Why the Ratings are Falling in the NFL

[Gatorchip]

Need to make cheating legal. Then no more flags

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

One penalty that needs to be changed is pass interference. Teams will throw deep routes slightly short just to draw a pass interference. It's annoying as a neutral fan and even worse when it happens against your team. Aaron Rodgers does it all the fucking time.

 

[Dude]

Need to make cheating legal. Then no more flags

Hmm, then they make a movie, like Mad Max or something.

 

[Gatorchip]

Hmm, then they make a movie, like Mad Max or something.

Good idea. 2 teams enter one team leaves

 

[Dude]

Good idea. 2 teams enter one team leaves

Of course, that's the way it is.

 

[jarntt]

Sadly owners still think he does.

But the inconsistency of officiating certainly isn't helping. I don't know what is or isn't PI anymore. Don't know what roughing the passer is or isn't. Still don't know what is or isn't a catch.

I don't mind some of the confusion. What I hate is when my team scores a TD or makes a big play, I immediately look at the screen to see if the little yellow flag symbol shows up before I can get happy or wait to see if there will be a replay. It's like that burst of emotion that used to be there has gone away. How many times do we see a big pass breakup and then just have to wait out a few seconds to make sure there is no flag.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

One penalty that needs to be changed is pass interference. Teams will throw deep routes slightly short just to draw a pass interference. It's annoying as a neutral fan and even worse when it happens against your team. Aaron Rodgers does it all the fucking time.

Idt it needs to be changed, but it does need to be reviewable.

Defenders that don't know how to turn and make a play on the ball when they see the WR turn will always get nailed for PI on short balls if they are making contact with the back to the QB. Not playing the ball, they're playing the receiver.

The better CBs in the league pick or break up that pass a lot of the time...even if they run into the WR, if they are turned and trying to make a play on the ball you won't get the PI nearly as often.

 

[redseat]

I don't mind some of the confusion. What I hate is when my team scores a TD or makes a big play, I immediately look at the screen to see if the little yellow flag symbol shows up before I can get happy or wait to see if there will be a replay. It's like that burst of emotion that used to be there has gone away. How many times do we see a big pass breakup and then just have to wait out a few seconds to make sure there is no flag.

yeah every big play the Patriots have or go against them I also immediately look for the flag and sadly I expect it every time.

 

[PDay8810]

The major football networks all took a major hit last month in NFL ad revenue—the money they bring in from advertisers that pay for air time during football games.

In the month of November, NBC’s NFL ad revenue sunk 17% compared to last year, according to new data from the Standard Media Index. CBS saw a decline of 26% (earlier this month, AdWeek points out, CBS chairman Les Moonves boasted at a UBS event that “there have been no makegoods” on any of the network’s NFL broadcasts this season). Fox saw a 34% decline in its NFL ad revenue.

To be sure, some of these networks have less football to show this year, and thus less ad space to sell. CBS is showing one less NFL game this season than last season, and Fox is showing three fewer games.

But NBC is showing the same number of games as last season, and NBC saw the biggest decline of the three. It was because of makegoods.

The makegoods that networks must hand to advertisers come in the form of free airtime—they repay their obligation by giving the advertisers ad space in a different slot. SMI, which tracks more than 70 percent of all national TV ad spending, found that NBC and CBS gave away 20% of inventory as ADUs in November 2016, compared to just 5.2% and 11%, respectively, a year earlier.

There is no public consensus over exactly why football has steadily lost viewers this season. The league’s official stance early on was that the election cycle was distracting from football, but six weeks after the election, ratings have continued to fall.

Industry experts (and President-elect Donald Trump) have pinned the decline on everything from poor matchups on the field, to the availability of highlights on social media, to the crackdown on player touchdown celebrations, to outrage over the national anthem protests by Colin Kaepernick and other players.

But now the struggles of America’s national pastime have begun to affect the bottom line for networks, eating into what would have otherwise been a 5.3% increase for a TV industry that is combatting its own demons in the shape of other streaming platforms. In November 2016, the overall TV market was down -2.4% year over year.

“November was a fascinating one for the sector with a lot of moving parts. The final days of election coverage, a challenging football season, and a revitalized retail sector all contributed to the market delivering a modest gain,” said James Fennessy, CEO of Standard Media Index, in a statement. “Poor football ratings earlier in the season, combined with fewer games this month, finally caught up with the major broadcasters.”

Though the major networks have all taken an NFL ratings hit, Fox has been able to mitigate some of the damage with a small handful of big games, most often featuring the Dallas Cowboys, the No. 1 team in the NFC. The Thanksgiving game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins was the most-watched regular season NFL game in FOX Sports history, according to the network.

