no they didn’t, ESPN ratings may include streaming device like the espn app. it does not take into account the other ways that cord cutters can consume tv without watching a tv. for example every Verizon cell phone can view Monday night football outside of espn or the espn app. but if you think you not watching a football game is going to bring down the NFL good luck. And if the audience really was smaller ads would cost less, they don’t!
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-tv-section-ratings-20141123-story.html
What ratings slump?
Season-to-date, broadcast prime-time ratings are down 9 percent compared to the year-ago period, with the Big Four nets averaging 6.3 million viewers per night, down from 6.95 million in the first fourteen weeks of the 2016-17 schedule. The NFL’s own 9 percent decline is of a piece with the slump in overall TV viewership, although football’s scale dwarfs everything else on the tube. Through Week 16 of the NFL season, all regional and national broadcast windows are averaging 14.9 million viewers, which represents a loss of some 1.4 million viewers compared to 2016. NFL household ratings are down 8 percent to an 8.6 rating.
While NFL ratings took another hit this season, demand for ad time remains heavy. According to Standard Media Index estimates, overall in-game NFL ad sales revenues are up 2 percent year-over-year, while makegoods (aka audience deficiency units) are down slightly. In 2016, 22 percent of all in-game NFL spots were salted away for ADUs, while 21 percent have been thus allocated this season.
Also seeing a slight increase is the average unit cost of an in-game spot. Per SMI, a 30-second commercial in this season’s NFL slate fetched some $473,775 a pop, up 1 percent compared to $468,434 in 2016.
It is like CNN. The companies keep buying ads even though nobody selects CNN to watch. Why the same companies focus so much on reducing labor costs is beyond me.
Roger? Is that you? Congrats on the private jet.
I’m sure millions of folks are watching on “they sail fawns” via Verizon and not being reported in the declining viewership numbers ::rolleyes::
Listen, dumbfuck, I said the boycott was not solely responsible, but undoubtedly has an effect. No where did I claim the NFL would die just because “I” am not watching. Read/comprehend/reply, Goodell.