2014 Football TV Ratings: Rutgers 11th in Big Ten (54th out of 65 P5)

[Knight_Light]

In graphics below...they break down conf and team TV ratings for P5 conferences and teams...including even a week by week TV rating for Conferences (hint: SEC dominates).

Thought it was interesting looking at where teams/conf ranked.

http://texags.com/s/15550/infographic-2014-college-football-tv-ratings

 

[MoobyCow]

A coupe of quick thoughts.

The SEC clearly is the most attractive conference at the moment TV wise.
It's hard to compare teams when you don't know which stations they were on. Having a lower rated game on FSN/Big Ten vs an ESPN game has little to do with the teams plays.

Edit:

Here's a note on the source of data:

National ratings unavailable for games on SEC Network, CBS Sports Network, the Big Ten Network and the Pac-12 Network, as none are Nielsen-rated. Numbers from various sources, including ESPN, NBC Sports, Sports Business Daily, and Awful Announcing.

 

[RU#1fan]

Call BS on this list.
How can Syracuse have higher viewer ratings than RU ?

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Rutgers fan following is almost all in NJ/NYC. We just do not have a national following. We would have to have a 2006 year in the Big Ten for that to happen. Also note that most of our games were not on ABC or ESPN proper or they went up against national games.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Call BS on this list.
How can Syracuse have higher viewer ratings than RU ?

Because of who they played, no one watched those games because of Cuse.

 

[MoobyCow]

RU games

1.8 2.87M 4:30 PM Rutgers/UNC Detroit Lions Bowl ESPN
0.1 178K 3:30 PM Rutgers/Maryland ESPNU
1.4 1.94M 12:00 PM Wisconsin/Rutgers ESPN
0.8 1.13M 12:00 PM Rutgers/Nebraska ESPN2
2.4 3.80M 3:30 PM Rutgers/Ohio State or UCLA/Cal
0.1 107K 12:00 PM Tulane/Rutgers ESPNEWS
0.3 394K 10:00 PM Rutgers/Wash. St. FS1

SU’s games
0.1 166K 3:30 PM Syracuse/Pittsburgh ESPNU
0.4 614K 7:00 PM Syracuse/Clemson ESPNU
1.3 1.95M 12:00 PM FSU/Syracuse ESPN
1.1 1.64M 7:00 PM Louisville/Syracuse ESPN
2.6 4.05M 8:00 PM Notre Dame/Syracuse ABC
0.2 254K 12:00 PM Syracuse/Cent. Mich. ESPNEWS

You can click through to the source: http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

Anyway, SU had 3 night games on the list, which obviously helps where we had 12pm games for a couple of our bigger televised games. The list is useless without context.

 

[RURM85]

Our highest visible games, excluding prime time against OSU, were the 2 BTN prime time Saturday night games against Penn State and Michigan, both of which are not rated for the article's purposes and not on most watched stations of ABC or ESPN. Other BTN games include a 3:30 start against Indiana and our noon game against Michigan State. Agree with Mooby that without analysis, the list and an overall highlight of end results is useless.

 

[MoobyCow]

Our highest visible games, excluding prime time against OSU, were the 2 BTN prime time Saturday night games against Penn State and Michigan, both of which are not rated for the article's purposes and not on most watched stations of ABC or ESPN. Other BTN games include a 3:30 start against Indiana and our noon game against Michigan State. Agree with Mooby that without analysis, the list and an overall highlight of end results is useless.

I'd like to amend that. I think that you can compare conferences and overall trends, but picking out two individual teams isn't going to say a whole heck of a lot because one big night game will throw the whole thing off for a small sample size.

 

[RU#1fan]

RU games

1.8 2.87M 4:30 PM Rutgers/UNC Detroit Lions Bowl ESPN
0.1 178K 3:30 PM Rutgers/Maryland ESPNU
1.4 1.94M 12:00 PM Wisconsin/Rutgers ESPN
0.8 1.13M 12:00 PM Rutgers/Nebraska ESPN2
2.4 3.80M 3:30 PM Rutgers/Ohio State or UCLA/Cal
0.1 107K 12:00 PM Tulane/Rutgers ESPNEWS
0.3 394K 10:00 PM Rutgers/Wash. St. FS1

SU’s games
0.1 166K 3:30 PM Syracuse/Pittsburgh ESPNU
0.4 614K 7:00 PM Syracuse/Clemson ESPNU
1.3 1.95M 12:00 PM FSU/Syracuse ESPN
1.1 1.64M 7:00 PM Louisville/Syracuse ESPN
2.6 4.05M 8:00 PM Notre Dame/Syracuse ABC
0.2 254K 12:00 PM Syracuse/Cent. Mich. ESPNEWS

You can click through to the source: http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

Anyway, SU had 3 night games on the list, which obviously helps where we had 12pm games for a couple of our bigger televised games. The list is useless without context.

Thank you this helps a lot. The ND game helped Cuse immensely. Surprised our Nebraska game did not have more viewers . Expect we will crush Cuse in ratings this year with night games with State Penn, OSU , MSU and a day game at Michigan.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Our best games we also played on BTN which is not available all around the country.

