The National Football League has suffered alarming television viewership declines in the first four weeks of the season – with games down 11 percent among viewers aged between 18 and 49 years – as non-sports TV broadcast network ratings lost 7 percent.
Moffett Nathanson Research says it’s due to television networks betting NFL and live sports programming are the stability part of their overall programming schedule – bringing in steady advertising revenue gains with premium cost per thousand viewer (CPM) prices.
According to the Television News Daily website, Fox derives 49 percent of total network advertising from the NFL; CBS, at 40 percent, NBC and ESPN, each with 27 percent. The researcher points to less competitive prime-time games, as well as – due to either through injury, suspension or retirement – three of the major NFL teams’ star quarterbacks not on the field versus a year ago: Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, and Denver Broncos.
Additionally, one game ran up against a strong-viewing first presidential debate.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.