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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ight-football-could-be-limited-or-eliminated/
NFL denies that Thursday Night Football could be limited or eliminated
Posted by Mike Florio on November 28, 2016
On Sunday, PFT reported that the league’s effort to solve the current ratings crisis will include consideration of shrinking or scuttling Thursday Night Football. The league says that’s not so.
“Someone is working overtime at the rumor mill,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy told TheWrap.com. [Editor’s note: Thank you for noticing.] “We are fully committed to Thursday Night Football and any reports to the contrary are unfounded.”
It’s not a shock that the league would deny the notion that Thursday Night Football could subside or disappear. Anything other than an unequivocal rejection would serve only to create momentum that could back the league into a corner.
It also shouldn’t be a shock that the league is considering all options with Thursday Night Football, if the league is indeed exploring thoroughly the various potential strategies for bringing fans back to football in large numbers.
Consider this recent quote from NFL Media chief executive Brian Rolapp: “If we don’t keep an open mind about preserving some flexibility, any measure of success you have can go away pretty quickly. We look constantly at improving the rules of the game, the safety of the game and the quality of the game — even if that means changing things that some people think are sacred cows.”
The quote from McCarthy creates the impression that some view Thursday Night Football as a sacred cow. So if the league’s effort to prop up ratings includes consideration of changing things that are perceive as sacred cows, all sacred cows are on the table.
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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ings-crater-in-comparison-to-week-12-of-2015/
Sunday Night Football ratings crater in comparison to Week 12 of 2015
Posted by Mike Florio on November 28, 2016
The NFL made a brilliant move in Week 12, relegating Patriots-Jets to the afternoon and sliding Chiefs-Broncos into the Sunday night slot. If the league hadn’t exercised its flexing powers, the dip in ratings would have been disastrous.
Via SportsBusiness Daily, the much more compelling, competitive, and exciting five-quarter AFC West battle generated ratings a whopping 27 percent behind last year’s Week 12 Sunday night matchup. The only consolation comes from the fact that, in Week 12 of the 2015 season, the Sunday night game featured the 10-0 Patriots against the eventual Super Bowl-champion Broncos. (Denver won the game in overtime.)
It’s nevertheless a sobering development, given the victory lap that 345 Park Avenue performed after Thursday’s Washington-Dallas game drew the highest regular-season audience in 21 years. Even with the game of the day moved into a prime-time slot, a dramatic loss in audience in comparison to 2015 couldn’t be avoided.
With the election nearly three weeks into the rear-view mirror, Washington-Dallas becomes the aberration; the trend is a shrinkage of TV ratings that at some point may need to be regarded as a new normal.
NFL denies that Thursday Night Football could be limited or eliminated
Posted by Mike Florio on November 28, 2016
On Sunday, PFT reported that the league’s effort to solve the current ratings crisis will include consideration of shrinking or scuttling Thursday Night Football. The league says that’s not so.
“Someone is working overtime at the rumor mill,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy told TheWrap.com. [Editor’s note: Thank you for noticing.] “We are fully committed to Thursday Night Football and any reports to the contrary are unfounded.”
It’s not a shock that the league would deny the notion that Thursday Night Football could subside or disappear. Anything other than an unequivocal rejection would serve only to create momentum that could back the league into a corner.
It also shouldn’t be a shock that the league is considering all options with Thursday Night Football, if the league is indeed exploring thoroughly the various potential strategies for bringing fans back to football in large numbers.
Consider this recent quote from NFL Media chief executive Brian Rolapp: “If we don’t keep an open mind about preserving some flexibility, any measure of success you have can go away pretty quickly. We look constantly at improving the rules of the game, the safety of the game and the quality of the game — even if that means changing things that some people think are sacred cows.”
The quote from McCarthy creates the impression that some view Thursday Night Football as a sacred cow. So if the league’s effort to prop up ratings includes consideration of changing things that are perceive as sacred cows, all sacred cows are on the table.
-----------
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ings-crater-in-comparison-to-week-12-of-2015/
Sunday Night Football ratings crater in comparison to Week 12 of 2015
Posted by Mike Florio on November 28, 2016
The NFL made a brilliant move in Week 12, relegating Patriots-Jets to the afternoon and sliding Chiefs-Broncos into the Sunday night slot. If the league hadn’t exercised its flexing powers, the dip in ratings would have been disastrous.
Via SportsBusiness Daily, the much more compelling, competitive, and exciting five-quarter AFC West battle generated ratings a whopping 27 percent behind last year’s Week 12 Sunday night matchup. The only consolation comes from the fact that, in Week 12 of the 2015 season, the Sunday night game featured the 10-0 Patriots against the eventual Super Bowl-champion Broncos. (Denver won the game in overtime.)
It’s nevertheless a sobering development, given the victory lap that 345 Park Avenue performed after Thursday’s Washington-Dallas game drew the highest regular-season audience in 21 years. Even with the game of the day moved into a prime-time slot, a dramatic loss in audience in comparison to 2015 couldn’t be avoided.
With the election nearly three weeks into the rear-view mirror, Washington-Dallas becomes the aberration; the trend is a shrinkage of TV ratings that at some point may need to be regarded as a new normal.