 

[bac2therac]

Ru has always had poor national ratings...no surprise here

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

The Rutgers-Penn State game had the highest ratings ever in NJ/NYC for a BTN game.

but teh numbers were never released and are not included in that report.

 

[mikemarc1]

Call BS on this list.
How can Syracuse have higher viewer ratings than RU ?

Because Syracuse is a bigger NATIONAL brand then Rutgers. It is what it is..

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Because Syracuse is a bigger NATIONAL brand then Rutgers. It is what it is..

that is not what it is at all. this is:

SU’s games
0.1 166K 3:30 PM Syracuse/Pittsburgh ESPNU
0.4 614K 7:00 PM Syracuse/Clemson ESPNU
1.3 1.95M 12:00 PM FSU/Syracuse ESPN
1.1 1.64M 7:00 PM Louisville/Syracuse ESPN
2.6 4.05M 8:00 PM Notre Dame/Syracuse ABC
0.2 254K 12:00 PM Syracuse/Cent. Mich. ESPNEWS

 

[MikeR0102]

Because Syracuse is a bigger NATIONAL brand then Rutgers. It is what it is..

No. I suggest you compare similar games. ESPN at Noon. ESPNU at 3:30. I'd even think if you looked at past years where we played some primetime games our numbers would be similar to Cuse's last year.

 

[mikemarc1]

No. I suggest you compare similar games. ESPN at Noon. ESPNU at 3:30. I'd even think if you looked at past years where we played some primetime games our numbers would be similar to Cuse's last year.

Even so, if its anywhere close...it kind of backs up what I think.

Rutgers is in the #1 media market in the country. With that population and most of our viewers coming from this area, we should easily beat out Syracuse, especially if we have more NATIONAL viewers. Ratings don't reflect that.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Rutgers fan following is almost all in NJ/NYC. We just do not have a national following. We would have to have a 2006 year in the Big Ten for that to happen. Also note that most of our games were not on ABC or ESPN proper or they went up against national games.

This sums it up nicely.

Rutgers is in a weird position.. we have a strong pull in the nations most lucrative TV market (and in the big Philly market as well). In those markets we do very well... and that hurts the national ratings of games we go up against (by draining eyeballs from these markets).

But since Rutgers is not (yet) a national draw, it behooves networks to minimize Rutgers impact for their big national games. That means featuring Rutgers at good kickoff times only when they have regional broadcasts. That means not making a Rutgers game a nation-wide broadcast game on a prime channel.

This even holds true for BTN who has the same need for strong national ratings for their advertisers as any other network.

ESPN/ABC and CBS can sell the crap outta some SEC game and trumpet its national importance. It is what they do. If they can convince a lot of non-SEC college football fans that this is a must-see game then they can count on SEC fans plus whoever they force to see the game. A small chunk of the New York market tuning in would boost the national ratings quite a bit.

But no one is going to suggest a Rutgers game is of national importance until we are 8-0 and facing a team with a national following. We just don't have the name for it.

So.. don't worry. Rutgers ratings in this important marketplace makes it relevant. Feel free to laugh at the national ratings.

 

[Knight_Light]

Call BS on this list.
How can Syracuse have higher viewer ratings than RU ?

Last year, Syracuse did have a national tv game vs then undefeated (and either #1 or #2 ranked in the nation) FSU..plus another vs ND.as I think that helped boost their season average up a bit.

Believe the lowest 2 (or 3) ACC teams in P5 TV rankings did not have any games vs FSU last year.

ACC had just 1 team finished in the Top 25 of rated games (FSU).

 

[NickyNewark51]

Because Syracuse is a bigger NATIONAL brand then Rutgers. It is what it is..

I doubt thats still the case in FB...in BB it certainly is for now.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I just looked up the 2013 numbers here

Rutgers was 77th with about 600K avg and 0.4

Syracuse is nowhere to be seen.. comments suggest they must not have had 3 rated games.

Soooo.. the move to the B1G was HUGE for our ratings. And that should continue as more and more B1G fans become interested in knowing how Rutgers is doing.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Plus one of Rutgers highest rated game last year wasn't included on that site.

 

[Knight_Light]

Our highest visible games, excluding prime time against OSU, were the 2 BTN prime time Saturday night games against Penn State and Michigan, both of which are not rated for the article's purposes and not on most watched stations of ABC or ESPN. Other BTN games include a 3:30 start against Indiana and our noon game against Michigan State. Agree with Mooby that without analysis, the list and an overall highlight of end results is useless.

Big Ten TV Network, along with the SEC Network, provide millions of $$$ of profit to each conf member, but those games still lack way behind in comparably other national TV games on CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, etc...

Rutgers had 6 out of 12 games last year that were included in the "national" rated market.

Here's a look at all the P5 teams in average viewers for rated games in 2014

http://www.k-state.edu/economics/staff/websites/kuester/Raw Top 25.pdf

From link above in how they break down rated/non-rated games.

