Interesting conversation under you twitter on this
I think there is a bit of confusion how much the FTA v foxtel balance is driven by the AFL's different TV rights structure. It is certainly a factor but the different game length is the more important factor in why foxtel averages are lower.
Obviously there is the fact that, if you watch an hour of the AFL or the NRL you count more in the latter than the former. More generally though:
-overlapping games mean split AFL viewing audience
-the AFL has more games in the early arvo time slot particularly on saturdays, that also drags down numbers
The AFL got its highest average foxtel ratings for the year over easter (206K) but it wasn't from particularly good ratings which were largely flat on face value. It was primarily because there were no overlapping games
Ultimately though it is the numbers in the far right column that are most telling. They are a bit inflated by the FTA component and home state markets (but that will probably skew back as 5 of the AFL's 8 thursday nights are done) but ultimately that is what drives FTA value and also STV value to the extent that the average AFL and NRL subscribers watch a similar number of hours of their preferred code each week