NFL's cratering ratings may be starting to hit Fox's bottom line

Declining football game television ratings will cut into Twenty-First Century Fox's earnings, according to one Wall Street firm.

Credit Suisse lowered its price target and earnings per share forecasts for the media company, citing Fox's poor Sunday NFL ratings.

"We trim our 2018/19 EPS forecasts … ahead of Q1 earnings," analyst Omar Sheikh wrote in a note to clients Thursday. "The key near term headwinds are soft NFL ratings and the risk that the Sky transaction is blocked by UK regulators."

I was born in 1948 and lived in walking distance from Yankee Stadium, in The Bronx. The Giants played their football games there until they moved out to New Jersey in the mid-1970s, after a couple of transitional years at the Yale Bowl, in Connecticut.

Seats were often available at the ticket office on Game Day, and, with a High School “General Organization” card, the cost was minimal, $3 or $4 a game for the bleachers. I went to a lot of games that way, and when I moved to New Jersey, I had several friends who were season ticket holders who would sell me extra tickets or take me along as a guest. On days that I wasn’t at the game, I never missed a down on television.

What I am trying to say is that I have been a die-hard Giants fan for most of my 69 years. I have hosted numerous Super Bowl parties, for 4 of the 5 of the games that the Giants were in, and probably a dozen more in which they weren’t. And now, they’ve lost me.

As LBJ said when Walter Cronkite turned on him during the Tet Offensive (1968), “If we’ve lost Cronkite, we’ve lost Middle America.” Well, if the NFL has lost a die-hard, 6 decade fan like me, they’ve lost Middle America.

I spent four years in the United States Air Force, 1970-74. That Flag means a great deal to me, way more than the NFL logo or the Giants’ insignia. And there is nothing that the league could ever do to get me back. The players could stand at strict attention, right hand over the heart, and they could play the National Anthem, God Bless America, America The Beautiful, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, and they still wouldn’t get me back. They could donate a billion dollars to the Wounded Warrior Project and they still wouldn’t get me back. The Giants could go 16-0 and win the Super Bowl every year, and they still wouldn’t get me back.

I just spent several hundred dollars on new fall and winter outdoor gear because I will no longer wear the Giants’ clothing that I had previously worn for every fall and winter. I will never wear them again, not even to clean out my septic tank, even if I had a septic tank.

I discussed the situation with a friend of mine the other night, another guy who has hosted many Super Bowl parties. He said that he is also done with the NFL, but he is still hosting a Super Bowl party this year. “How can you do that?” I asked. “Simple.” he said. “This year’s Super Bowl party will not have any televisions on.” What a brilliant idea! I’ll be having a similar party. At the very least, I’ll learn who the true patriots are among my friends.

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