Posted on 10/04/2017 6:06:28 AM PDT by 11th_VA
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Football League is continuing a steady decline in audience, with its fourth week of games having the smallest audience on a weekend when some conservatives called for a boycott because some of its players used the national anthem to protest against police treatment of minorities.
The Nielsen company said Tuesday the weekend’s nationally televised games averaged 13.8 million viewers, down from 14.8 million the week before. Opening week registered 16.3 million viewers and the second week had 15.8 million.
Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity was among the people who said they would not be watching NFL games. It’s virtually impossible to tell what kind of an impact it had, considering the trend that preceded it. The only prime-time entertainment shows to rank higher last week were CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and its spinoff, “Young Sheldon.”
“Did it have an impact?” asked Brent Bozell, head of the conservative Media Research Center. “Yeah, it did. I can guarantee it did with one person — that’s me. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
Bozell said, however, that the MRC’s Facebook post calling for the one-week boycott was seen by nearly 35 million people.
An NFL spokesman, Brian McCarthy, said there was no indication that the boycott had any impact, both on television and in the stands. He noted how viewership in general is down for television, and that there has been great competition with a busy news period.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbc4i.com ...
Every week viewership is dropping
The NFL version of 70 years of bad weather to explain poor grain harvests in the Soviet Union.
About a million a week down. Let’s go for 12 this week.
I wonder if the NFL banned kneeling and issued an apology would their ratings go back up? The ratings were dropping even before this nonsense.
“when some conservatives called for a boycott”
It’s more likely a spontaneous upwelling of disgust than the influence of “some conservatives”.
16.3M week one
15.8M week two
14.8M week three
13.8M week four
At this rate by the end of the season the only viewers will be relatives of the players!
There won’t be an apology. Rather, the solution they offer is to stop broadcasting during the National Anthem.
For me, it isn’t just the NFL’s embrace of the disrespect, it is also the NFL linked PSAs showing guys kissing in the stands, the pink clothes in October, etc. In a league of over 1,000 players, you are going to have some bad eggs. But the league itself has shown that it and its owners are more respectful of sponsors, media outlets, poorly-behaved players, subsidy-granting governments and their personal circle of friends and business associates than they are of the fans who buy the tickets, watch the games and buy the gear.
Fifty years ago they were content to provide entertainment for grown men relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. It became something unwieldy and utterly unsustainable.
Well, even if all you count is their baby-mamas and illegitimate offspring, that will number into the millions alone ...
Cowboys games are still doing well. Fox ratings went up due to that game. Everything else seemed to go down this week.
“...competition with a busy news period”
Their denial is purely public. I’m convinced of it.
Last year, before there was even much mention of boycott, but something more akin to a nexus of individuals being turned off by the antics of Kapernik, they NFL blamed the election. Now they are claiming it’s hurricanes and shootings, I’m sure. Even though the Las Vegas thing didn’t happen until late Sunday night and thus had no effect on the weekend rates. It’s an excuse. A ruse. In their meeting rooms, you can be damned sure they know exactly what’s going on.
I suspect they think they can get this to blow over and come back again. I think they are convinced of it. They’ve got yes-men and consultants who get paid to tell them things like this.
Nah.. they will just ban the National Anthem. I give them a week or so...
I don't know ... it wouldn't matter to me anyway. I still wouldn't be watching. An apology isn't enough. The minimum that I personally would accept would be a one-year unpaid suspension of any player who participated by kneeling, sitting, standing arm-in-arm, or not being on the field during the playing of the National Anthem. Then .. and only then .. might I consider watching any of the games.
Baghdad Brian McCarthy. I wish I knew how to photoshop.
Good one.
Brian is the NFL’s Tommy: deaf blind and dumb.
They don’t call hasty meetings with players, coaches, owners and the commissioner in the same room unless they are worried as hell.
The glory days are done. Over. It will never be the same for the NFL no matter what they do or say.
Watch out who you are calling “boy.”
Great, everyone can go back to watching players celebrating routine tackles, spoon feeding a simple fist down as if they are Hall of Famers and giving the black power fist when sacking a white QB. And let's not forget the more liberal TD celebrations so we can watch OBJ pissing and others taking a fake dump. I can't watch it anymore. Its un-enjoyable to watch these A-holes. I finally said goodbye to the NFL. Done.
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