NFL Excuses Run Out After Ratings Declines Continue

[Eleazar]

NFL's Litany of Excuses Runs Out After Ratings Fall for Second Year

By Lucas Shaw
Bloomberg.com
November 2, 2017, 11:30 AM CDT



TV networks are running out of excuses for the dwindling popularity of the National Football League.

They blamed the election for ratings declines last year, and hurricanes for a soft week one in September. Protests during the national anthem, and President Donald Trump’s criticism of the league, have faded from the headlines.

Advertisers are starting to believe a different explanation: the viewers aren’t coming back. Audiences are down an average 7 percent from a year ago through the first eight weeks of the season, excluding last Monday. That’s on top of a decrease of about 8 percent last season that spurred numerous changes in the broadcasts, from shorter commercials to better matchups earlier in the year.

“There’s just not as many people watching TV the way they used to watch TV,” said Jeremy Carey, managing director of Optimum Sports, a sports marketing agency. “It’s going to be an issue for advertisers when they can’t reach a large-scale audience the way they have.”

With CBS Corp., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Walt Disney Co. set to report earnings in the next few days, analysts are bound to raise questions. These companies have used the popularity of the games to extract additional fees from cable operators, promote other shows on their networks and sell lots of commercials. Pro football games drew about $3.5 billion in ad spending last year, including the postseason, according to SMI Media Inc.

Media companies have spent billions of dollars on the right to air football games, which had been immune to the erosion of viewership for other TV programming. Audiences for TV networks have diminished for years as the growing popularity of online alternatives Netflix and YouTube and the availability of most shows on-demand have reduced the appeal of dramas and comedies. Live TV, like sports, was supposed to be immune, but that theory looks highly questionable now.

Ratings for the NFL suggest the same societal trends are now affecting the league, even if the declines aren’t as dramatic. The drop in game viewership ranges from 5 percent for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” to 11 percent for the CBS Sunday package. “Monday Night Football,” on Disney’s ESPN, has attracted more fans this year than a year ago, but the numbers are still down from 2015.

Viewership of the four main broadcast networks fell 8.7 percent last year, and 12 percent among adults 18 to 49, an important demographic for advertisers.

CBS’s 11 percent slump for NFL games is the steepest of the networks. Its parent company, which reports earnings after the close Thursday, is more vulnerable than rivals to the trend because the vast majority of its earnings come from the broadcast network. The declines at CBS reinforce a complaint that has gotten louder and louder in recent weeks: The league got greedy in adding the Thursday night game on broadcast.

Reserving top games for Thursday night robbed other time periods of good match-ups. After a nosedive in ratings at “Monday Night Football” last season, the league has scheduled better games for that time period, further damaging Sunday afternoon.

“Ratings declines on both general entertainment and NFL programming could be the single biggest point of focus for investors this quarter, and we’re not sure what media companies can say about the health and tone of the ad market to assuage fears,” Steven Cahall, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note last month.

Viewership is dropping fast among people under 54 -- a key demographic for advertisers -- and even faster among those 18 to 34. Audiences for games on CBS, NBC and Fox have slid at least 10 percent among that younger cohort.

Advertisers aren’t abandoning the NFL, one of the only places they can still reach more than 10 million people at once. But they are growing concerned. John Schnatter, who appears in TV spots on behalf of his Papa John’s Pizza International Inc., laid into the league on a conference call this week, blaming the ratings for his company’s slow revenue growth and calling for the league to put an end to player protests.

Networks and other advertisers identify a wide range of reasons for the NFL’s struggles. The league has overexposed itself by making highlights available on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat. Identifiable stars like Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers have either retired or gotten hurt. The quality of play has deteriorated. Player protests and concussions have driven away some fans.

Some executives argue viewership of the league has still improved over the long term while dropping for every other show. Yet the amount of time people have spent watching football this season is at the lowest point since 2011, back when there were fewer televised games, according to Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ head of research.

“The cumulative effect of everything happening in the world at large is having an impact on NFL viewership,” Mulvihill said. “ The league was defying the laws of gravity.”

[AssEaterChief]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Thanks I will check this out once I learn how to permanently crank my head sideways

[cooper barrett]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Thanks I will check this out once I learn how to permanently crank my head sideways

save then view

[displacedinMN]

Last time I did it on tapatalk it was fine. Then today-ugh. Sorry cooper.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Thanks I will check this out once I learn how to permanently crank my head sideways

LOL, you old ****!

