SBS Still A Winner As Socceroos Lose To Brazil

More than four-and-a-half million Australians (28% of Australians aged 14 and over — 33% of men and 22% of women) watched on television the Socceroos’ 2-0 loss against five-time World Champions Brazil on Monday morning, according to a special Roy Morgan telephone survey.

Due to the 2am East Coast starting time, the number was expectedly down on the 7.115 million Australians who watched the Australia vs. Japan game last Monday night (11pm start time), however, this is still a significantly high figure.

Of the 4.596 million Australians who watched the game, 2.996 million watched the whole match, 742,000 said they watched only the first half, while 808,000 watched only the second half (50,000 couldn’t say).

The clear majority of viewers (4.178 million) watched the match at home, 246,000 at a friends’ house, and 172,000 at a public venue (hotel, public place).

Respondents surveyed last night and Monday night (June 19/20, 2006) were asked: “Did you watch the Australia versus Brazil match on Monday morning?”

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

# Sample sizes less than 50 should be treated with caution

Gary Morgan says:

“More than four-and-a-half million Australians tuned in to watch the Socceroos’ loss against Brazil in the early hours of Monday morning — an extraordinary figure given the 2am starting time.

“The fact that 1.849 million (22%) women aged 14 and over watched a traditionally male-dominated sport is a demonstration of soccer’s broad appeal.

“It must be noted that for special sporting events the official OZTAM television ratings are, at best, very misleading and, at worst, just plain wrong! OZTAM have a real problem as millions of advertising dollars are being spent based on their TV ratings.

“OZTAM quoted the average audience for the Australia vs. Japan game at 2.166 million (Roy Morgan: 7.115 million ‘watched the game’; 4.274 million watched the ‘whole match’) and 2.06 million for the Brazil game (Roy Morgan: 4.596 million ‘watched the game’; 2.996 million watched the ‘whole match’).”

Australians’ interest in the FIFA World Cup has waned slightly following the Socceroos’ loss to Brazil. Now 66% (down 4% in a week: “obviously bad losers”) of Australians aged 14 and over say they are either “very interested” (27%, down 7% in a week) or “somewhat interested” (39%, up 3% in a week) in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Base: Australians aged 14 and over

Audience Comparison

In the last eight months Roy Morgan Research has measured viewing audiences of all the major Australian sporting events:

*Not shown in Queensland

Australian Sports Audience Estimates in last Eight Months (rounded)

The Melbourne Cup remains Australia’s most watched sporting event (10.5 million) in the last eight months with more than double the audience figure of the 2006 Fosters Australian Grand Prix (4.9 million) and almost five times as many as the Monday Night AFL Match between Collingwood and Adelaide (2.2 million).

*Not shown in Queensland

This special Australia-wide Roy Morgan telephone survey was conducted last night and Monday night (June 19/20, 2006) with a cross-section of 634 men and women aged 14 and over.

Morgan Poll Detailed Analysis
A detailed analysis of this special Roy Morgan survey can be purchased for $6,800 plus GST (which includes the data loaded in Roy Morgan’s Asteroid Software).

For further information: