NFL ratings plunge could spell doom for traditional TV

[bevosu]

Football, America’s biggest prime-time powerhouse, has been thrust into a crisis this fall, with dwindling ratings sparking questions over whether it can remain a gold mine for television in an age when more Americans are abandoning traditional TV.

NFL ratings plunge could spell doom for traditional TV

 

[CuseCPT]

Football, America’s biggest prime-time powerhouse, has been thrust into a crisis this fall, with dwindling ratings sparking questions over whether it can remain a gold mine for television in an age when more Americans are abandoning traditional TV.

NFL ratings plunge could spell doom for traditional TV

They need to up their game and offer more for less. It's going to be an adjustment because they are so used to taking their audience for granted. It's stupid that I can watch any EPL game but if I want to watch the Miami Dolphins I have to hope they are playing a local market team or pay for a giant league bundle of some kind. Now that I see it doesn't have to be that way it's just making me care less about the NFL.

 

[CuseCPT]

The timing of this article is kind of funny. I cut the cord for the first time in my adult life last weekend. I did it mostly to pay down some debts I incurred from buying my first house. I figured I could just watch Netflix and whatever sports I can get via my XBox. It turns out, that's actually a decent amount. I was prepared to be without regular TV but on a whim I bought a $10 antenna at Best Buy. I get all the local networks and the picture is great. Plus you get all these other weird broadcast networks I never knew existed. I'm going to miss the convenience of the DVR and USA and AMC, but that's about it. When GoT comes back I'll pay for HBONow and get caught up on Westworld. So for an extra $100 a month in my pocket I think I'll be just fine without cable. Even a year or two ago I never thought I would say that.

 

[Orangeman]

They need to up their game and offer more for less. It's going to be an adjustment because they are so used to taking their audience for granted. It's stupid that I can watch any EPL game but if I want to watch the Miami Dolphins I have to hope they are playing a local market team or pay for a giant league bundle of some kind. Now that I see it doesn't have to be that way it's just making me care less about the NFL.

I've been saying this for a while

It's absurd of them to think I'm either to 1) get satellite I don't want to get their greedy package, or 2) hit a bar midday on Sunday when I have three kids and a wife.

So you know what, my interest dwindles, there's only so much red zone I can watch to catch a few plays

Their fault, miscalculation and greed. Not feeling sorry for 'em

 

[Cowtown]

The timing of this article is kind of funny. I cut the cord for the first time in my adult life last weekend. I did it mostly to pay down some debts I incurred from buying my first house. I figured I could just watch Netflix and whatever sports I can get via my XBox. It turns out, that's actually a decent amount. I was prepared to be without regular TV but on a whim I bought a $10 antenna at Best Buy. I get all the local networks and the picture is great. Plus you get all these other weird broadcast networks I never knew existed. I'm going to miss the convenience of the DVR and USA and AMC, but that's about it. When GoT comes back I'll pay for HBONow and get caught up on Westworld. So for an extra $100 a month in my pocket I think I'll be just fine without cable. Even a year or two ago I never thought I would say that.

I'm beginning to check that out, seriously. Up here, TSN has 4 channels all showing the same game, and SportsNet the same stupid thing. Cutting the cord is the only way to get their attention

 

[CuseCPT]

Update: apparently all the ESPN stuff i was getting was only because the system hadn't caught up to me ditching cable. I can no longer get any live games via my XBox. Even so, still glad I did it and I haven't even gotten a new bill yet.

 

[Hoo's That]

I can't speak to the accuracy of this because I really don't care for the NFL, but on one board I visited a poster claimed that, as bad as things are for the level of fan interest in the NFL, it would be even lower without Fantasy Football.

 

[CuseCPT]

I can't speak to the accuracy of this because I really don't care for the NFL, but on one board I visited a poster claimed that, as bad as things are for the level of fan interest in the NFL, it would be even lower without Fantasy Football.

I'd say that's absolutely true.

 

[Knicks411]

I can't speak to the accuracy of this because I really don't care for the NFL, but on one board I visited a poster claimed that, as bad as things are for the level of fan interest in the NFL, it would be even lower without Fantasy Football.

This is definitely true, (fantasy football plus gambling) but let's not act like the level of fan interest in football is low or anything like that.

