NFL's Ratings Fall for Second Year

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Boris13c
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NFL's Litany of Excuses Runs Out After Ratings Fall for Second Year
TV networks are running out of excuses for the dwindling popularity of the National Football League.

They blamed the election for ratings declines last year, and hurricanes for a soft week one in September. Protests during the national anthem, and President Donald Trump’s criticism of the league, have faded from the headlines.

Advertisers are starting to believe a different explanation: the viewers aren’t coming back. Audiences are down an average 7 percent from a year ago through the first eight weeks of the season, excluding last Monday. That’s on top of a decrease of about 8 percent last season that spurred numerous changes in the broadcasts, from shorter commercials to better matchups earlier in the year.

“There’s just not as many people watching TV the way they used to watch TV,” said Jeremy Carey, managing director of Optimum Sports, a sports marketing agency. “It’s going to be an issue for advertisers when they can’t reach a large-scale audience the way they have.”

~~~

Media companies have spent billions of dollars on the right to air football games, which had been immune to the erosion of viewership for other TV programming. Audiences for TV networks have diminished for years as the growing popularity of online alternatives Netflix and YouTube and the availability of most shows on-demand have reduced the appeal of dramas and comedies. Live TV, like sports, was supposed to be immune, but that theory looks highly questionable now.

Ratings for the NFL suggest the same societal trends are now affecting the league, even if the declines aren’t as dramatic. The drop in game viewership ranges from 5 percent for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” to 11 percent for the CBS Sunday package. “Monday Night Football,” on Disney’s ESPN, has attracted more fans this year than a year ago, but the numbers are still down from 2015.

pretty long article but an interesting read

so networks and advertisers are noticing some changes ... and there are an abundance of theories on why this is happening ... the most logical I think is the way people watch tv these days ... and the old formulas the NFL has been using to price their ads are not taking this into account ... and once advertisers start to feel they aren't getting a good return on their investment, they will seek other avenues

should make the next round of NFL negotiated tv rights interesting I think, though I'm not sure when that cycle comes up again

my theory on overall viewership being down is that maybe there are more football fans out there like me who are getting more and more turned off by bad games as a result of bad officiating and an idiotic dysfunctional replay system (the recent Zach Miller play only has enforced my views on this but I had these views prior to that event) ... plus, I think the NFL is simply over saturating things with their Thursday night and overseas games ... more opportunities to watch a watered down product is not a good thing in my view
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Otis Day
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Over saturation for sure. Like the Starbucks that had to go up in every small dick town around the US. Guess what? It was not as desireable. People didn't drive to get the shit anymore and they realized it was overpriced garbage. Starbucks starting closing stores (happened here).

Football is on all the time, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays (college), you can catch a game anytime you want.

The Thurs games suck. The matchups are just not there anymore. I don't care to see the Phins and Raiders this Sunday night. I didn't need to see the effin Bills v Jets.

The NFL needs to go back to Sunday and Monday. Pick better matchups for Sunday night and MNF. Have the first 4 slated and then just start bumping the "good" games to prime spots.

I have watched less NFL this year just because of the matchups. I have watched less college for multiple reasons as well.

Reffing is horrible, but can't say that is a reason I am watching less. The kneeling bullshit has no impact either. For me it is strictly matchups. I rarely, if ever, watch the 'boys, Raiders, 'Skins or Chargers, no matter who they are playing. I just hate those teams.

It will become a bigger problem I believe in the years to come.
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This is an on demand society more so now than every before. A major change that needs to happen, at the expense of Direct TV, is to allow people to stream any game they want from their computer.

The NFL and the networks are so far back in the dark ages at this point. I can watch a game for free over my digital antenna, but they won't let me stream live games complete with commercials over the internet? If its the same damn broadcast, why should they care if I'm watching from my TV or computer? The NFL and the networks would potentially get more revenue in ads and they could attract more national companies since their reaching less localized markets.

Too many people have been disenfranchised because they can't watch their favorite team due to not living in the area. As the NFL tries to become more "global", what real options are they giving to people who live in the country.

Also there is a gold mine in old games that the NFL simply has to follow the Netflix model to capitalize on(or partner with them since they already have the technology in place). Watch any game for 9.99/ month. Stat geeks alone are dying to get their hands on the data that is just sitting on those old tapes.
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Atkins&Rebel wrote:This is an on demand society more so now than every before. A major change that needs to happen, at the expense of Direct TV, is to allow people to stream any game they want from their computer.

