• Welcome to PurpleFlock! Be sure to sign up here so that you can chat with your fellow Ravens fans.

NFL TV Ratings Discussion

JO_75

Hall of Famer
TV Ratings in 2018 are continuing the slide down from last season... in prime time. Seems the primetime games continue to hit low marks while Sunday seems to be just steady at the moment in terms of ratings. Now the terrible Giants-Cowboys game saw an increase in ratings, while Seahawks-Bears hit a Monday Night Football low since moving to ESPN. Packers-Bears on SNF in week one saw low ratings, Ravens-Bengals were down 14% from the Thursday Night opener which saw Texans vs Bengals.

Seems to me the NFL needs to take a hint on these prime time games, especially Thursday Night.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
TV Ratings in 2018 are continuing the slide down from last season... in prime time. Seems the primetime games continue to hit low marks while Sunday seems to be just steady at the moment in terms of ratings. Now the terrible Giants-Cowboys game saw an increase in ratings, while Seahawks-Bears hit a Monday Night Football low since moving to ESPN. Packers-Bears on SNF in week one saw low ratings, Ravens-Bengals were down 14% from the Thursday Night opener which saw Texans vs Bengals.

Seems to me the NFL needs to take a hint on these prime time games, especially Thursday Night.

I don’t know what that hint is - quite clearly to me the ratings drops are just a case of people not watching football in the same way they used to because there’s no real sense that fewer people are watching the game and paying for the game and reading about the game - the only market that is noticeably reducing is in the ratings
 

Pats

Veteran
To be honest, as the game gets softer I become less interested. Sadly this has been happening all contact sports for a while now. It's just not as engaging to see leagues that used to be filled with giant hits regularly now neutered and thus a lot less heavy contact. Anyone who does gets suspended or penalised.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
Time for the NFL to admit that the Rams & Chargers move to LA is a complete failure. The LA Market had a lower TV rating than the country as a whole.

In fact, the L.A. market actually had a lower television rating for the Super Bowl than the country as a whole. According to Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, the Los Angeles market had a 44.6 overnight rating, which is actually lower than the 44.9 overnight rating for the country as a whole. For comparison, Boston had a 57.4 overnight rating.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...ating-for-super-bowl-than-country-as-a-whole/
 

RaineV1

Ravens Ring of Honor
You need to look at the actual numbers. A low rating in LA can often times still be more people than a high rating in most other cities. That 44.6 rating in LA was probably a significantly higher number of people than that 57.4 rating in Boston.
 

MB34

Practice Squad
Time for the NFL to admit that the Rams & Chargers move to LA is a complete failure. The LA Market had a lower TV rating than the country as a whole.

They already want the Chargers out of LA. They just don't know where.
 

ThatsMyJoeTerback

Ravens Ring of Honor
The NFL had 64 of the most watched 100 programming in 2018. The Olympics was second with 13.
meta-chart-2.png
 

Willbacker

Ravens Ring of Honor
Good News for the NFL. Packers-Bears defensive slug fest brought in higher ratings than last year's season opener which featured the defending Champion Eagles taking on the Falcons. The game topped 22M viewers, a 16% increase over the 19M who watched Falcons/Eagles. It was the most watched opener since 2016, which was a rematch of Super Bowl 50 between the Broncos & Panthers.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27554279/packers-bears-ratings-top-22m-16-18

I believe you're gonna see a serious uptick in ratings. In a lot of ways this could be good for a quicker agreement in cba negotitions.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
The NFL saw a 5% increase in TV Viewership in 2019 from 2018. All TV Stations(NBC, CBS, FOX, ESPN) saw their average viewership increase over 2018, while NFL Network was the only one TV partner to see a decline in viewership. With some great games not only this weekend but potential divisional round and Championship Games, wonder if the playoffs will continue the rise in viewership.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/01/01/nfl-tv-viewership-rose-5-percent-in-2019/
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
Don't ask me how, but the most boring game of Wild Card Weekend generated the biggest audience since the Super Bowl. Seahawks-Eagles generated 35.8 Million, only down from 35.9 from last years Eagles-Bears game. Also Bills-Texans was the highest rated Wild card Game on ESPN & ABC with an average of 26,409,00 viewers. That is a 14% increase over last year's Colts-Texans game. Titans vs Patriots was the most watched AFC Wild Card Primetime Game in 9 years. 31.418 Million watched the Patriots lose to the Titans, + 23% from our game against the Chargers last year.

