KEY POINTS:
TV3 is putting a brave face on the All Blacks' shock exit from the rugby World Cup - but advertising experts say the broadcaster will be reeling on the inside.
More than a million people tuned in on Sunday morning to watch the All Blacks lose to France in the quarter-final, making it the most watched programme on television in the past year.
But the ABs' defeat means audiences for the rest of the tournament are unlikely to match that.
Total Media chief executive Martin Gillman said the All Blacks' loss was a major blow to the broadcaster, which is understood to have paid about $10 million for the exclusive broadcasting rights.
"TV3 will need to look at what kind of compensation they're going to provide to advertisers who bought the guaranteed packages," he said.
"They won't be giving money back but they will be providing additional air time.
"When advertisers buy air time, they're not really buying spots, they're buying an audience level."
Depending on the downturn in ratings, TV3 may have to give away advertising spots that they would otherwise have sold, said Mr Gillman.
TV3 chief executive Brent Impey refused to discuss commercial arrangements with the Herald yesterday but said any compensation to date was manageable.
The 1.1 million viewers was equivalent to a 28.2 per cent audience share for viewers aged 5-plus.
Mr Gillman said he had expected to see a higher result but said it was an incredibly good rating for 8 o'clock in the morning.
TV3 had been conservative in its ratings estimations, said Mr Gillman, but the first round of figures were still not great.
Mr Impey denied that ratings were lower than expected but admitted that some of the replay matches did not rate as highly as anticipated.
"The audience throughout the World Cup has been fantastic ... Obviously we don't know what's going to happen with the remaining matches."
According to AGB Nielsen figures, more than 85 per cent of the population watching TV on Sunday morning was tuned in to the game.
TV3 said yesterday it was pleased with the ratings, even though they fell short of the All Blacks' quarter-final game against South Africa in 2003's Rugby World Cup in Australia when about 1.64 million tuned in for the Saturday night 29-9 win.
TV3 spokesman Roger Beaumont said: "The country is a bit shocked that we are out, but I think once we get used to the fact we are no longer in the tournament, I think New Zealanders will appreciate the next two weekends are going to have some absolutely world-class rugby free-to-air on TV."
Top 5
Most watched shows on television in the past year (viewers aged 5+):
1 Rugby World Cup quarter-final All Blacks v France (TV3) 1,088,100 viewers
2 Dancing With the Stars (TV1) 791,300 viewers
3 Fair Go Ad Awards 2007 (TV1) 715,700 viewers
4 Ice (documentary) (TV1) 690,900 viewers
5 Rugby World Cup pool game All Blacks v Italy (TV3) 644,800 viewers