The NFL and the networks are so far back in the dark ages at this point. I can watch a game for free over my digital antenna, but they won't let me stream live games complete with commercials over the internet? If its the same damn broadcast, why should they care if I'm watching from my TV or computer? The NFL and the networks would potentially get more revenue in ads and they could attract more national companies since their reaching less localized markets.

Too many people have been disenfranchised because they can't watch their favorite team due to not living in the area. As the NFL tries to become more "global", what real options are they giving to people who live in the country.

Also there is a gold mine in old games that the NFL simply has to follow the Netflix model to capitalize on(or partner with them since they already have the technology in place). Watch any game for 9.99/ month. Stat geeks alone are dying to get their hands on the data that is just sitting on those old tapes.
Exactly.

I live out in the sticks - no cell service at my place - no TV cable - no broadband

I have SiriusXM satellite radio in my home to hear the NFL broadcasts. My only web access is by satellite internet, which I have had now for a year. I'm on a low data plan but I could pay for faster/bigger/better service to get some fairly watchable video, or so I've heard from neighbors.

Part of why I live here is not having TV but I really miss not watching the Bears live - radio broadcast audio alone just doesn't do it for me anymore. Wouldn't it make sense for the NFL to offer me a game every week for a reasonable price? Why can't I get a game of my choice each week over my satellite internet connection?

21st century for crying out loud :angry:
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London games, crappy thursday night games, fantasy football making younger people not follow teams just players and stats, daily fantasy gambling, protesting players, crazy shit going on in the country, oversaturation/overstimulation stupidity.

= lower ratings.

Eliminate london games and thursday night games, quit stressing fantasy football and redzone channels, put good games on TV, go back to the switch out of monday night games if it's crappy teams, work on the quality of football.
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I wonder if having half time shows worth a damn would make a difference? It seems that no matter which channel you watch on you see the same old vacuous talking head bobbins with no real analysis.

Sure, some might like watching a bunch of stupidly paid old dudes have more fun than their audience but how many variants of that do we need (backed up by shock jock radio hosts). Isn't there room for one xs and os broadcast?
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malk wrote:I wonder if having half time shows worth a damn would make a difference? It seems that no matter which channel you watch on you see the same old vacuous talking head bobbins with no real analysis.

Sure, some might like watching a bunch of stupidly paid old dudes have more fun than their audience but how many variants of that do we need (backed up by shock jock radio hosts). Isn't there room for one xs and os broadcast?
Tony Romo might be the experiment this year...and people either love him or hate him for giving those x's and o's insights during the game
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malk wrote:I wonder if having half time shows worth a damn would make a difference? It seems that no matter which channel you watch on you see the same old vacuous talking head bobbins with no real analysis.

bring back marching bands and dogs catching Frisbees ... both of those things are of more use than studio talking head shitshows
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Celebrity death match at half time of every game to increase ratings.
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southdakbearfan wrote:Celebrity death match at half time of every game to increase ratings.

ah ... but with real celebrities instead of the clay-mation ones?
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malk wrote:I wonder if having half time shows worth a damn would make a difference? It seems that no matter which channel you watch on you see the same old vacuous talking head bobbins with no real analysis.

Sure, some might like watching a bunch of stupidly paid old dudes have more fun than their audience but how many variants of that do we need (backed up by shock jock radio hosts). Isn't there room for one xs and os broadcast?
somebody give brett kollmann a damn show on nfln!
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Boris13c wrote:
southdakbearfan wrote:Celebrity death match at half time of every game to increase ratings.

ah ... but with real celebrities instead of the clay-mation ones?
Exactly, lol. Fan polling data to determine matchups. Mandatory appearance or expulsion from the country.
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Atkins&Rebel wrote:
malk wrote:I wonder if having half time shows worth a damn would make a difference? It seems that no matter which channel you watch on you see the same old vacuous talking head bobbins with no real analysis.

Sure, some might like watching a bunch of stupidly paid old dudes have more fun than their audience but how many variants of that do we need (backed up by shock jock radio hosts). Isn't there room for one xs and os broadcast?
Tony Romo might be the experiment this year...and people either love him or hate him for giving those x's and o's insights during the game
I think that's a bit different. I don't mind it myself but the focus during the game needs to be on the action and immediate. During the breaks you can take more time to analyse and it might not annoy those who think the in game stuff gets in the way.
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