Big Ten Network - Basketball Ratings Up 11% This Season

[Mr_Twister]

According to this article (see link) ...
“The Big Ten Network reports its ratings for men’s conference basketball games this year are 11 percent greater than a year ago.”

I wonder how much of that increase is attributable to Rutgers improved play?

https://www.news-gazette.com/sports...cle_7e6b473f-65ad-5db0-aaa1-d9812c306b0d.html

 

[HeavenUniv.]

I will go with almost all.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

According to this article (see link) ...
“The Big Ten Network reports its ratings for men’s conference basketball games this year are 11 percent greater than a year ago.”

I wonder how much of that increase is attributable to Rutgers improved play?

https://www.news-gazette.com/sports...cle_7e6b473f-65ad-5db0-aaa1-d9812c306b0d.html

Not sure, but the league was ultracompetitive with only Northwestern and Nebraska, neither storied basketball schools, sucking.

 

[RUKnights86]

The league was just competitive night in and night out from top to bottom. Even Nebraska and NW had their moments of scaring teams including us. I know I found myself most nights watching BIG games more so than any other games due to that level of parity.

 

[RU82]

The league was just competitive night in and night out from top to bottom. Even Nebraska and NW had their moments of scaring teams including us. I know I found myself most nights watching BIG games more so than any other games due to that level of parity.

It was an absolutely amazing year for B1G basketball. Night after night after night, matchup after matchup after matchup, went down to the last minute before the outcome was decided. I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

[Beancounter88]

Honestly, the B1G Network studio show is very good. Never watched it before this year. Dave Revsine is good host and the commentators are very good - Andy Katz, even had John Beilein. Second only to Rangers pre/post game.

 

[ecojew]

So many nail biters all season long makes for great entertainment. RU certainly did its share to add to the fun and to the ratings!

 

[richthedentist]

If you go by me it was definitely Rutgers as since we were finally good I found myself watching games almost every night and in the years past when we were bad I had no reason to watch other games

 

[Mr_Twister]

A competitive then successful Rutgers football team will have a similar effect.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

Honestly, the B1G Network studio show is very good. Never watched it before this year. Dave Revsine is good host and the commentators are very good - Andy Katz, even had John Beilein. Second only to Rangers pre/post game.

Wait, when was Northwestern Oklahoma State admitted into the Big Ten ???!!!

 

[RUonBrain]

According to this article (see link) ...
“The Big Ten Network reports its ratings for men’s conference basketball games this year are 11 percent greater than a year ago.”

I wonder how much of that increase is attributable to Rutgers improved play?

https://www.news-gazette.com/sports...cle_7e6b473f-65ad-5db0-aaa1-d9812c306b0d.html

I will go with almost all.

11% increase.

I’ll say 12% increase due to Rutgers fans offsets an otherwise 1% drop.

You’re welcome, B1G.

 

[ejgonz]

11% increase.

I’ll say 12% increase due to Rutgers fans offsets an otherwise 1% drop.

You’re welcome, B1G.

I’d love to see NYC ratings increase vs rest of the country

 

[RutgersNYCB1G]

Us Rutgers fans tend to overrate our TV ratings power but in this case, it's probably justified. I know several fellow alums who were (at best) casual Rutgers basketball fans that stopped what they were doing to watch almost every RU game down the stretch this season.

 

[srru86]

11% increase.

I’ll say 12% increase due to Rutgers fans offsets an otherwise 1% drop.

You’re welcome, B1G.

Yup. Let someone prove otherwise.

 

[ecojew]

A competitive then successful Rutgers football team will have a similar effect.

I think you're right about this. IIRC, in 2014, our first year in the B1G, didn't our night home games vs. PSU and Michigan set ratings records for BTN?

 

[hoquat63]

I know I watched a lot more monRU B1G games this season

 

[KevH]

If you go by me it was definitely Rutgers as since we were finally good I found myself watching games almost every night and in the years past when we were bad I had no reason to watch other games

I'm the same way. When my team sucks, my interest level in other teams is cut in half.

 

[RUfromSoCal?]

99.9% obvs.....

 

[rutgersdave]

The Big Ten should want Rutgers to win the football and basketball championships. They might be able to gat an extra 29% from TV,

 

[Scangg]

Always watch Rutgers games. This year watched a bunch of non Rutgers B1G games since we were relevant and the league was good

 

[Tango Two]

MEN'S BASKETBALL ON BTN DELIVERS MOST-WATCHED REGULAR SEASON IN NETWORK HISTORY


Several Big Ten programs experienced dramatic individual year-over-year growth for conference game broadcasts, including a +51% increase for Illinois, a +47% increase for Indiana, a +43% increase for Maryland, a +34% increase for Penn State, a +30% increase for Rutgers and a +15% increase for Iowa.


No top 10 games for Rutgers:

https://btn.com/2020/03/11/mens-bas...st-watched-regular-season-in-network-history/

 

[G- RUnit]

Love to see the NYC metro area viewers.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Was gonna say, I’d assume we (Illinois) played at least a small part in this ... big fan base that has been absolutely starved for success for 15 years (and was quite accustomed to it before that). My other guess was RU!

