Tag: TV Ratings

Yelling about low sports TV ratings is so incredibly pointless

Stop yelling about sports TV ratings. It’s meaningless.

Chances are, over the past few days you’ve seen some people on social media yelling about how NBA TV ratings have been down for the Finals then other people yelling at them about how all sports TV ratings are down (which is correct, for many obvious reasons). The sides go back and forth, round and round, day after day, year after year, yelling at each other about something that means absolutely nothing to us, the fans.

Because here’s the deal — sports TV ratings shouldn’t mean anything to us, and those who waste their time arguing about them are silly.

And I know the side usually pointing out if ratings are low usually have other motives behind their vapid, idiotic arguments. So it is OK to point and laugh at those people because they generally deserve it.

But here’s what else I know about sports on TV – I watch a game, I enjoy a game, then life goes on, maybe I have a drink, and I go to bed. The enjoyment I have from that game has absolutely nothing to do with how many other people watched the game. I don’t care if 58 million people tuned in or if I was just the only idiot watching.

So when I see a tweet the next day that has the numbers about the ratings for the game I enjoyed the night before I barely notice it. I sure as heck don’t get mad at myself for watching it if the numbers were less than a similar event that was held on a similar day the year before. And I don’t celebrate if I find out lots of people watched it.

The ratings have no impact on my life.

At all.

Wasting any time and energy on ratings is generally a stupid thing to do. Now, I know the numbers mean more to the leagues and the networks that show the games but in the big picture they really mean nothing. Networks are always going to pay more for rights when deals come up and leagues are always going to make money.

But all we normal fans can do is turn on a game that we want to watch and have fun for a few hours watching it. Because watching sports on TV is a lot of fun, no matter how many other people are watching, too.

Quick hits: NFL power rankings… Mahomes on postgame embrace with Gilmore… Fantasy football advice.

(AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)

– Henry McKenna’s latest NFL power rankings has the Browns in the top 10.

– Patrick Mahomes said his postgame embrace with Patriots star Stephon Gilmore, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday, was a “mental lapse.”

– Charles Curtis has his Week 5 fantasy football studs, duds, and sleepers.

Ted Cruz cites Rockets fandom in spat with Mark Cuban over TV ratings

A lifelong Rockets fan, Cruz said he hasn’t watched the 2020 NBA Finals for political reasons. Naturally, the Dallas owner pushed back.

There’s no debating that television ratings for the 2020 NBA playoffs are down from previous years. The big question is why they’re down.

There are clearly some unique circumstances. For starters, due to the league’s COVID-19 hiatus, the 2020 playoffs were held from August through October, as opposed to the usual April through June period. That means competition for viewers from other sports, such as football and the Major League Baseball postseason, that isn’t usually there.

Other potential issues include a lack of fans at games; the disjointed nature of a season that was halted for months just before the playoffs; increased competition from cable news channels in a U.S. presidential election year; and the pandemic changing general viewing habits. It also doesn’t help that the matchups haven’t been especially compelling, with the Los Angeles Lakers yet to be pushed beyond five games in any series.

Then, there’s this theory: Are some viewers be tuning out due to NBA players speaking out more aggressively on issues related to civil unrest? That’s what Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from Texas, seems to believe.

In a contentious back-and-forth on Twitter with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Cruz said that even though he’s a fan of the Houston Rockets, 2020 marks the first time in years that he hasn’t watched an NBA Finals game. In recent playoff runs, Cruz has attended several Rockets games in person — most notably, the team’s painful Game 7 loss in the 2018 Western Conference Finals to eventual champion Golden State.

As for the issue of TV ratings and reasons for the slippage, it’s probably an “all of the above” situation. Politics are potentially part of the explanation, but there’s a wide variety of circumstances all contributing to the decline. It could take until the 2020-21 NBA season — and a more “apples to apples” comparison with when and where games are played, relative to historical norms — to get a better sense of the landscape.

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Rockets account for 30% of NBA’s highest-rated games this season

Led by a pair of All-Stars and recent MVPs in James Harden and Russell Westbrook, Houston seems to capture lots of television interest.

Led by an All-Star backcourt of recent MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the Houston Rockets were certainly among the NBA’s most intriguing franchises in the 2019-20 season.

It clearly showed up in the local and national television ratings, too.

Digital content company Sportico recently analyzed the league’s 20 most-watched games of the season, heading into the NBA Finals. Of those 20 contests, six (or 30%) featured the Houston Rockets.

Only the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers, who are now three wins from the 2020 NBA title, had more than the Rockets.

Here are the teams who appeared on the list three or more times:

Lakers: 11
Rockets: 6
Celtics: 5
Heat: 4
Nuggets 4:
Clippers: 3

In fairness, facing the Lakers in the playoffs certainly accounted for some of the lofty ratings by the Rockets. Of Houston’s six games in the Top 20 list, four came from that second-round series against the Lakers.

