The NFL Games are averaging 15.1 million television and digital viewers, according to The Associated Press citing the league and Nielsen, a 6% decline from last year. Despite the decreases, all but four of the top 30 shows since the season began have been NFL games.
“Considering all the issues the NFL has had to deal with, the ratings are OK,” said Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who now runs his own sports television consulting company. “It hasn’t been a great year for ratings considering everything that has happened, but they aren’t in the toilet either.”
Sports consultant Marc Ganis cited the lack of preseason games to build up fan interest, and all four major professional sports playing in September as other reasons for this year’s slow start.
The Thursday and Sunday night packages have suffered the biggest declines with each package down 16%.
“I think the election was kind of a pivotal moment. We have seen the skyrocketing of cable news ratings. Now that the election (story) is nearing an end I think people will go back to kind of normal consumption patterns. So we think we have weathered the storm,” NBC Sports Group chairman Pete Bevacqua said. “We really believe with the schedule, particularly with us having the ability to flex games, should be unbelievably strong as we enter into the second half of the season.”
It’s not all bad news for primetime packages: ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” numbers were flat through the first eight weeks at 11.71 million.
CBS has rallied over the past five weeks and is down only 1%, while Fox has had a 6% decline. Both networks have faced competition from cable news, especially during the early afternoon window. The late afternoon numbers for both are flat.
In what isn’t a surprise, Brady’s move to Tampa Bay has translated to huge interest. The Buccaneers’ local ratings are up 29% from last season, the biggest year-over-year gain.
No comments:
Post a Comment