KEY POINTS:
A Grand Slam was on the line against one of New Zealand's oldest and fiercest rivals but that was not enough to convince fans to tune in.
The All Blacks-England match at Twickenham last weekend mustered a paltry 118,800 TV viewers in New Zealand, easily the lowest figure of the current tour and more than 60,000 viewers less than any test during the 2005 Grand Slam.
Even given the fact there was a replay at a more friendlier time the next morning, it is a figure that should have rugby bosses quaking in their adidas lace-ups, confirming the great rugby turn-off is a real threat and not just a cyclical waning of interest.
The shrill of the alarm in the middle of the night, followed by families huddled around the TV eating cheese on toast was as much a part of northern hemisphere tours as the rugby itself.
Bosses will take some comfort in the fact the England test was the only one to start at 3.30am, with the other three tests starting at the more sociable hours of 6-6.30am.
However, three of the four tests on the 2005 Grand Slam tour started at 3.30am.
According to AGB Nielsen figures, of those, 202,600 watched the test against Ireland; 241,400 watched the match against England; and 182,400 watched Tana Umaga's final test against Scotland. The highest figure on that tour was the 295,100 who tuned in for the opening match against Wales, a test that started at 4.45am.
On this tour, only Ireland attracted more viewers than they did in 2005, roping in 225,600 sets of eyes in the hyped occasion at Croke Park. That match started after 6am, as did the opener against Scotland (a mere 160,400) and Wales (250,200).
The figures would appear to show a continuation of a downward trend that is effecting all levels of rugby.
Interestingly, the Munster match, which screened on a week day during work hours, secured 144,100 viewers compared to the 118,800 that watched the England test.
In April, the Herald on Sunday revealed that Super 14 audiences had taken a massive hit, with a 25 per cent drop in the average audience in two years.
After nine rounds of Super 14, figures showed that the 23 games played in New Zealand had been watched by a cumulative audience of 4.1 million people. That was an average of 179,000, down from 238,000 at the same point in 2006.
More worrying is that the average this year is down on last year, when 22 leading All Blacks were withdrawn from the series.
At the time, New Zealand Rugby Union professional rugby manager Neil Sorenson said: "We were under no illusions that we had a massive job to bring audiences back after the competition took a kick in the guts last year. The viewing figures are clearly showing us the public are not rapt with the competitions in their current format."
These Grand Slam figures seem to show the dissatisfaction was not just with the Sanzar competitions, but with rugby itself.
The NZRU could take comfort in the fact the Bledisloe Cup proved popular with more than 332,000 people tuning in at the television friendly time of 9.30pm for the test against Australia at Hong Kong.