However, Houston’s top-rated matchup — and No. 2 overall on the list — actually came in a regular-season game versus the Warriors on Christmas Day. That was the only appearance on the list by Golden State, which suggests that they weren’t the primary draw for national viewers.

In the postseason, even though the Denver Nuggets faced the Lakers in a later round, Game 2 of the Rockets-Lakers series remained the No. 1 game of the entire Western Conference playoffs by TV rating.

Game 7 of the first-round series between the Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder was also a big ratings hit. Not only was it by far the highest-rated game of that round, but it came in No. 11 overall among all 2020 playoff games (before the NBA Finals). Even compared to the six combined series and 35 playoff games played after the Rockets-Thunder Game 7, it would still place in the top-third from a ratings perspective.

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Those data points are all from nationally televised broadcasts, of course, on networks such as ESPN, ABC, and TNT. But the same trend appears to have held up locally. While local television ratings for most NBA teams were down this season, the Rockets saw an increase on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. That data was released in late February, just prior to the 2019-20 season’s extended hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For better or for worse, it certainly seems to suggest that Harden and Westbrook’s Rockets are among the NBA’s most compelling teams.

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New data shows Washington Football TV ratings are down significantly from 2019

The product Washington is putting on the field overachieves what many people expected, but ratings for both games are down from last year.

After going through the vast wasteland of no sports for a few months earlier this year, you’d think that fans of the Washington Football Team would be enthralled to be able to turn on the TV this past month and watch their favorite team play.

On top of that, with thousands of fans now unable to attend games in person due to the coronavirus pandemic, you’d think that even more people are forced to sit in front of their box sets and catch the game via telecast.

Apparently that hasn’t been the case, as Washington’s ratings on TV have been down both of the past two weeks, compared to a year ago.

Week 1 2019 @ Eagles: 19.0
Week 1 2020 vs Eagles: 14.3

Week 2 2019 vs Cowboys: 18.3
Week 2 2020 @ Cardinals: 16.5

Stats via The Sports Business Journal

How does that make sense? Washington has a young and budding star in Terry McLaurin, plus one of the best defensive lines in the NFL and a No. 2 overall pick in the most recent draft. On top of that, the first two games of the year came against entertaining opponents, with Week 1 against the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, and Week 2 against the high-flying Arizona Cardinals. Mix all of those factors with the reasons we laid out at the top of the article, and you’d expect ratings to be up, right?

One thing you could blame it on is the myriad of different options available to the viewer at the moment. In Week 1, Washington and the rest of the NFL early slate were up against a Clippers and Nuggets NBA Playoff game, and last week saw the entire NFL Sunday matched up against the U.S. Open.

Whatever the reason, we can hope that Washington starts to look a bit better on the field, and in turn, more fans will catch onto the wave and tune in on the dials.

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Notre Dame TV Ratings Huge vs. Duke

When Notre Dame hosted Duke last weekend it was the highest viewership for an Irish afternoon opener in 14 years. Details here!

You might not look at Duke as being a massive matchup on the football field but the nation saw it as the most compelling college football game last Saturday as the Notre Dame opener attracted 4.371 million viewers to the NBC telecast.

It was the most-viewed Notre Dame afternoon home opener since the Irish last welcomed Penn State to South Bend way back in 2006.  It’s also the most-viewed Notre Dame home contest since the Fighting Irish battled Michigan in primetime to kickoff the 2018 season.

Let’s not get it confused as there weren’t a plethora of big-time matchups across college football last weekend and the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC aren’t yet playing, but the 4.371 million viewers are the most to watch any college football game so far in the early parts of the unique 2020 season.

Thunder/Rockets Game 7 was most-watched first-round game in 2 years

Game 7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets series gave NBA ratings a boost, averaging the most viewers since play returned.

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Game 7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets series gave the NBA a major boost in TV ratings.

The game, which averaged 4.11 million viewers, was the most-watched opening round playoff game on cable in two years, trailing the 6.07 million average who tuned into the Game 4 of the Cavaliers vs. Pacers 2018 series, according to Sports Media Watch.

It was ESPN’s most-watched opening round game in three years. Wednesday’s game, the first opening round Gamy 7 that ESPN has aired since 2003, had the best viewership since Game 3 of the 2017 Golden State Warriors vs. Portland Trail Blazers series that attracted 4.38 million viewers.

The Thunder and Rockets Game 7, which matchup up Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook against their respective former teams, had much higher ratings than the other Game 7 that took place in the first round, the Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets victory averaged 3.39 million viewers Tuesday on ABC.

Oklahoma City’s Game 7 also had better viewership than last year’s only first-round Game 7. That games, a Spurs vs. Nuggets matchup on a Saturday night on TNT, averaged 3.49 million viewers. The Thunder increased this by 18%.

