... Here is the audience breakdown according to OzTAM statistics as published in The Australian newspaper:
AFL Grand Final: Sydney v West Coast
CAPITAL CITIES
Sydney: 765,000
Melbourne: 1,184,000
Brisbane: 330,000
Adelaide: 326,000
Perth: 550,000
CAPITAL CITIES TOTAL: 3,155,000
REGIONAL AREAS (combined aggregated, excluding Tasmania)
Queensland: 176,696
Northern NSW: 201,667
Southern NSW: 206,025
Victoria: 276,333
REGIONAL TOTAL: 860,720
NRL Grand Final: Melbourne v Brisbane
CAPITAL CITIES
Sydney: 817,000
Melbourne: 871,000
Brisbane: 806,000
Adelaide: 39,000
Perth: 18,000
CAPITAL CITIES TOTAL: 2,552,000
REGIONAL AREAS
Queensland: 441,410
Northern NSW: 418,068
Southern NSW: 340,923
Victoria: 175,079
REGIONAL TOTAL: 1,375,481
AFL came out on top in overall total (4.01 million to 3.92 million) and in the major cities total, but finished second to NRL in Sydney, Brisbane and regional areas total, especially in Queensland and NSW where rugby league is much more popular than AFL (the extraordinary audience for Queensland was due to the presence of Brisbane Broncos). For the week from September 24 to 30, AFL Grand Final actually came second in rural Australia behind the Terri Irwin interview with Ray Martin from Channel Nine.
One surprising result was the audience for NRL Grand Final in regional Victoria, simply because the Melbourne Storm was playing. Although it was just more than 100,000 less than that for AFL Grand Final, it made the NRL Grand Final the most watched program in the state for the week ending October 7.
I hope it provides a satisfactory answer.
Regards,