News: BTB: TV ratings forecast: Dallas Cowboys will play in nine out of 12 most-viewed NFL games

[NewsBot]

The NFL Is banking heavily on the Cowboys to improve TV ratings for the league in 2017.

According to Bloomberg, the 2016 NFL season saw viewership drop by 8% versus the previous year. One of the few bright spots?

The Dallas Cowboys.

Through week 16, five of the six most-popular games featured “America’s Team” and its rookie stars, rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott, according to ESPN. In the second half of the season, the Cowboys averaged 23.7 million viewers -- more than last year’s World Series (23.4 million) and NBA Finals (20.2 million), according to data from Fox, which carried Dallas games the most. Late-season games showed double-digit gains.

“There’s not another brand in American sports that delivers that kind of impact,” said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ executive vice president of research. The Cowboys “have always been the most popular team. Now we have a resurgence, and that’s great.”
​

The Dallas Cowboys have always been a ratings juggernaut, and if you're a league struggling with TV ratings, wouldn't you try to put every game of your ratings magnet on national television?

In a nutshell, that's what the 2017 NFL schedule is all about.

The Cowboys have the maximum possible five primetime games scheduled this year, and an additional nine late afternoon games, which often deliver even higher ratings than Sunday Night Football and are a key driver of network ratings.

That leaves just two games scheduled for the lesser 1 pm ET regional slots, one of which (Week 17 against the Eagles) will likely be flexed out into a late afternoon slot anyway.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to find that the Cowboys dominate the ratings forecast for this season. Per AdAge, the Cowboys are playing in nine of the 12 games with the highest expected ratings for 2017:

Rank​

Game​

Broadcast​

Viewers/Rating
1​

Packers @ Cowboys​

Fox late national window, Oct. 8​

30.1M viewers, 17.2 HH rating
2​

Giants @ Cowboys​

NBC "Sunday Night Football," Sept. 10​

27.8M, 16.3 HH
3​

Cowboys @ Giants​

Fox late national window, Dec. 10​

27.6M, 16.0 HH
4​

Patriots @ Steelers​

CBS late national window, Dec. 17​

26.9M, 15.5 HH
5​

Cowboys @ Falcons​

Fox late national window, Nov. 12​

26.7M, 15.2 HH
6​

Cowboys @ Raiders​

NBC "Sunday Night Football," Dec. 17​

26.4M, 15.2 HH
7​

Falcons @ Patriots​

NBC "Sunday Night Football," Oct. 22​

25.4M, 14.7 HH
8​

Cowboys @ Broncos​

Fox late national window, Sept. 17​

25.3M, 14.6 HH
9​

Seahawks @ Packers​

Fox late national window, Sept. 10​

25.1M, 14.6 HH
10​

Eagles @ Cowboys​

NBC "Sunday Night Football," Nov. 19​

24.9M, 14.3 HH
11​

Cowboys @ Commanders​

Fox late national window, Oct. 29​

24.7M, 14.2 HH
12​

Chargers @ Cowboys​

CBS Thanksgiving window, Nov. 23​

32.7M, 14.1 HH​

​

The NFL is hitching its cart behind the Dallas Cowboys to help pull the NFL out of its ratings quagmire. In fact, they are going all in, judging by how they've given the Cowboys seemingly almost every available national window.

Continue reading...

 

[jobberone]

Love'em or hate 'em the Boys lead the ratings. Love those televised games although we get blacked out around here a bit and end up with less HD.

 

[LocimusPrime]

There's no conspiracy against the cowboys. The cowboys are good for business. A great cowboys team means more viewership.

 

[Melonfeud]

Love'em or hate 'em the Boys lead the ratings. Love those televised games although we get blacked out around here a bit and end up with less HD.

I recall reading a link off the DRUDGE REPORT last year when after we lost to green bay in the playoffs,,, Superbowl ticket sales nose dived

 

[hornitosmonster]

Time for Jerry to start throwing his weight around. #fireroger

 

[Real1st]

Not gonna lie i will not watch on tv. Ill be streaming it. NFL isn't getting a dime from me.

 

[EST_1986]

Not gonna lie i will not watch on tv. Ill be streaming it. NFL isn't getting a dime from me.

 

[Asklesko]

not if they suck

 

[Real1st]

Im sticking to my guns. Ill support the boys. Not the NFL. I have enough cowboys merchandise.

 

[JJHLH1]

The Cowboys are ratings gold. They are the only sure thing when it comes to attracting a huge audience.. It's always been that way. That means we get the top broadcasting teams, which makes the games much more fun to watch.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

If it wasn't for the Cowboys the NFL would be a joke.

