re: NFL TV Ratings Down Significantly

Per Forbes

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NBC’s Sunday Night Football was down yet again in viewership, drawing in 16.68 million viewers and scoring a 6.19/19 rating in the advertiser friendly 18-49 demo. The numbers mark a season low for SNF and the show’s 11.0 overnight rating is the lowest total since 2007 (ouch).

While the NFL still won the night in total viewers, those numbers mark a steep drop from last week’s 18.62 million/6.8 ratings and the week before’s 20.6 million/7.4 rating.

The NFL was done no favors by the matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers dominating the Kansas City Chiefs in a sleep-inducing 43-14 rout, but the league is accustomed to being quality proof. In years past, it wouldn’t matter if it was a blowout or a nail biter, SNF was TV’s king. Since 2011-12, Sunday Night Football has finished as TV’s top offering in the 18-49 demo and total viewership. While football is on pace to repeat that feat again, the margin of victory is shrinking rapidly.

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The NFL was done no favors by the matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers dominating the Kansas City Chiefs in a sleep-inducing 43-14 rout, but the league is accustomed to being quality proof.

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People will not agree and, in fact, argue the opposite. But I think it has a lot to do with just simple lazy programming decisions. They don't want to cultivate a new audience.

As much as I dislike Cam Newton, he's the new young face of the league and he should be on TV as much as possible. But they're not because they're not "America's Team." They're a "redneck team" that nobody cares about. The Seahawks have been a good team for a while now but they're West Coast so frick them.

Instead, they just play all the hits all the time. Give us Cowboys vs. Other, Packers vs. Other, Steelers vs. Other, and Patriots vs. Other. Why show Cam when we can have another NFC EAST SHOWDOWN! Well, I'm sorry. I got other things to do. I don't want to watch the 3-4 Cowboys play the 2-5 Redskins just because it's Cowboys vs. Redskins and I'm supposed to care about it because Cowboys vs. Redskins. The Redskins are a boring football team and Tony Romo is finished and he's not coming back. So give us something else to watch, because if you don't I'll find it.

The NFL dug its own hole here and they didn't need to. Peyton retired. Brady is suspended. The NFC East is average. But they keep fricking that chicken and ignore their hot properties because they play in the wrong television markets.

I never dreamed I'd say it, but I like the current NBA television model more than the NFL model. Yeah, the Lakers will never be off my television, but they have found a way to work teams like OKC, Cleveland, Golden State, and San Antonio into the rotation. They don't force-feed you Celtics/Knicks in their Sunday afternoon feature spot just because Celtics/Knicks. The Celtics, Knicks and Lakers suck and nobody wants to watch them anymore so why not give somebody else the spotlight for a little while?

That's what he is saying.

If they cultivate an audience then a shitty Dallas team wouldn't score the most ratings.

It's more an indictment of the NFL than a praise of the Cowboys fanbase.

Tannehill and Dalton was just as bad Cincy looks inept on offense besides Green. If they get in the RZ, they're worse off too. They need Eifert back bad. Tannehill has his flashes.

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It's more an indictment of the NFL than a praise of the Cowboys fanbase.

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It's a little of both. I'm not shitting on Cowboys fans here, and I'm not just shitting on the Cowboys. But you gotta admit, there's a lot of "No Romo No Care" out there. They've had a surprising start and Prescott looks good, but TV suits just have this condescending "America's Team--YOU WILL WATCH AND WE DON'T CARE" attitude toward their programming choices, and I'm done with that now that I know that hate-watching the Cowboys every week just keeps them on television.

And Dak Prescott is a good example of what they (the networks) do. He's not a big deal because he's good. He's a big deal because he's the Cowboys QB so YOU WILL LIKE DAK PRESCOTT AND WATCH HIM EVERY WEEK. And that was part of the Romo backlash too. They crowned his arse before he earned his due because he played the right position for the right team. Prescott gets as much exposure now (at least on Sundays--not in marketing) as Cam Newton and Russell Wilson and he hasn't earned it yet.

Next week will be a great example of that. The 1-3 Bucs play the 1-3 Panthers. People should watch because Cam Newton is the MVP and one of the most exciting players in the game, but the narrative all week will be "why was THIS game chosen to be on national TV??????" But if the Eagles were playing the Redskins on national TV and they were both 1-3, you wouldn't get the same backlash because it's "a clash between two of the NFL's most storied franchises."

And why? Because of perception and conditioning. We BELIEVE that the NFC EAST SHOWDOWN is better television because that's what we're told and that's what we're given. The Eagles are the fricking Cleveland Indians of the NFL, but for some damn reason we're supposed to care because NFC EAST. And yet the Lions, whose last NFL Championship came 3 years before the Eagles' last NFL championship are a shitty football team and should never be on television? When you think about how stupid it actually is and how it really makes no sense but somehow NFC East football is "better" even though it's been 20 years since anyone besides the Giants has won a Super Bowl, you just change the channel because shitty football is shitty football even though one of the shitty teams plays in New York City and somehow we're supposed to care in Baton Rouge because of that.

--end rant

And, by the way, I did put my money where my mouth was this week. I didn't watch a game Sunday or Monday. And that INCLUDES the Saints. Nothing could top Saturday from about 5-11 pm, LSU finally gave me the game I've been waiting for since 1/9/12, so why bother with the NFL? I can't prove it, you can check and see my lack of game-specific NFL posts in the last 48 hours. And the Saints are off next week, and you can bet your arse I'm not watching next week either.

I've watched significantly less NFL this year...probably at least by 40%. Didn't watch 1 second of the 49ers vs Cowboys, watched a half or the NE game,my team, who sucked yesterday and watched about a quarter of SNF.

Last year I would've watched every second of every one of these games...

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I've watched significantly less NFL this year...probably at least by 40%. Didn't watch 1 second of the 49ers vs Cowboys, watched a half or the NE game,my team, who sucked yesterday and watched about a quarter of SNF.

Last year I would've watched every second of every one of these games...

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I deliberately made plans with family and friends yesterday, and I already did it for next Sunday too.

We got back home around 7:30-8:00 and my wife automatically turned on SNF by instinct. I walked by it on the way to the bedroom and saw some screen pass get intercepted. I told her to turn that shite off and I went to bed.

The next morning I found out that I was up 50 going into SNF and Roethlisberger beat me. I also had Matt Ryan & Michael Crabtree on my bench for Carson Palmer & Brandin Cooks. I'd have been losing my shite on the fantasy sports board if I was watching them live.

I have watched exactly one game this season - NOLA versus San Diego. I am probably one of the few to have this as my definitive reason, but the continued Colin K stuff rubs me wrong. FWIW, I defended his right to do so. I feel he should have walked things back and focused on being my more inclusive. Instead, it seems division was his goal. As such, I don't feel like supporting the NFL under these circumstances. Just my .02.

NFL ratings are so bad the league is now having to give away free TV ads for their commercial partners.

Per Chicago Tribune

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TV networks forced to give away ads as NFL viewership declines.

When TV networks sell commercials, they guarantee advertisers a certain number of viewers. If they don't fulfill their promise, they must offer free commercial time elsewhere to make up for it, potentially missing out on revenue from selling those ad spots instead.

So far this NFL season, TV networks have missed their estimates by about 20 percent, requiring them to offer advertisers what the industry calls "make-goods," according to one ad buyer who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

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Full article goes into more detail
LINK

People are getting tired of fantasy football and wondering why the league spent two years shitting on one of their most favorite players, suspending him for more games than a woman beater.