Posted on 10/04/2016 10:20:02 AM PDT by 11th_VA
Research conducted on behalf of SportsBusiness Daily has found unprecedented double-digit audience declines for NFL games so far this season.
According to research firm CivicScience, NBC’s Sunday Night Football — the highest rated prime-time program for the last five years — has seen its average audience drop 10 percent so far this year after four games.
Viewership of the NFL’s widely dispersed Thursday night games has dropped 15 percent. And ESPN’s Monday Night Football is down 19 percent.
It’s not fringe science — culling Nielsen data, Sports Media Watch has the NFL’s ratings pretty much down across the board through the first four weeks of the regular season.
It’s hard to elicit panic from media executives just a quarter of the way through the NFL regular season, but the implications could be huge. Popularity of NFL programming has grown quickly as most other shows have seen their audience succumb to new consumption patterns. And the NFL now operates with impunity.
"You never like seeing a competitor getting a part of what you do, but such is the NFL,” CBS Corp. chief executive Moonves recently lamented to investors after the league made CBS share its Thursday night games with NBC and Twitter. “They’re the 800-pound gorilla, and when the NFL says 'jump,' you say, 'yes sir.’"
But the possible ramifications go beyond the NFL.
Not only did NBCU experience double-digit ratings declines for the Rio Olympics, Major League Baseball and NASCAR have all seen significant ratings drops, too. And the NCAA men’s basketball championship game experienced record low viewership.
“All these sports go through cycles,” said Artie Bulgrin, ESPN’s senior VP of global research and analytics, said to SportsBusiness Daily. “It’s impossible to suggest that there’s anything going wrong here, particularly in light of the fact that we are in a really odd year in terms of the protracted presidential race, which has captured the attention of Americans going back a year now. Plus, it’s an Olympic year, which clearly had an impact during the summer.”
For his part, Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ senior vice president of programming and research, says sports ratings have dropped in previous presidential election cycles. Notably, cable news networks are experiencing double-digit ratings increases.
“I would really start with the election — I don’t think you have to look much deeper than that,” Mulvihill said. “Cable news has been up so much all year, going back to the earliest primary debates. So much of a share of attention has gone to the campaign, it seems like it has affected everything else.”
So does the NFL lose money?
Colin
Kaepernick
NFL lives don’t matter.
May they rot, fester, and stink.
Gee, I wonder why?
I noticed they dropped the PINK uniform accessories.............
COLON CRAPPER*ICK.............
New Conspiracy Theory: Trump is doing all this just so he can bring back the USFL and the New Jersey Generals.
According to Rush, if ratings don’t maintain a certain threshold, NFL gives credits to advertisers for future commercials - that is, they get reduced rates or free advertising time for future games.
No, they were paid up front..........for 4 years IIRC..........
This isn't hurting the NFL today, and that's they aren't freaking out over it. If it lasts, they they start to panic.
Gee what could it be? Hmm...
The NFL has a big problem that’s going to hit in a few years.
Young kids just aren’t into football like their parents were. They are gravitating more to soccer. You’re more likely to see a poster of Lionel Messi in a kid’s room than for any football player.
And you even have Bo Jackson saying that he won’t allow his kids to play football. In 20 years, football might be facing the same fate as boxing. And it wasn’t so long ago that boxing was the biggest sport in the country.
#BoycottNFL
#NFLBoycott
Remember NFL players coming out in hoodies to show support for Trayvon Martin? This has been building.
Why should anyone support an entertainment business that tolerates such hatred for much of their fans, is against law and order and disrespects the American flag?
NEtworks need to stop covering the National Anthem, just play commercials for that 2-3 minutes. Whatever happens without cameras and commentary will slowly dry up, not attention to “me”.
Loss of income is the only thing Goodall and the NFL would understand. Boycotting the NFL is an easy way to show displeasure with BLM and other America haters. Loss of income is also the only way liberal Hollywood is impacted by its hate for America too. But, I fear too many Americans can’t be bothered to boycott American haters, cause it is just too hard for them.
And remove the NFL’s non-profit status.
With the NFL’s new policy of throwing a flag if the player makes a gun or bow and arrow gesture and the anti-flag crap acreaw the NFL.
I’VE STOPPED WATCHING GAMES.
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