 

[Alsacs]

The ratings are lower because of this crazy election cycle and the Primetime games have been awful.
THe Sunday afternoon ratings have been fine.

 

[Hoo's That]

The ratings are lower because of this crazy election cycle and the Primetime games have been awful.
THe Sunday afternoon ratings have been fine.

See what happened? The NFL sent those letters to Trump asking to get the debates moved, but nobody listened and the ratings went down the tubes.

 

[Briancuse]

See what happened? The NFL sent those letters to Trump asking to get the debates moved, but nobody listened and the ratings went down the tubes.

I see that the Monday night game did a 6 this week, that is unheard of for a MNF game.

 

[Knicks411]

The ratings are lower because of this crazy election cycle and the Primetime games have been awful.
THe Sunday afternoon ratings have been fine.

Just as an example, here are the ratings for the 4 PM game for the first 6 weeks of this year compared to last year.

1) 23.3 million in 2015 vs 27.5 million in 2016
2) 21.4 million vs. 27.2 million
3) 22.1 million vs 22 million
4) 25.9 million vs 22.7 million
5) 26.1 million vs 21.3 million
6) 25 million vs 28 million

If my math is right, last year averaged a shade under 24 million, and they're at 24.78 million this year, an increase of about 3%.

 

[Knicks411]

I was bored, if anyone cares, here is the breakdown for all the windows

Thursday night: Down from 19.11 million to 15.43 million, a decrease of 19%
Sunday night: 23.65 million down to 19.1 million, a decrease of 19.2%. If you remove the game that went against the debate, you get 19.6 million instead. This last game was 13.6 million, which is down 40% (!) from the game last year.
Monday night: 13.4 million down to 10.4 million this year, a drop of 22%. If you take out the game that went against the debate, you get 10.89 million. (for what it's worth, the game this week barely outdrew the game that went against the debate, though of course the game this week sucked)
Singleheader: 17.8 million down to 17.4 million, a drop of 2%
Doubleheader game 1: 15 million down to 13.82 million, a drop of 8%.

If you net all 3 of the Sunday windows together, you basically get 56 million this year, and 56.8 million last year, a drop of 1.4%. If you net the 3 primetime windows together, you get 56.15 million last year and 45 million this year, a huge drop of nearly 20%.

 

[Alsacs]

I was bored, if anyone cares, here is the breakdown for all the windows

Thursday night: Down from 19.11 million to 15.43 million, a decrease of 19%
Sunday night: 23.65 million down to 19.1 million, a decrease of 19.2%. If you remove the game that went against the debate, you get 19.6 million instead. This last game was 13.6 million, which is down 40% (!) from the game last year.
Monday night: 13.4 million down to 10.4 million this year, a drop of 22%. If you take out the game that went against the debate, you get 10.89 million. (for what it's worth, the game this week barely outdrew the game that went against the debate, though of course the game this week sucked)
Singleheader: 17.8 million down to 17.4 million, a drop of 2%
Doubleheader game 1: 15 million down to 13.82 million, a drop of 8%.

If you net all 3 of the Sunday windows together, you basically get 56 million this year, and 56.8 million last year, a drop of 1.4%. If you net the 3 primetime windows together, you get 56.15 million last year and 45 million this year, a huge drop of nearly 20%.

Thursday night football is awful. I don't think people can devote the time to Monday and Thursday nights if they want their girlfriends/wifes to stay with them. TNF is really only for the local market teams playing.
Sunday Night games have been bad for what is suppose to be the flagship timeslot. NE@ARZ, GB@MIN, CHI@DAL, KC@PIT, NYG@GB, INDY@HOU.
Monday Night games have been worse than SNF.

They need to put better games at night.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Thursday night football is awful. I don't think people can devote the time to Monday and Thursday nights if they want their girlfriends/wifes to stay with them. TNF is really only for the local market teams playing.
Sunday Night games have been bad for what is suppose to be the flagship timeslot. NE@ARZ, GB@MIN, CHI@DAL, KC@PIT, NYG@GB, INDY@HOU.
Monday Night games have been worse than SNF.

They need to put better games at night.

Oversaturation. I pick a few games I'm interested in and that's it. Monday nights are difficult because as you said the GF and I usually do something together.

