Television ratings for the NRL season have eclipsed the AFL’s audiences for the first time since 2010, reflecting the closeness of games in the rugby league competition compared to AFL, where the frequency of one-sided matches continued with last weekend’s three semi-final blow-outs.

The NRL has also bucked the overall trend in the Australian TV market, where cumulative ratings have experienced a decline of 7.2 per cent in total over the last year. The NRL’s overall TV ratings are flat at 0.3 per cent to the end of round 25, compared to the end of the 2017 regular season.

The Broncos' season may be over but they remain the highest-watched team nationally across both the NRL and AFL. Credit:AAP

The AFL’s TV ratings have fallen considerably, with a 12.8 per cent decline to the end of their regular season.

Cumulative season audience figures for the two codes highlight the NRL’s dominance. The NRL’s cumulative audience this season was 94.3 million, compared to the AFL’s live audience of 89.2m. This excludes State of Origin figures. If the data for those three games are added, rugby league’s audience for the 2018 season was more than 105m.