The Telstra Premiership has recorded the best start to an NRL season on record with crowds 5.6% higher than 2012, averaging 18,389 per game.

Saturday’s Round six game between the Rabbitohs and the Storm posted the highest audience of any program on subscription television in 2013 attracting an audience of 379,319.

This was in addition to the 32,671 fans who made it the biggest attendance for a regular season match featuring the Melbourne Storm in Sydney.

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Across the Nine and Win Networks ratings have lifted 6.6% on 2013.

Fans are also engaging on-line with a 38% lift in number of unique viewers through nrl.com, further lifts of 24% across the club network and a 67% increase in people using mobile technology.

At the same time club memberships have risen to 215,000 to set yet another record for the year to date.

Other highlights across the opening rounds include:

The biggest ever attendance for Heritage Round (174,409), surpassing the previous record of 162,984 set in 2010.

The Round 4 Bulldogs v Rabbitohs game posting: the biggest attendance for a regular season stand-alone since the NRL began in 1998 (51,686)

The biggest Sydney Rugby League crowd since the St George v Souths match at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1967 (50,153)