A 30-second ad on the three major networks still commands big money, averaging about $590,060 per unit, according to SMI.

The NFL is well aware of its ratings issue. Last week, the league announced it will experiment with the frequency of ad breaks during its Week 16 games, and with the number of ads that show during those breaks. The hope is that viewers will return.

To be sure, football isn’t going anywhere, and some experts downplay the current crisis. CBS chief research officer David Poltrack told investors at a conference this month that although the fumble in ratings was “quite a shock,” there is still “no reason to conclude a seminal change” has taken place in the appeal of TV’s most popular sport.

 

[PDay8810]

no wonder Dallas was flexed two weeks in a row

 

[LambeauLegs]

Better than game 7 of the World series when the CUbs were on the verge of ending 108 year drought

NFL scores monster ratings with Sunday playoff tilts

The death of the NFL as a television ratings juggernaut narrative is aging about as well as those "Aaron Rodgers is as good as Brian Hoyer now" pieces from a couple months back.

After a regular season in which ratings dipped for some wretched primetime tilts, the postseason sees the NFL back in its customary place of peerless dominance.

According to Variety, the Packers' insta-classic win over the Cowboys drew a massive 28.2 overnight household rating, a figure that surpasses even Game 7 of the Cubs-Indians World Series, which drew 40 million viewers in November.

FOX, which also aired that Cubs Game 7 triumph, announced that the Packers-Cowboys set a new bar in the business

 

[cowboys5xsbs]

Better than game 7 of the World series when the CUbs were on the verge of ending 108 year drought

NFL scores monster ratings with Sunday playoff tilts

The death of the NFL as a television ratings juggernaut narrative is aging about as well as those "Aaron Rodgers is as good as Brian Hoyer now" pieces from a couple months back.

After a regular season in which ratings dipped for some wretched primetime tilts, the postseason sees the NFL back in its customary place of peerless dominance.

According to Variety, the Packers' insta-classic win over the Cowboys drew a massive 28.2 overnight household rating, a figure that surpasses even Game 7 of the Cubs-Indians World Series, which drew 40 million viewers in November.

FOX, which also aired that Cubs Game 7 triumph, announced that the Packers-Cowboys set a new bar in the business

Cowboys always score monster ratings. This is not shocking.

 

[LambeauLegs]

Cowboys always score monster ratings. This is not shocking.

Ah sorry it was both teams together. The Packers ratings are just as high.

 

[The Derski]

Cowboys always score monster ratings. This is not shocking.

don't think for one second the Packers had nothing to do with it.

 

[beardown07]

Stop letting the goddamned officials decide the games late.

Both games yesterday, had chicken-shit calls change the outcome of the game.

The PI on the Cowboys INT was BS, and the Holding on KC's 2 point conversion was garbage. Both ostensibly decided the game.

 

[The Derski]

Stop letting the goddamned officials decide the games late.

Both games yesterday, had chicken-shit calls change the outcome of the game.

The PI on the Cowboys INT was BS, and the Holding on KC's 2 point conversion was garbage. Both ostensibly decided the game.

Those were both the correct calls though. Even if you don't want to call the PI on the Cowboys it was defensive holding at the very least. Interception is negated either way. And in the KC game Harrison was clearly held and thrown to the ground. They were both obvious and correctly called.

 

[beardown07]

Those were both the correct calls though. Even if you don't want to call the PI on the Cowboys it was defensive holding at the very least. Interception is negated either way. And in the KC game Harrison was clearly held and thrown to the ground. They were both obvious and correctly called.

Harrison was going down regardless. His momentum was already taking him down. I see worse on almost every down.


The PI might have been more tolerable as a D holding, but it had zero effect on the play, and the ball was clearly un-catchable.



They both were too ticky-tacky to overturn such big plays, late, IMO.

 

[DHoey]

Stop letting the goddamned officials decide the games late.

Both games yesterday, had chicken-shit calls change the outcome of the game.

The PI on the Cowboys INT was BS, and the Holding on KC's 2 point conversion was garbage. Both ostensibly decided the game.

Oh stop being a whinny seahawks fan.......er I mean Bears fan?

 

[beardown07]

Oh stop being a whinny seahawks fan.......er I mean Bears fan?

I can't stand the Packers or the Cowboys...granted, the Packers hate the most, but it's as close as it could be.


I actually like the Steelers, and still didn't like the call.

 

[DHoey]

I can't stand the Packers or the Cowboys...granted, the Packers hate the most, but it's as close as it could be.


I actually like the Steelers, and still didn't like the call.

I thought both calls were lame.