TV ratings continuing to fall

[DBOY3141]

And I've always found that people often become less interested in professional sports as they age. I never really understood that, but now I'm experiencing it.

Throw in how the NFL is trying to police things, and, for me, that doesn't help. But the quality of the teams really doesn't intrigue me, or at least it didn't last year. I enjoyed Cowboys games for obvious reasons and Panthers games because I liked seeing their fans suffer after their 2015 run, but that's about it. There were rarely match-ups that I viewed as "must see" TV during the regular season.

Good point, but as a whole lots of folks turning it off.

I took my son (15) and his four buddies to school this morning. None of them watched the game last night. One had to look it up on his phone to see who won. Two of them play JV football at the high school.

 

[adbutcher]

This can't be a serious response. It just can't be.

Sadly, it is, check him for tiki torches...

 

[Trouty]

Please prove that the lower rating are tied to the player protest.

You are aginst it obviously and you still watch belied your theory.

And I do like how people have turned social justice into an insult.

Preach, Fuzzy. Preach, brother!

 

[Trouty]

LOL at the continual chatter around the national anthem protests.

Holy hell.

So you'll watch the NFL games even when some of their players are thugs and criminals off the field, but a guy does what he is legally allowed to do, protest, and that turns you off to the game?

Some of you have screwed up priorities.

******* A, Syd!!! Exactly, brother!!!

 

[TwoCentPlain]

I watched the whole game. It was a good game, but it just wasn't satisfying me. I looked for a college football game but couldn't find one. Had I found an interesting college football game on at the same time, I would have switched.

 

[punchnjudy]

Good point, but as a whole lots of folks turning it off.

I took my son (15) and his four buddies to school this morning. None of them watched the game last night. One had to look it up on his phone to see who won. Two of them play JV football at the high school.

Yeah, it kinda got cut off, but I was just adding to Winicki's point about young people being less interested (I bolded that part). So they're probably getting squeezed at both ends.

 

[Lutonio]

Please prove that the lower rating are tied to the player protest.

You are aginst it obviously and you still watch belied your theory.

And I do like how people have turned social justice into an insult.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-protests-no-1-reason-viewers-tuned-nfl-games

 

[Trouty]

YOu can pretend that racism and sexism don't exist if it makes you feel better.

 

[casmith07]

I believe the league is more responsible for the downward trend than the players.

This Zeke BS is Exhibit A of why the NFL is ****. Their agenda is to "protect the shield", but their actions consistently throw dirt on it. Why are you constantly trying to criminalize your own players?? They should get a clue from the NBA, where the league glorifies and promotes its players rather than belittling them.

Exhibit B) how does marijuana use still destroy an NFL players career? I'm an attorney and I am allowed to smoke pot, but guys who are going through intense physical pain are not allowed to smoke pot. Absolutely ridiculous.

This is probably another more legitimate argument. The anthem excuse is just a convenient way for people to whine because their sensibilities are being confronted instead of being something that they don't have to face (out of sight, out of mind).

It's also a convenient smear campaign against the broader problem, which is actual justice -- justice for all Americans is way bigger than the NFL.

The NFL's problem is that its not as exciting, too -- people don't want to tune in to see Tom Brady and the Cheatriots win time and again, and like you said, the players get belittled by the league office. They also don't want to watch commercials, and people are cutting the cord. Offer Sunday Ticket as a streaming service - or in a cheaper package to watch all of your favorite team's games and watch ratings/profits soar.

 

[Trouty]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-protests-no-1-reason-viewers-tuned-nfl-games

Oh cut it out, bruh

 

[casmith07]

In summary, bull crap like this: https://cowboyszone.com/threads/nfl-suspends-former-k-josh-brown-6-games.384609/

is why ratings are down.

 

[Homer]

What kind of ratings would it have been if it was cowboys giants on Thursday night football? They would be saying, ratings up from last year, nfl moving in the right direction, all because of our cowboys!

 

[tyke1doe]

I doubt the ******* anthem is what is dropping the ratings, its just the shift in how everything is being viewed

I agree. I didn't know that many people even paid attention to the National Anthem. No disrespect, but when I'm watching football on TV, I'm either moving around getting prepared for the opening kickoff or not really atuned to what players are doing during the anthem.