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This Thunder and Rockets game was the most-watched since NBA play came back, even with some people on social media saying the protests last week caused them to stop watching games.

It had the best audience for an NBA game since the Los Angeles Lakers’ January 31 game against the Trail Blazers, which was the Lakers’ first game back following the death of Kobe Bryant

Outside the NBA, the Thunder and Rockets game had the best sports audience since the NFL Draft that took place in April.

It topped the MLB opener featuring the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals that averaged 4.01 million viewers.

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Rockets-Thunder Game 7 gives NBA major bump in TV ratings

It was the most-watched opening round NBA playoff game on cable in two years, and the top-rated first-round game on ESPN in three years.

According to Sports Media Watch, Wednesday night’s Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder was the most-watched opening round NBA playoff game on cable television in two years. It was also the top-rated first-round game on ESPN in three years.

The Rockets-Thunder Game 7 was the largest audience for any NBA game on any network since January 31, 2020. That January game was the first for the Los Angeles Lakers following the death of Kobe Bryant, and it was lifted by an extensive pregame ceremony in front of home fans.

Here’s how Sports Media Watch summarizes the Game 7 data:

Wednesday’s Thunder-Rockets Game 7 averaged 4.11 million viewers on ESPN, marking the most-watched opening round playoff game on cable in two years (2018 Cavaliers-Pacers Game 4: 6.07M) and the most-watched on ESPN in three (2017 Warriors-Blazers Game 3: 4.38M).

Houston’s narrow win delivered the largest NBA audience since Blazers-Lakers on January 31 (4.41M), comfortably topping the previous mark of 3.83 million for Lakers-Blazers Game 3 on ABC August 22.

Viewership increased 17% over the comparable window of last year’s playoffs, Game 2 of a Blazers-Nuggets second round series on TNT (3.51M). Last year’s game aired exclusively on TNT, while this year’s game co-existed with RSN coverage in both Houston and Oklahoma City.

The Thunder-Rockets figure was up by 18% relative to Game 7 of the 2019 first-round series between Denver and San Antonio. That was the only seventh game in the opening round a season ago.

Per Sports Media Watch, Rockets-Thunder Game 7 easily won the night among key young adult demographics (for advertisers). In all, five of the NBA’s 11 most-watched games since the 2019-20 season’s July 30 restart have come since the three-day suspension of play last week, which occurred due to racial justice protests by players.

Some politicians had suggested that the movement was causing some viewers to tune out. While the true ratings picture won’t become clear until later in the playoffs, the Thunder-Rockets number is certainly an encouraging interim signal to the NBA that its large audience is still there.

The lofty Rockets-Thunder figure of 4.11 million viewers on ESPN did outdraw the 3.39 million average for Game 7 between Denver and Utah on the previous night (on ABC). That could suggest that some of the ratings bump was attributable to the higher star power of the Houston vs. Oklahoma City series, which featured three future Hall of Famers in James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul.

It could also bode well for the impending second-round series between the Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, which begins Friday night. That battle features teams from two of the four largest U.S. cities, as well as four All-Stars and headliners in Harden, Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. All that should make for a very captive audience.

Beyond the players, Oklahoma City is actually the NBA’s second-smallest market, which could make room for an even larger ratings bump once they’re swapped out in favor of Los Angeles.

In another national ESPN broadcast, Game 1 of the Rockets-Lakers series at the NBA “bubble” tips off at 8:00 p.m. Central on Friday.

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6 Nuggets: CBs to safety, floating war room, so DiNucci and McCarthy walk into an elevator…

Also, the connection between QB Ben DiNucci and coach Mike McCarthy, a possible cornerback-to-safety plan in the team’s secondary, and more.

Another NFL Draft has come and gone and while most teams walk away from the weekend feeling good about the picks and moves made, fans’ mileage may vary. In the case of Cowboys Nation, the optimism is off the charts for 2020, with seven players selected across three days at what was seen almost universally as tremendous value.

But with all the tracking of picks, crunching highlight reels, filling needs, digesting players’ backstories, and sorting out new jersey numbers, there were several Dallas-centric tidbits that fans may have missed. So here you go, Cowboys fans: a conveniently-sized six-count of the very best draft nuggets.

Jerry’s floating war room

Among the tidbits of minutiae that many Cowboys fans were wringing their hands over leading into the first round? The social distancing policies seemingly suggesting that owner Jerry Jones would be completely on his own to conduct the weekend’s draft unchecked. Many thought back to 2014’s draft, when Jones was reportedly salivating over bringing Johnny Manziel to Dallas and, according to one version of the story, had the selection card swiped from his hand by son Stephen when the rest of the war room wanted to take Zack Martin.

