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Nielsen diagnoses rugby fever in 81 percent of nation

In case you haven’t noticed, the nation has fully embraced the Rugby World Cup, as evidenced most clearly during opening night festivities, when, according to a special survey of all the individuals (15+) in Nielsen’s 500-home TAM panel, the opening game was watched by 81 percent of all New Zealanders, with 11 percent of those watching it at a pub or outdoor venue. 

Those viewing out-of-home were more likely to be male, younger and Aucklanders. No word on whether the 19 percent of the nation that weren’t watching were stuck in trains or whether, as is often the case overseas, there was a huge surge in water usage and power during half-time toilet and tea breaks.

The first game of the RWC was the biggest TV event in New Zealand’s history, taking over from the Tua vs Lewis fight and Charles and Diana’s wedding.

“This illustrates the power of television in making such a wonderful event accessible right across the country,” says Claire Harris, managing director of Nielsen TAM, New Zealand.

Of those that watched the game at home, TV ONE led the ratings compared to Sky Sport, with a 53.6 percent share of total cumulative viewing audience of 1.9 million across ONE, Sky, Maori TV and the Rugby Channel. TVNZ Ondemand added 25,000 streams.

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