 

[ScarletDave]

MEN'S BASKETBALL ON BTN DELIVERS MOST-WATCHED REGULAR SEASON IN NETWORK HISTORY


Several Big Ten programs experienced dramatic individual year-over-year growth for conference game broadcasts, including a +51% increase for Illinois, a +47% increase for Indiana, a +43% increase for Maryland, a +34% increase for Penn State, a +30% increase for Rutgers and a +15% increase for Iowa.


No top 10 games for Rutgers:

https://btn.com/2020/03/11/mens-bas...st-watched-regular-season-in-network-history/

Percent doesn’t tell the story. A 50% increase for Illinois could be less people than a 30% increase for Rutgers .. in fact it probably is

 

[srru86]

a +30% increase for Rutgers

Boom

 

[srru86]

Percent doesn’t tell the story. A 50% increase for Illinois could be less people than a 30% increase for Rutgers .. in fact it probably is

True.

It's astounding that so many middle america old school big ten fans, and journalists, don't get just how much vaster (and richer) the NYC media market is than some of their comparison points.

For example 1% of NYC market is larger than 5% of the Indianapolis market which is the 25th largest in the country.
TV Households:
NYC = 6,824,120
Indianapolis = 1,053,830

That doesn't take into account that a large portion of the #4 market in the country, Philadelphia, is actually South Jersey.

 

[RUHouston]

According to this article (see link) ...
“The Big Ten Network reports its ratings for men’s conference basketball games this year are 11 percent greater than a year ago.”

I wonder how much of that increase is attributable to Rutgers improved play?

https://www.news-gazette.com/sports...cle_7e6b473f-65ad-5db0-aaa1-d9812c306b0d.html

#JimDelanyWasRight

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

Percent doesn’t tell the story. A 50% increase for Illinois could be less people than a 30% increase for Rutgers .. in fact it probably is

That would be a fair argument for Purdue or Iowa, but Illinois is a state of 13 million (4.5 million of which is Downstate IL, completely separate from Chicago or its suburbs) and UI has 220,000 alumni in the Chicago area, not to mention it’s a decent draw in St. Louis, as well. This is to take nothing away from your broader point about RU’s market potential ... just to point out that IL isn’t the best example here. Indiana, MSU, Illinois, Michigan and OSU might be from “Middle America,” but they have very large followings.

 

[RU848789]

If you go by me it was definitely Rutgers as since we were finally good I found myself watching games almost every night and in the years past when we were bad I had no reason to watch other games

Agreed. When we suck, I grit my way through our games and don't watch much other teams much, but this year, I watched tons of games, as I liked knowing our opponents and seeing who was doing well and not, since it took a long time to finally feel like we had secured our elusive NCAA bid. I'll always miss not getting to see us make the Sweet 16 (only half kidding), but this might've been my favorite hoops season ever.

 

[RUsojo]

BTN just puts out a great product in terms of coverage. Consistent tip off times. Consistent pre game coverage. And does a really great job of building the casual viewers knowledge of the whole leave during the 2.5 hours that person might tune in for their teams game - making them more likely to tune in for other games.

Personally I have always been a regional college sports fan. I am more likely to watch St Johns v Deleware than Arkansas Ole Miss.

For me, I watch BTN every night during the season and I watch nearly all the games they air. And I will watch Minnesota Ohio St over Baylor Texas Tech.

Programming is key

 

[RUnTeX]

That would be a fair argument for Purdue or Iowa, but Illinois is a state of 13 million (4.5 million of which is Downstate IL, completely separate from Chicago or its suburbs) and UI has 220,000 alumni in the Chicago area, not to mention it’s a decent draw in St. Louis, as well. This is to take nothing away from your broader point about RU’s market potential ... just to point out that IL isn’t the best example here. Indiana, MSU, Illinois, Michigan and OSU might be from “Middle America,” but they have very large followings.

Hey UIUC guy, thanks for sharing. NJ is a rather small state so only two large TV markets (both located beyond its borders) cover the entire state and its nearly 9M population. Illinois is about 6-7x larger in area so population density is much greater in NJ. NYC to Philadelphia is about 90 miles center to center as the crow flies (even shorter if measuring southern tip of Staten Island in NYC to northeastern city limits of Philly). In between those two points are 3-4 NJ counties (one of which includes Rutgers-NB). Southern NJ is about 2M+ of the state's population so in that respect it's similar to what you mentioned about downstate IL, but note that all of that population is contained in Philly's TV market. A big difference is that NJ has not a single city within its borders greater than a measly 280K (one tenth of Chicago) in population, yet Northern and Central NJ have a combined population of nearly 7M, all of which is contained in NYC's TV market and metro area population of 20M+.

Just the single county (Middlesex) in central NJ in which Rutgers-NB is located is 3-4x times more populous than the Urbana-Champaign MSA comprising 3 counties. You mentioned UI has 220K alumni in Chicago area. As a point of comparison, Rutgers probably has about 350K in greater NYC metro since much of that metro area includes highly populated NJ counties (of course some alumni also live in the multiple NY counties incl. NYC itself and out on Long Island, even up in CT).

By virtue of being in the B1G, with increased visibility from athletics success, Rutgers' following has the potential to grow with only minimal further penetration of the NYC DMA/market. The question remains whether Rutgers athletics can fully capitalize on its location but it's poised to potentially do so. Definitely Illinois can regain market share in Chicago area with further success too, especially since it helps to have such a massive city within your own state. Rutgers just has to try to capture more the NJ portion of the market, since it's much more challenging across the river in NY State (NYC proper).