 

[Knicks411]

Michael Mulvihill ‏@mulvihill79 10m10 minutes ago
NFL Year-Year Viewership Trend By Network Thru Week 6: Regionalized FOX: -1% CBS: -7% Non-Regionalized TNF: -16% SNF: -18% MNF: -18%


Could have saved myself some time and waited for this tweet

 

[Briancuse]

Oversaturation. I pick a few games I'm interested in and that's it. Monday nights are difficult because as you said the GF and I usually do something together.

For me its the Sunday night game that can be a little tough, unless the Cowboys are playing. You have been watching football for 7 plus hours, and I love football more than anyone, but by halftime of the sunday night game, you are a little worn out.

 

[IthacaMatt]

They need to up their game and offer more for less. It's going to be an adjustment because they are so used to taking their audience for granted. It's stupid that I can watch any EPL game but if I want to watch the Miami Dolphins I have to hope they are playing a local market team or pay for a giant league bundle of some kind. Now that I see it doesn't have to be that way it's just making me care less about the NFL.

What's going to be really interesting is upcoming collective bargaining agreements when TV payments start going down. Rookies will get screwed, roster sizes will shrink, salary caps will shrink. It's going to be armageddon. I'll bet there will be a couple professional sports strikes.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Michael Mulvihill ‏@mulvihill79 10m10 minutes ago
NFL Year-Year Viewership Trend By Network Thru Week 6: Regionalized FOX: -1% CBS: -7% Non-Regionalized TNF: -16% SNF: -18% MNF: -18%


Could have saved myself some time and waited for this tweet

Yeah, it's the prime time stuff that is over-exposed. The Sunday games are holding up for now.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Yeah, it's the prime time stuff that is over-exposed. The Sunday games are holding up for now.

its the Sunday Night game that I can do without.

I only like it when the Giants are playing in it.

I like having pro football on Thursday (I wonder why there is not 1 on tonight though) and Monday Night will always be cool, but after a full day of game watching, im usually good.

Id rather watch post game shlit for a few hours and get caught up on everything for real and of course watch the Walking Dead or whatever else is the hot show...ie the X-Files back in the day always took precedent.

 

[Briancuse]

its the Sunday Night game that I can do without.

I only like it when the Giants are playing in it.

I like having pro football on Thursday (I wonder why there is not 1 on tonight though) and Monday Night will always be cool, but after a full day of game watching, im usually good.

Id rather watch post game shlit for a few hours and get caught up on everything for real and of course watch the Walking Dead or whatever else is the hot show...ie the X-Files back in the day always took precedent.

I feel the same way, I will be locked in this Sunday, but after two full days of watching football college and pro, by 9 pm Sunday, you are a little burned out.

 

[CuseTroop]

Update: apparently all the ESPN stuff i was getting was only because the system hadn't caught up to me ditching cable. I can no longer get any live games via my XBox. Even so, still glad I did it and I haven't even gotten a new bill yet.

Just find a buddy/family member who still has cable, and ask them for their log in info. I've been using my grammy's for years.

 

[Alsacs]

its the Sunday Night game that I can do without.

I only like it when the Giants are playing in it.

I like having pro football on Thursday (I wonder why there is not 1 on tonight though) and Monday Night will always be cool, but after a full day of game watching, im usually good.

Id rather watch post game shlit for a few hours and get caught up on everything for real and of course watch the Walking Dead or whatever else is the hot show...ie the X-Files back in the day always took precedent.

TNF is on the NFL Network tonight. Jacksonville-Tennessee.
TNF is killing MNF. The games suck and people can't watch prime time football 3 nights a week and still have lives.
Also TNF sucks because every team has to play at least 1 time on it. There are a lot of bad teams I don't want to watch on prime time. MNF at least doesn't have to have bad teams on unless the schedule makers did a bad job.
Thursday night should be a college.night not a full pro schedule night.

If the NFL wants to play on Thursday night they should add a second bye week for every team and the 2 teams playing on TNF would be coming off a bye. Plus another bye week would help player safety which the NFL claims they care about.

 

[bevosu]

The original post linked a Washington Post article. This one is from the NY Times.

10/26

TV Viewership Falls in N.F.L. and Premier League: A Blip, or Something Worse?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/27/s...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0