Free-to-Air Test Rugby Attracts Record Numbers in Brazil

Brazilian free-to-air network, Rede TV’s decision to broadcast live test match rugby has been a tremendous success. Notícias da TV has confirmed that the viewing numbers have surpassed the numbers watching live basketball in Brazil’s domestic professional league, the NBB.

With a rating of 0,6 Brazil vs Uruguay in the opening round of the South American A Championship the match did better than NBB which achieved a rating of 0.4 on the same day. In round two, this past Saturday Brazil vs Chile again attracted more viewers than the NBB. The basketball rating was again 0,4 while the Tupis vs Cóndores almost attracted twice as many viewers with a rating of 0,7.

The ratings are welcome news as Brazil prepares to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in three months time.