Prime beat Sky in the TV ratings for Sunday's Rugby World Cup final "as more than one million viewers got up early to watch the All Blacks beat the Wallabies," according to Joseph Pearson of STUFF. The free-to-air network Prime "had an average audience of 670,900 throughout the game, according to Television commentary website Throng.co.nz, and the coverage is understood to have been the second most watched show in New Zealand for the day" -- just under 30,000 viewers behind the 700,750 who watched the One News program at 6pm. Sky's live coverage of the final saw its viewing figures reach 494,880 -- 176,020 behind Prime. Prime and Sky's figures combined mean the audience for the final reached 1,165,780 -- "an impressive number given the 5am kick off time in New Zealand." Sky had 545,720 viewers, just 20 more than Prime for shows that ran immediately after the final's broadcast, meaning 93.6% of the audience who watched the game "stayed tuned in to enjoy the reaction to the All Blacks' historic triumph after the full time whistle" (STUFF, 11/2).