 

[casmith07]

This is probably another more legitimate argument. The anthem excuse is just a convenient way for people to whine because their sensibilities are being confronted instead of being something that they don't have to face (out of sight, out of mind).

It's also a convenient smear campaign against the broader problem, which is actual justice -- justice for all Americans is way bigger than the NFL.

The NFL's problem is that its not as exciting, too -- people don't want to tune in to see Tom Brady and the Cheatriots win time and again, and like you said, the players get belittled by the league office. They also don't want to watch commercials, and people are cutting the cord. Offer Sunday Ticket as a streaming service - or in a cheaper package to watch all of your favorite team's games and watch ratings/profits soar.

I would pay $299 a year (seriously) to get a package of just Cowboys games.

Imagine this - you pay $300 bucks and get all 16 Cowboys games plus post-season, but instead of a ton of commercials you get a few ads (like on DC.com) but the commercial time is filled by either a) live footage of players and coaches mic'd up during the break, or b) studio analysis of what's going on by your team's local crew -- for example, during regular TV commercials, as a paid subscriber, we'd get Brad & Babe in a studio talking about what we just saw on that last drive and how they think it's going.

Brilliant idea, but you'll never see it happen because the league is run by morons and baby boomers.

 

[Trouty]

I find its easy for people to say, "there are far worse things than being told to use a certain bathroom" when they don't have to experience the situation personally and the emotions that come with being potentially shunned or disrespected like that.

I find the "life is hard for everyone" to be such a lame excuse nowadays. Life is hard for everyone but it's harder for some people. Denying that is just ignorance IMO.

Syd, I this post should be pinned.

 

[tyke1doe]

Isn't the decline in ratings relative to the overall decline in tv ratings due to the current technology available and choices ? We saw the first impact of fans habits with MNF moving out of network TV.

Personally I've felt the NFL needed a correction as it's been growing at record levels for years which has inflated ticket and merchandise prices .

I think most fans would welcome a market correction in the NFL.

Good analysis.

 

[robbieruff]

How do we know that having some of the largest media markets in the country being taken out of play (from a viewership perspective) didn't also have a large role in those numbers being down from a year ago? Having Houston and (at the very least) southern FL preoccupied with way more important issues than football would certainly skew ratings numbers (we're talking about millions of households that would otherwise be watching football...last time I checked, football is pretty popular in Texas and Florida).

Sure, some past surveys have indicated that player protests are a factor in turning off some viewership and of course cord cutters and changing demographics are also contributors...but pinning the rating drops SOLELY/PRIMARILY on player protests and not acknowledging other likely significant contributors appears like an attempt at a forced narrative...or at least a very skewed one to fit a somewhat one-sided agenda.

The Sunday night number of 14.6 was certainly a huge number by most historical standards; however lower from the NFL's record level viewership from the previous seasons. The past two Sunday night games were match-ups between Panthers-Broncos (SB rematch) and Pats-Steelers (two marquee franchises....no offense to the Chiefs but they are not marquee at this point). So...one could have a legit argument that the fall off was match-up as well (or at least a significant contributor).

I think this is a pretty complex issue (ratings) and the explanation of it is much more multi-faceted than the OP may have intended to convey. Great topic though!

 

[casmith07]

As long as you stand for your piss!!

Screw that, take a seat so you can play on your phone and a) not drop it in the toilet and b) not splash pee on your pants.

 

[Trouty]

I agree. I didn't know that many people even paid attention to the National Anthem. No disrespect, but when I'm watching football on TV, I'm either moving around getting prepared for the opening kickoff or not really atuned to what players are doing during the anthem.

No disrespect taken from me, you know, a person who actually went to war. If you wanna piss, kneel for protest, grab a beer, etc, do you do. 'Merica! It's why we're the best.

These grandstanding folks that say this or that about the protests and Black Lives Matter, etc are just angry and found something new to ***** about

 

[punchnjudy]

In summary, bull crap like this: https://cowboyszone.com/threads/nfl-suspends-former-k-josh-brown-6-games.384609/

is why ratings are down.

Yeah, I also wonder how many people participating in the ratings surveys decide to watch the game elsewhere (via a computer/bar/or just elsewhere) just because they're ticked off at the league for how they've handled these situations and they know they'll have an effect on the ratings. I would definitely consider it. Even if it was only Cowboys or Patriots fans, that could be significant.