Full Wild Card Weekend Ratings:

Bills-Texans: 26,409,00 Million
Titans-Patriots: 31.418 Million
Vikings-Saints: 29.9 Million
Seahawks-Eagles: 35.8 Million
 

Willbacker

Ravens Ring of Honor
Don't ask me how, but the most boring game of Wild Card Weekend generated the biggest audience since the Super Bowl. Seahawks-Eagles generated 35.8 Million, only down from 35.9 from last years Eagles-Bears game. Also Bills-Texans was the highest rated Wild card Game on ESPN & ABC with an average of 26,409,00 viewers. That is a 14% increase over last year's Colts-Texans game. Titans vs Patriots was the most watched AFC Wild Card Primetime Game in 9 years. 31.418 Million watched the Patriots lose to the Titans, + 23% from our game against the Chargers last year.

Full Wild Card Weekend Ratings:

Bills-Texans: 26,409,00 Million
Titans-Patriots: 31.418 Million
Vikings-Saints: 29.9 Million
Seahawks-Eagles: 35.8 Million

Wow that's really a serious increase. Get the politics out and Make Football Fun Again.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
Without major market teams in the Championship Round, the AFC & NFC Championship Games saw a decline in ratings from last season. The AFC Championship saw it's lowest viewership since the 2008 AFC Championship Game between the Ravens & Steelers.

AFC Championship: 41.1M Viewers. Last year's NFC Championship Game in the 3:05PM slot(Rams vs Saints) had 44M Viewers.

NFC Championship: 42.7M Viewers. Last year's AFC Championship Game in the 6:30PM slot(Pats vs Chiefs) had 53.9M Viewers.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...hampionships-drop-in-comparison-to-last-year/

I bet the NFL was pissed when we laid an egg against Tennessee. Lamar vs Mahomes in the AFC Title Game would have been a ratings dream. I do wonder if a Draft Lottery might come to the NFL so they can rig it so the best players go to the big markets for high ratings lol.
 
Last edited:

JO_75

Hall of Famer
102 Million Viewers tuned into Super Bowl 54 to see the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers. It was the 10th most watched Super Bowl in history.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/02/03/liv-was-10th-most-watched-super-bowl/

To add to this... the Super Bowl average 3.66 Million viewers in Mexico, it helped that the Chiefs are one of the most popular teams in Mexico. The game added 9.5M Viewers in Canada, the most watched Super Bowl north of the border.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/02/09/super-bowl-draws-3-66-million-viewers-in-mexico/

With 9.5M viewers in Canada, it amazes me the NFL is so obsessed with London and a potential team there but if Canada is getting almost $10M viewers, a team in Canada seems it would do wonders in a city like Toronto.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
To add to this... the Super Bowl average 3.66 Million viewers in Mexico, it helped that the Chiefs are one of the most popular teams in Mexico. The game added 9.5M Viewers in Canada, the most watched Super Bowl north of the border.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/02/09/super-bowl-draws-3-66-million-viewers-in-mexico/

With 9.5M viewers in Canada, it amazes me the NFL is so obsessed with London and a potential team there but if Canada is getting almost $10M viewers, a team in Canada seems it would do wonders in a city like Toronto.

that's probably down to the timezones
the UK games sell out no matter the teams involved within a few minutes every time (and remember those games are notoriously bad and also involve bad teams oftentimes)

and it's about growing viewership and interaction that's why you move games to places - canada is not going to watch more NFL because there's a team there or games there...