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Thanks I will check this out once I learn how to permanently crank my head sideways

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

This was in the Minneapolis paper today-from Patrick Reusse. I'm unable to get an electronic copy but it sums up with a lot of people are feeling. Apologies for sideways.



Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Officials have certainly injected themselves into the game in the modern era. Their range of excuses is vast, but their "I didn't see it" and "we were letting them play" are their most famous IMO.

NFL officiating, the easiest job in the world because there are no apparent consequences (in a profession of handing out consequences), and a list of excuses a mile long.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Vin Scully: 'I will never watch another NFL game again'


Vin Scully said Saturday night that he will “never watch another NFL game” in response to the ongoing demonstrations by some players during the national anthem.

Speaking at “An Evening with Vin Scully” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers announcer was asked about the response from owners, players and commissioner Roger Goodell to the demonstrations, which players have used to protest racial injustice and police brutality.

“I have only one personal thought, really. And I am so disappointed,” Scully said, according to multiple videos of the moment posted on social media. “I used to love, during the fall and winter, to watch the NFL on Sunday. And it’s not that I’m some great patriot. I was in the Navy for a year. Didn’t go anywhere. Didn’t do anything. But I have overwhelming respect and admiration for anyone who puts on a uniform and goes to war. So the only thing I can do in my little way is not to preach. I will never watch another NFL game.”

Scully, who will celebrate his 90th birthday later this month, retired last fall after 67 seasons as a broadcaster for the Dodgers. He also contributed to NFL and PGA Tour broadcasts on CBS from 1975 to 1982.

Scully has largely remained out of the public eye since retiring, though he did participate in a first-pitch ceremony before Game 2 of the World Series late last month, appearing alongside former Dodgers Steve Yeager and Fernando Valenzuela.

Video in link

https://apple.news/AIj4G0-MAQDmTivHOeEYPLQ

[cooper barrett]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Last time I did it on tapatalk it was fine. Then today-ugh. Sorry cooper.

It was a webp doc you can edit and add this as a copied image location image

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by ForeverChiefs58

Vin Scully: 'I will never watch another NFL game again'


Vin Scully said Saturday night that he will “never watch another NFL game” in response to the ongoing demonstrations by some players during the national anthem.

Speaking at “An Evening with Vin Scully” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Saturday, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers announcer was asked about the response from owners, players and commissioner Roger Goodell to the demonstrations, which players have used to protest racial injustice and police brutality.

“I have only one personal thought, really. And I am so disappointed,” Scully said, according to multiple videos of the moment posted on social media. “I used to love, during the fall and winter, to watch the NFL on Sunday. And it’s not that I’m some great patriot. I was in the Navy for a year. Didn’t go anywhere. Didn’t do anything. But I have overwhelming respect and admiration for anyone who puts on a uniform and goes to war. So the only thing I can do in my little way is not to preach. I will never watch another NFL game.”

Scully, who will celebrate his 90th birthday later this month, retired last fall after 67 seasons as a broadcaster for the Dodgers. He also contributed to NFL and PGA Tour broadcasts on CBS from 1975 to 1982.

Scully has largely remained out of the public eye since retiring, though he did participate in a first-pitch ceremony before Game 2 of the World Series late last month, appearing alongside former Dodgers Steve Yeager and Fernando Valenzuela.

Video in link

https://apple.news/AIj4G0-MAQDmTivHOeEYPLQ

Yeah, it's hard to watch the NFL when you're dead, Vin. Might wanna tune in while you still can.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by cooper barrett

It was a webp doc you can edit and add this as a copied image location image

That was nice of you, now old broke-down ****s like Bryan Busby, who can't turn a laptop sideways, can read it!

[cooper barrett]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

That was nice of you, now old broke-down ****s like Bryan Busby, who can't turn a laptop sideways, can read it!

Just for Busby, I'd do the same for Witlock

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by cooper barrett

Just for Busby, I'd do the same for Witlock

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

That was nice of you, now old broke-down ****s like Bryan Busby, who can't turn a laptop sideways, can read it!

You'll have to excuse me for not being a poor and having a real monitor.

[cooper barrett]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

You'll have to excuse me for not being a poor and having a real monitor.

You could turn the tablet 90 degrees

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by cooper barrett

You could turn the tablet 90 degrees

My butler doesn't work Sundays