | ABC NEWS | ABC TV | 534,000 |
| 8 | VERA (R) | ABC TV | 519,000 |
| 9 | BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS | 7TWO, Channel 7 | 430,000 |
| 10 | THE CHASE AUSTRALIA | Channel 7 | 424,000 |
| 11 | GARDENING AUSTRALIA | ABC TV | 401,000 |
| 12 | HOT SEAT | Channel 9 | 393,000 |
| 13 | FRIDAY NIGHT NRL LIVE | Gem, Channel 9 | 374,000 |
| 14 | SEVEN’S AFL: FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL – PRE MATCH | 7mate, Channel 7 | 343,000 |
| 15 | 10 NEWS FIRST | Channel 10 | 321,000 |
| 16 | THE PROJECT 7PM | Channel 10 | 307,000 |
| 17 | THE LIVING ROOM | Channel 10 | 300,000 |
| 18 | THE CHASE AUSTRALIA-5PM | Channel 7 | 289,000 |
| 19 | SUNRISE | Channel 7 | 270,000 |
| 20 | SEVEN’S AFL: FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL – POST MATCH | 7mate, Channel 7 | 257,000 |
Friday TV Sports FTA and STV
NRL
#NRLRoostersEels
Nine/Gem 580,000 (Metro 374,000 Regional 206,000)
Fox League 272,000
#NRLPanthersSharks
Fox League 207,000
AFL
#AFLTigersCats
Seven/7mate 785,000 (Metro 590,000 Regional 195,000)
Fox Footy 189,000
A-League Fox Sports
#ADLvWEL 12,000