in London and Mexico City the games grow the sport in that region and there's much larger growth potential but the UK will likely never have huge numbers for the superbowl because the earliest it ever starts is like 11:30 pm and other primetime games are even worse

but the normal sunday slate is in a great timeslot for UK viewers that avoids clashes with other sports but also happens while the country is awake
 

Willbacker

Ravens Ring of Honor
To add to this... the Super Bowl average 3.66 Million viewers in Mexico, it helped that the Chiefs are one of the most popular teams in Mexico. The game added 9.5M Viewers in Canada, the most watched Super Bowl north of the border.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/02/09/super-bowl-draws-3-66-million-viewers-in-mexico/

With 9.5M viewers in Canada, it amazes me the NFL is so obsessed with London and a potential team there but if Canada is getting almost $10M viewers, a team in Canada seems it would do wonders in a city like Toronto.

Toronto is right next to Buffalo so that's a negative right there plus you be encroaching on the CFL.
 

JO_75

Hall of Famer
NFL Season opener between the Chiefs & Texans saw a 12.3% decline over last year's season opener between the Packers & Bears. NBC reported viewership at 20.3M viewers, down from last year's 22M. Nationwide rating was a 11.2/23, also down from last year's 12.8/26 rating. We'll see if this carries into Sunday with low ratings but it is noticeable considering the NBA and MLB tanked in the ratings after bringing politics into the sport.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-rating...ne-for-kc-houston-kickoff-game-162037891.html
 

JoeyFlex5

Hall of Famer
NFL Season opener between the Chiefs & Texans saw a 12.3% decline over last year's season opener between the Packers & Bears. NBC reported viewership at 20.3M viewers, down from last year's 22M. Nationwide rating was a 11.2/23, also down from last year's 12.8/26 rating. We'll see if this carries into Sunday with low ratings but it is noticeable considering the NBA and MLB tanked in the ratings after bringing politics into the sport.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-rating...ne-for-kc-houston-kickoff-game-162037891.html
im not gonna stop watching, but they were HEAVY on the "social justice" topic in the broadcast, WAY heavier than EVER before, almost as if it was related to the game.

look at the subject how you like, but ive explained this before, im tired of it, i have empathy towards all who are affected by this topic, truly i do, but for my mental well being just give me some fucking football and stfu. a show of unity like they did before kickoff was great, even if its a hollow gesture i encourage that behavior, its positive, but the negativity of the entire subject and having it shoved in my face is just so far from my preference. its gonna be the theme for this entire season, and if the election posts certain results it will likely be a theme for the following 4 seasons as well, and im gonna watch regardless, and i wont even complain about it because i support the idea behind it, but i definitely dont prefer it, and to everyone who will literally stop watching sports because they arent ok with unity and liberty and justice for all, good riddance and take it a step further and just rid yourself from the world altogether.

side note, the politics thread shouldve been shut the fuck down long ago and we shouldve kept politics miles away from this entire forum, we have lost MANY regular posters due to that thread and that thread alone, and these boards consist of a regular like ten people and when the protests/riots were going down, people were leaving in droves because of how intolerant and toxic that one thread became. its a goddamn shame.
 

rossihunter2

Staff Member
Moderator
NFL Season opener between the Chiefs & Texans saw a 12.3% decline over last year's season opener between the Packers & Bears. NBC reported viewership at 20.3M viewers, down from last year's 22M. Nationwide rating was a 11.2/23, also down from last year's 12.8/26 rating. We'll see if this carries into Sunday with low ratings but it is noticeable considering the NBA and MLB tanked in the ratings after bringing politics into the sport.

https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-rating...ne-for-kc-houston-kickoff-game-162037891.html

it's far more likely that the lower ratings are due to clashes with the lakers playoff game and other big tv events that happened the same night
if it continues through the next few weeks then maybe that's why - i think it's much more likely that it clashed with other sporting events that were a big deal and then wasnt an exciting game at all
 
Top