 

[Melonfeud]

The Cowboys are ratings gold. They are the only sure thing when it comes to attracting a huge audience.. It's always been that way. That means we get the top broadcasting teams, which makes the games much more fun to watch.

Ya,know? I caught myself thinking while watching the Chiefs - Patriots just how really thin they are at the broadcasting position and if Al Michaels were to go down for an extended period Of time he'd be truly missed as they have zero depth in that department

 

[JJHLH1]

Ya,know? I caught myself thinking while watching the Chiefs - Patriots just how really thin they are at the broadcasting position and if Al Michaels were to go down for an extended period Of time he'd be truly missed as they have zero depth in that department

It's shocking how few really good broadcasting teams there are. The drop off is pretty huge once you step down from the #1 teams. Just another benefit of being a Cowboys fan!

 

[chagus]

 

[eyedoc]

The NFL Is banking heavily on the Cowboys to improve TV ratings for the league in 2017.

According to Bloomberg, the 2016 NFL season saw viewership drop by 8% versus the previous year. One of the few bright spots?

The Dallas Cowboys.

Through week 16, five of the six most-popular games featured “America’s Team” and its rookie stars, rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott, according to ESPN. In the second half of the season, the Cowboys averaged 23.7 million viewers -- more than last year’s World Series (23.4 million) and NBA Finals (20.2 million), according to data from Fox, which carried Dallas games the most. Late-season games showed double-digit gains.

“There’s not another brand in American sports that delivers that kind of impact,” said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ executive vice president of research. The Cowboys “have always been the most popular team. Now we have a resurgence, and that’s great.”
​

The Dallas Cowboys have always been a ratings juggernaut, and if you're a league struggling with TV ratings, wouldn't you try to put every game of your ratings magnet on national television?

In a nutshell, that's what the 2017 NFL schedule is all about.

The Cowboys have the maximum possible five primetime games scheduled this year, and an additional nine late afternoon games, which often deliver even higher ratings than Sunday Night Football and are a key driver of network ratings.

That leaves just two games scheduled for the lesser 1 pm ET regional slots, one of which (Week 17 against the Eagles) will likely be flexed out into a late afternoon slot anyway.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to find that the Cowboys dominate the ratings forecast for this season. Per AdAge, the Cowboys are playing in nine of the 12 games with the highest expected ratings for 2017:

Rank​

Game
Broadcast
Viewers/Rating​

1​

Packers @ Cowboys
Fox late national window, Oct. 8​

30.1M viewers, 17.2 HH rating​

2​

Giants @ Cowboys
NBC "Sunday Night Football," Sept. 10​

27.8M, 16.3 HH​

3​

Cowboys @ Giants
Fox late national window, Dec. 10​

27.6M, 16.0 HH​

4​

Patriots @ Steelers
CBS late national window, Dec. 17​

26.9M, 15.5 HH​

5​

Cowboys @ Falcons
Fox late national window, Nov. 12​

26.7M, 15.2 HH​

6​

Cowboys @ Raiders
NBC "Sunday Night Football," Dec. 17​

26.4M, 15.2 HH​

7​

Falcons @ Patriots
NBC "Sunday Night Football," Oct. 22​

25.4M, 14.7 HH​

8​

Cowboys @ Broncos
Fox late national window, Sept. 17​

25.3M, 14.6 HH​

9​

Seahawks @ Packers
Fox late national window, Sept. 10​

25.1M, 14.6 HH​

10​

Eagles @ Cowboys
NBC "Sunday Night Football," Nov. 19​

24.9M, 14.3 HH​

11​

Cowboys @ Commanders
Fox late national window, Oct. 29​

24.7M, 14.2 HH​

12​

Chargers @ Cowboys
CBS Thanksgiving window, Nov. 23​

32.7M, 14.1 HH​

The NFL is hitching its cart behind the Dallas Cowboys to help pull the NFL out of its ratings quagmire. In fact, they are going all in, judging by how they've given the Cowboys seemingly almost every available national window.

Continue reading...

Thanks News for putting that together. We are either loved or hated by everyone. Not bad when more people tune in to our games when we have done very little in playoff football sine 1995. Hopefully this is the year that this changes. Go Cowboys

 

[Pandora]

Thanks News for putting that together.

And clipping the entire article in the process. Good to see that we're still doing that.

 

[The Fonz]

what they saying is: the NFL needs the Cowboys not the way around.