Obviously, a complete picture of television ratings should include all twelve (or more) games that a team participates in. Unfortunately, this is not something we can figure out because of a lack of access to all relevant data. I would suggest that games on the SEC Network or the Big Ten Network are drawing considerably more viewers than a game on the Longhorn Network. This in turn probably dwarfs the number of fans who are watching a game on K-State HDTV, which is internet-only. But since games on all of these avenues (along with the Pac 12 Network, regional Fox Sports networks, syndicated ACC games, pay per view games, etc.) are not rated, it seems unfair to cherry-pick the games that warrant a broadcast on CBS, ABC, ESPN, FOX or other major networks and only count those games as an indicator of the popularity of a team. For example, Florida ranks seventh in the ratings TexAgs.com compiled, but they were only on a rated television broadcast five times this year in the eleven games they played. Meanwhile, Oklahoma was on a rated broadcast eleven times in the twelve games they played. Clearly, if games against Kansas and Iowa State were on a station that did not report TV ratings, OU’s average television rating would go up fairly dramatically.

 

[Knight_Light]

Here's the complete article from the Sports Economist written by Kansas State PhD, Dr. Dan Kuester, that looks at and analyzes all of the 2014 conf and P5 TV rating info.

Analyzing 2014 College Football Television Ratings
http://thesportseconomist.com/2015/02/09/analyzing-2014-college-football-television-ratings/

 

[lighty]

It sounds dumb to RU fans, but there are tons of sports fans in the area (and the country) that didn't know RU joined the Big Ten last year. For the casual fan, it might still take a few years to sink in.

The reason that's important is if you didn't know we were conference-mates, you probably could care less about Nebraska vs RU and you might simply write it off as a blow out, which sadly our biggest games largely were.

 

[derleider]

Because Syracuse is a bigger NATIONAL brand then Rutgers. It is what it is..

Probably not really the situation though. If we had played Nebraska at night that probably makes the stats even (and I excluded the bowl).

RU nad Cuse are both in the - no one nationally is watching them for them category. They are watching for the opponent.

Its also somewhat a truism, but for the most part - even the national numbers are regional. The SEC states are watching SEC FB while the BIg Ten states are watching Big Ten FB. Very few teams in a given year have real national pull

 

[lighty]

"RU nad Cuse are both in the - no one nationally is watching them for them category."

Wouldn't you say there are only maybe a dozen teams people purposely watch nationally for the team? Even the Top 25 generally has a lot of teams that aren't household names or brands.

 

[RURM85]

Here's the complete article from the Sports Economist written by Kansas State PhD, Dr. Dan Kuester, that looks at and analyzes all of the 2014 conf and P5 TV rating info.

Analyzing 2014 College Football Television Ratings
http://thesportseconomist.com/2015/02/09/analyzing-2014-college-football-television-ratings/

From the article, the author is recalculating based on the following: "In order to attempt to correct for this bias, I assumed that there were no viewers for games that were not rated telecasts and then recalculated the average rating per team."

This definitely penalizes the B1G and SEC teams due to their networks . Why not also assume zero users for noon games on ESPNU, ESPNews and for all intent and purposes zero viewers for Fox Sports telecasts, since nobody is watching those games anyway according to the ratings.

The key here is a Saturday night game on ABC or ESPN with an interesting matchup, or the SEC matchup at 3:30 on CBS. Put our Penn State and Michigan games last year on Saturday night telecasted on either ABC or ESPN (as they did the Michigan - UConn game 2 years ago), and our average ratings and ranking goes up significantly.

It seems to be the SEC Conference really benefits from their 3:30 CBS game, as there are 6 out of the top 15 viewed games at that time and telecast, as well as, many 7pm and 8pm games on ESPN/ESPN2.

 

[anon_ivydyf0amkzay]

SEC![thumb2]

That list/report surprises no one...I suspect the 2015 report will look a lot like this...

 

[derleider]

"RU nad Cuse are both in the - no one nationally is watching them for them category."

Wouldn't you say there are only maybe a dozen teams people purposely watch nationally for the team? Even the Top 25 generally has a lot of teams that aren't household names or brands.

Yes. THats true. Which is why the list is kind of useless. Alot of it, even for the igger teams is who you played, when you played them in the season, what time of day, what network it was one as much as how popular the underlying teams are.

 

[Knight_Light]

Yes. THats true. Which is why the list is kind of useless. Alot of it, even for the igger teams is who you played, when you played them in the season, what time of day, what network it was one as much as how popular the underlying teams are.

But that's the point...as its the top teams and/or most popular team that get the best networks and time slots.

Per the link above (and posted again below), it notes how many "rated" (top network") games these teams played during the regular season (including Championship Saturday).

http://thesportseconomist.com/2015/02/09/analyzing-2014-college-football-television-ratings/

In the breakdown of the top 25 highest rated teams...most had between 8-12 games on top networks last year.

Alabama had 11 out of their 13 games played on the top networks.

FSU had 12 out of 13.

Notre Dame had all 12 of their games on top networks.

Rutgers had just 6 out of 12.

Big Ten is helping RU with tons of cash (especially in the coming years) but the top exposure for the program just isn't there...and not really close to most other Big Ten teams, let alone those outside the Big Ten (i.e. SEC)