Competition for primetime viewers was more intense in the TV ratings on the first Friday night of NRL competition for 2021.
Seven News was the most-watched bulletin, but with smaller metro numbers close to 780,000 across the hour.
A Current Affair screened in four markets with no Brisbane airing due the NRL clash.
At 7.30pm Gardening Australia was ranked #1 and then a repeat of the hit British crime series Vera kept the ABC in first place.
Seven’s Better Homes and Gardens delivered a bigger average audience than the NRL on Nine, but only just. Seven had a reasonable Friday audience of 346,000 for its movie Ladies in Black.
The first Friday football clash, which saw the Eels overtake the Broncos, saw Nine the clear leader in Sydney and Brisbane. In Sydney Nine News and the NRL were the most-watched shows. In Brisbane the NRL was a clear favourite.
10’s best was the 5pm 10 News First with 300,000 followed by The Project 7pm with 279,000. A repeat episode of The Living Room was less competitive with 191,000.
See also: Weekend TV ratings Friday March 5, 2021
Friday TV ratings metro shares primary and network
ABC 14.9% (20.1%)
Seven 19.7% (29.3%)
Nine 19.3% (28.4%)
10 7.1% (13.7%)
SBS 4.7% (8.5%)
Metro top 20 all people
| 1 | SEVEN NEWS | Channel 7 | 786,000 |
| 2 | SEVEN NEWS AT 6.30 | Channel 7 | 765,000 |
| 3 | NINE NEWS 6:30 | Channel 9 | 701,000 |
| 4 | NINE NEWS | Channel 9 | 697,000 |
| 5 | ABC NEWS | ABC TV | 547,000 |
| 6 | VERA (R) | ABC TV | 497,000 |
| 7 | GARDENING AUSTRALIA | ABC TV | 468,000 |
| 8 | BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS | Channel 7 | 426,000 |
| 9 | FRIDAY NIGHT NRL LIVE | Gem, Channel 9 | 408,000 |
| 10 | A CURRENT AFFAIR | Channel 9 | 401,000 |
| 11 | THE CHASE AUSTRALIA | Channel 7 | 386,000 |
| 12 | M: LADIES IN BLACK | Channel 7 | 346,000 |
| 13 | HOT SEAT | Channel 9 | 333,000 |
| 14 | 10 NEWS FIRST | Channel 10 | 300,000 |
| 15 | THE PROJECT 7PM | Channel 10 | 279,000 |
| 16 | SUNRISE | Channel 7 | 260,000 |
| 17 | THE CHASE AUSTRALIA 5PM | Channel 7 | 259,000 |
| 18 | NINE’S AFTERNOON NEWS | Channel 9 | 226,000 |
| 19 | HOT SEAT 5PM | Channel 9 | 210,000 |
| 20 | SEVEN NEWS AT 4.30 | Channel 7 | 204,000
|
Sports FTA and STV
NRL
#NRLBroncosEels
Nine 657,000 (Metro 408,000 Regional 249,000)
Fox League 313,000
#NRLKnightsBulldogs
Fox League 221,000
AFLW
Gold Coast v Richmond
Fox Footy 37,000
America’s Cup Final
Day 2 Fox Sports 32,000