Posted on 10/21/2016 6:13:06 PM PDT by 11th_VA
In this wacky, topsy-turvy biz we call television, the one constant has been the NFL. It brings in the viewers and helps bring them back for other programming. The ad dollars pile up at a predictable rate.
Until this season.
From the start, the NFL and its TV distributors have noticed the ratings have not been measuring up to last season.
On Wednesday, Nielsen ratings cruncher Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group published a report that concludes that viewership among adults 18-49, live plus same day, is off 15.1%.
The big question is why. And it's just not the NFL and TV suits who are trying to answer it. It's been the subject on sports radio and among sports columnists, bloggers and everyday fans.
Two execs with much to gain or lose from the NFL on TV, CBS CEO Les Moonves and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, this week acknowledged publicly that there is a problem, but offered little on the cause, let alone a solution.
“Have they sliced it and diced it too much? Is there too much product out there?” Moonves asked at a Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in San Francisco. “I really don’t know.”
Theories for the trouble abound. Here are several:
(Snip bogus theories)
The real question is what is different this season that would cause such a sudden and significant loss of viewership.
I would trace it to the Trump phenomenon. Whether you like him or not, the man is leading a revolution — primarily of white working class males — against "the establishment," of which the NFL is an entertainment cornerstone.
With its $20+ parking and $10+ beers, seat licenses and high prices for bad seats, the NFL long ago moved up in class, leaving its original blue collar backers far behind so it can rub elbows with corporate America.
Goodell this week said San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick's protesting of police violence against African-Americans by not standing for the national anthem is not a significant factor in the declining ratings.
Don't believe it. A Quinnipiac University poll released Oct. 11 poll found that 63% of white adults disapprove of the protest. Only 30% favor it.
Trump himself has blasted Kaepernick, reaching back to the 1960s for his response. The USA, he said, love it or leave it.
It is not unreasonable to presume that some percentage of Trump's millions of followers have decided to boycott the NFL on TV.
Wieser's research reinforces this theory. The loss of viewership (again adults 18-49, live-plus-same-day), it says, is far from uniform across class and race.
While viewership dropped 14.1% in homes with more than $75,000 in annual income, it was down a whopping 28% in homes with less than $75,000.
In homes with a black head of household, the decline was 9.7% compared to 15.2% with a white head of household.
All broadcasters have a stake in seeing the NFL return to full health. On a live-plus-three-day basis, the Wieser research finds, NFL games accounted for 8.6% of all TV viewing (cable and satellite included) during the first five weeks of the football season. That a huge percentage relative to the number of TV hours the NFL actually fills.
If the viewership doesn't rebound after political passions cool and playoff races heat up in November and December, the NFL and their TV partners will have a real problem on their hands, one they cannot ignore.
Broadcasters should hope it isn't Trumpism. That's the one that might be toughest to fix.
It isn’t just that one guy, it spread to other teams and players like a virus and the longer the NFL ignores the more chance it will be fatal.
Fire Kraperdick!...
on a new England talk radio show today, a guy named chris gasper had the nerve to say that the kneeling for the anthem is not a factor, but the players committing domestic violence is.
they have been going hard at josh brown. every show, tv and radio, its like they were handed a script. maybe they think people will tie it to trump.
*Yawn* unless the author admits that the afro sporting muslim convert benchwarmer is 95% of the reason for the decline, this article is as useless as all of the “GA, AZ and UT lean Clinton” articles..
Goodell resigning would be a good start. The league has gone into the abyss under him
It’s that one guy. Then it’s theNFL not denouncing it. Then it spreads. It will get worse and then the NFL will no longer be an American institution. They’ve got about three week. Each day it gets worse for them
That’s how the flag works. Either you defend it as an American or you don’t as an anti American
People think they can mess with basics of civilization but they can’t
Trump wins election, Goodell begs him to do the coin toss at the Thursday night game after the election.
Treason doesn’t sell.
Bench the kneelers.
I just want to know why my Sling TV link just puts up a black screen and does not go on to load the link?
2. Thug Players.
3. Too much pussy pink.
4. ESPN and all their political left wing BS.
5. Roger Goodell.
6. Colin Kappernick and his American hating actions.
7. Millionaire owners made richer off the backs of taxpayers.
NFL, you can kiss my American flag loving A$$ !
I don't think so. Especially when he says...
It is not unreasonable to presume that some percentage of Trump's millions of followers have decided to boycott the NFL on TV. (emphasis mine)
Trump does not have many "followers." These people were already here. They already thought this way. Trump just jumped out front and voiced exactly what these people were already saying and thinking.... only he did it with a YUGE megaphone from a YUGE stage. So "followers"...no...But supporters...ABSOLUTELY!
Kick out every disrespectful "Only Black Lives Matter", Anti-American, anti-military, "hate cops", "hate whitie", BLACK-RACIST protesting NFL player, manager, coach and staff member, NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE, OR THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN and BAN THEM FROM PLAYING THE GAME!
Then, and ONLY THEN will we, your former fans even consider returning to watch the NFL games, purchase your over-priced NFL merchandise and stop boycotting ALL of the NFL's "OBLM" enabling sponsors.
The NFL "Only Black Lives Matter", Anti-American racist leftist PC thugs want to disrespect the nation, its national anthem, its flag and spit on the nation, their fans and what America stands for; then the NFL has permanently lost its fan base and the very people who watch the games, pay their salaries, and purchase things from their sponsors!
The NFL and their "Only Black Lives Matter" racist thugs are in for a rude awakening because the fact of the matter is this:
TO SURVIVE: the NFL NEEDs US; W E D O N' T N E E D Y O U!
The NFL was seeking into being boring before Kaepernick. I believe the league allowed these protests (perhaps even encouraged them) to drum up fake controversy and draw in more of the rubes. It works for so-called reality TV, after all.
Backfired on them big time.
Given the way the networks have covered Trump I am never coming back.
It simply amazes me that people who have been willing to endure relentless commercials as well as other types of social engineering BS from the NFL for years and years suddenly find this one the bridge too far.
For me, getting 120 minutes of some of the most offensive, manipulative advertisements that money could buy - many of which are even further along on the social engineering agenda - is the gamebreaker.
Not some stunt over mindless jingoism in a nation which - in light of Hillary Clinton getting away with her crimes in broad daylight and the end-to-end corruption in its government which the beer swilling NFL watching crowd is too busy to have a problem with.
The NFL has been on my not watch list this year. If they think it is not due to the anthem thing, I can tell them in my case it definitely is. No more NFL...been toying with the idea for a long time and now I enjoy my Sunday afternoons actually doing something.
Bump
And all the pink crap. Real men don’t wear pink gloves or shoes. If they want to show support for cancer, let them walk in parades, do the special runs and donate real money to support cancer research.
We now know thanks to WIKILEAKS and others, that the US government lies to us. We know that many of the journalists we frequently see are also cooperating with some of the big lies.
But how BIG is this conspiracy? In this case it simply confirms the presstitutes involved are working to control public opinion. Of course, MOST of the NFL $$ is caused by the BLM BS but it's not PC. So the presstitutes tell the lie that fits with what they want the public to believe.
Lie to Americans? We are even seeing it in Sports.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.