The mental image of Jerry sitting home alone and going rogue with the 2020 picks was a genuine concern… until the first live pictures of Jones popped up on TV screens. Suddenly the story turned from, “Who is Jerry picking?” to, “Where is Jerry picking from?”

Sure enough, as confirmed by some quick internet-sleuthing, Jones was aboard his 357-foot superyacht, which he purchased in late 2018/early 2019 and named Bravo Eugenia after his wife Gene.

Along with the five-star resort pad belonging to Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury and the shockingly humble homebase where New England’s Bill Belichick (and his dog) were set up, Jones’s floating headquarters became the talk of the first round.

Was the superyacht a superflex by the billionaire owner? Maybe inadvertently. If you’re going to self-quarantine and you have the means, why not do it in style, right? (Lots more nautical-nerd detail on the vessel itself here.)

It would have been easy to accuse Jones of phoning in the 2020 Draft- both literally and figuratively- if the picks made from the party barge had been colossal washouts. But after a ridiculous haul that consistently netted players rated above (and sometimes way above) where Dallas actually landed them, most Cowboys fans were ready to have Jerry set sail each and every April from now on.

Sounds like Jerry himself may actually consider it.

Continue…

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NFL Draft coverage setting viewership records

In the latest TV ratings, ABC’s coverage of the socially distanced 2020 NFL Draft kickoff dominated the Thursday prime time ratings.

In the latest TV ratings, ABC’s coverage of the socially distanced 2020 NFL Draft kickoff dominated the Thursday prime time ratings and helped fill a void for the American sports-deprived audience.

Ratings set a record for the event, with more than 15.6 million viewers tuning in to opening night across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network, ESPN Deportes and their digital channels. Helped by sports fans starved for action amid the coronavirus shutdown, the total broke the previous record for the first night of the draft, which had been 12.4 million viewers in 2014.

Last night’s numbers were up 37% over last year’s 11.4 million total viewers, with coverage of the virtual event peaking between 8:45-9:oo PM ET with 19.6 million viewers watching LSU and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Joe Burrow’s selection by the Cincinnati Bengals with the first pick.

Originating from ESPN’s Bristol, CT studios, and conducted mostly from the basement of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s Bronxville, NY home, drafted players were live on video, typically at home with family members.

Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas was the first lineman selected when he went fourth overall to the New York Giants. He was followed by line-mate Isaiah Wilson, who went to the Tennessee Titans with the 29th pick.

The draft continues Friday at 7pm with rounds two and three and rounds four through seven on Saturday at noon on ESPN and the NFL Networks.

NFL Combine ratings come in at disappointing numbers

Everyone knows that the XFL has seen a ratings’ dip. The numbers bear it out and there’s no argument that the numbers aren’t great. If that’s the case then logic would say that other sporting events should be trying to have viewership numbers better …

Everyone knows that the XFL has seen a ratings’ dip. The numbers bear it out and there’s no argument that the numbers aren’t great. If that’s the case then logic would say that other sporting events should be trying to have viewership numbers better than what the XFL is offering. In fact, if the XFL is leading into said sporting event, it should have at least the same amount of viewers, maybe more. Yet, we know that didn’t happen and that should be a concern. See, the XFL was on ABC and it led directly to the NFL Draft Combine. Yes, the same combine that is the next big thing for the NFL when it comes to its revenue growth models — outside of adding more regular season and playoff games obviously. The combine is supposed to be the next version of the NFL Draft. It’s supposed to be a big show. It’s supposed to move around the country. People are supposed to tune in and watch. That didn’t happen. NFL Draft Combine ratings were up only three-percent from last year.

The NFL even moved the combine to primetime. It definitely did not move the combine for a paltry three percent increase in viewership. It made the move because it was supposed to be the next step for monetizing the workouts. The problem is that it didn’t even outrate the NFL.

There are other problems associated with moving the combine. Some players didn’t perform as well due to the scheduling. That’s unfair to the players. Agents should be a bit angry that the NFL moved the combine to get more interest and expose more viewers to the ins and outs of the NFL Draft process and all their players got was this lousy t-shirt — and some bad numbers for scouts and coaches to question which could cause players to drop in the draft and therefore lose money.

Maybe this is a learning experience for the NFL. They probably need to figure out a way to market the event better. They need something to make it more exciting because fans can only watch so many players run in a straight line in workout gear until they get the point. Only the real diehards are looking at players run three-cone drills, test their vertical leap and make broad jumps. Most fans don’t even know what’s good and what’s bad.

This could be the start of something. The league and television partner — ESPN/ABC in this case — may be thinking that this year was a test-run and next year there will be more viewers. Maybe next year, they will add some excitement, more graphics, something to make it must-see television. Three percent increases won’t do it for the league. Ratings worse than the XFL isn’t what the NFL wants. If the combine is the next big thing, then they need to figure out how to make it more watchable.