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Fumble! ESPN's College Football Championship Ratings Drop 19%

MozRU

MozRU

Heisman Winner
Oct 3, 2005
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From Bloomberg Intelligence

"The ratings decline for the championship match-up on a Monday night with light sports competition may be further evidence of shifting viewing habits."


Why can't anyone in charge not see that people on the east coast are throwing in the towel? Not ONE of the 15 guys I work with, who are major pro and college football fans, watched the national championship. NOT ONE. A few turned it on, but went to bed before the 1st half was finished. I didn't even bother to turn it on. Just went to bed.
 
The powers at be NEED to work with the NFL

Saturday:

Pro 1pm
College National Championship 4pm
Pro 8pm


Its not really that hard. I haven't watched a NC since OSU beat the U and I was 1yr out of college. Then I grew up and refused to be suckered.
 
There was little to no build up this year. Last year there were countless advertisements for the championship game. This year I can only recall seeing one commercial.

I just think they threw in the towel after the abysmal numbers for the semi-final.

New years eve semi and Championship Mondays are a recipe for disaster. This game needs to be on New Years day or on the Saturday following the semis.
 
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Personally I didn't watch the game but that had to do with my personal hatred, as a Miami Dolphins fan, of Nick Saban. And also that I just generally despise Alabama and couldn't care less about Clemson.

As an aside, do these ratings factor in the fact that the game was literally on I think 5 or 6 different ESPN channels in different formats? I'm sure some people tuned into the SEC Network to watch for the interactive panel there with Paul Finebaum or the "homer broadcast" or any of the other ways it was televised.
 
Oh wait, I thought it would do great because it wasn't on New Years Eve.
 
Late start, plus both teams from southeast. Both smaller markets and no national draw(bama somewhat) but its old hat with them so want bring in casual fans to see championship #5.
 
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I was asking in the NYE semifinal thread if NYE was the only factor or would the ratings have dropped off naturally, maybe to a lesser degree, had all the games been competitive and on a different day. I think this shows probably yes they would have. NYE was a big factor but I think there's also a wearing off of the newness in the 2nd year of the playoffs. This was a good game so you can't blame it on that.

I think Alabama fatigue and Clemson not being as big a brand might have contributed as well. I didn't start watching until the 2nd qtr and that's unusual for me. I think you'd probably have to see a handful of year's ratings to see what a real baseline might be for the champ game and playoffs. I think the first year has the potential to be a little bit of an aberration because of the newness factor.
 
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Small markets.
Predictable outcome.

Most marketable aspect? Come see Clemson's spread offense. That's it.

No one cares.
 
timing....monday night? I feel for you guys on the east coast.

If you have an 8pm eastern game, it better be on a saturday night.
 
kupuna133 said:
There was little to no build up this year. Last year there were countless advertisements for the championship game. This year I can only recall seeing one commercial.

I just think they threw in the towel after the abysmal numbers for the semi-final.

New years eve semi and Championship Mondays are a recipe for disaster. This game needs to be on New Years day or on the Saturday following the semis.
Click to expand...


Agreed that there was almost no build up in coverage prior to the game. Add to that 2 small market teams and it just doesn't work.
 
It was a great game. Late starting time hurts, post NFL playoffs football overload and ten days after New Year's has to contribute to lower ratings too.
 
It's too late and too far after the season ends. January 11th and at 830pm on a Monday? I tried to stay up but went to bed in the 2nd half.
 
The match-up is mostly what matters when it comes to ratings. If people are interested in the teams they will tune in no matter what the day or time. But no doubt people are tired of seeing Alabama and they don't care about Clemson and many of them probably don't even know where Clemson is from.
 
I didn't even bother to turn the game on. I just had no interest in it.
theRU said:
timing....monday night? I feel for you guys on the east coast.

If you have an 8pm eastern game, it better be on a saturday night.
Click to expand...
Yep - unless a team I'm really interested in is playing in Monday Night Football (NFL), I'll only watch bits and pieces of the game if I turn it on at all. It's just not that great a night for football anymore.
 
MozRU said:
From Bloomberg Intelligence

"The ratings decline for the championship match-up on a Monday night with light sports competition may be further evidence of shifting viewing habits."


Why can't anyone in charge not see that people on the east coast are throwing in the towel? Not ONE of the 15 guys I work with, who are major pro and college football fans, watched the national championship. NOT ONE. A few turned it on, but went to bed before the 1st half was finished. I didn't even bother to turn it on. Just went to bed.
Click to expand...
That's less than the ratings drop from the NFL playoffs from one year to the next on ESPN. Last year's Arizona -- Carolina game on ESPN drew 21 million viewers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...d-weekend-averages-nearly-30-million-viewers/), whereas the KC -- Houston game on ESPN this past Saturday drew only 6 million (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/01/12/saturday-cable-ratings-jan-9-2016/).
 
Alabama- small market team? You friggin' guys are clueless. What ever happened to being a college football fan? Cripes I'd watch the NC game if it was Toledo v. Wyoming.

These were two outstanding teams, with 2 of the 3 Heisman finalists and the Heisman winner, two intriguing coaches, ardent fan bases, universally accepted as 2 best teams in the country, and they get a meh/ who cares? Sick, just sick.
There are many reasons for ratings decline but it wasn't the match- ups or kick off time. SMH.
 
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Didn't realize people had such trouble staying up until - gasp! - midnight on a school/work night. Y'all missed a great college football game. Too early in the east and it's still work time on the West Coast. No perfect answer. Do people also not watch Sunday/Monday/Thursday night NFL games because they're too late?
 
pmvon said:
Um, big ten country was disinterested. That's all. South Carolina vs Alabama, who cares
Click to expand...

I believe this is the main reason for the 19% drop.
BTW yes by demographics the North East, Mid West and West coast were the biggest fall offs from last years NC game.
So like Pro BB unless it is your town in the championship game Who Cares!
So outside the South East it was a "no show" so to speak!
 
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A few thoughts on potential drivers for lower ratings:

1) 'Bama/SEC fatigue. Unless you're a 'Bama and/or SEC fan, no one wanted to see them win another one.
2) Both teams are from the Southeast. That limits the appeal in the rest of the country.
3) Story lines aren't as good. Last year you had Ohio State, a somewhat controversial playoff pick, with a 3rd string QB that had just beaten the juggernaut in Alabama and was looking for a return to glory. This year was the teams that were #1 and #2 in all but one of the playoff votes. And, just a hunch, I don't think Clemson appeals to a more casual viewer like Oregon might.
 
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RU848789 said:
Didn't realize people had such trouble staying up until - gasp! - midnight on a school/work night. Y'all missed a great college football game. Too early in the east and it's still work time on the West Coast. No perfect answer. Do people also not watch Sunday/Monday/Thursday night NFL games because they're too late?
Click to expand...

Before kids, none. Since? I'm lucky to be awake for a 7 pm Yankee game.
 
I'm usually up late - never go to bed before midnight - but I still don't tend to devote much attention to the national championship game. I'll flip over to it during other commercials, unless (more recently) I'm/we're watching something on Netflix/Amazon. Our TV (only have one) is dedicated to "Antiques Roadshow" on Monday nights (the things we do for love), but when it was over at 9, I put the game on and was pleasantly surprised that it was competitive. So I figured I'd watch until it looked like one team had the other put away, and I did. So that was unusual, that I actually watch most of it. The semis were so bad that I watched a combined total of about 15 minutes of real time. Of course, that was New Year's Eve, and the Twilight Zone trumps that anyway, but those games were stinkers.

I suffer from a bit of Bama fatigue, though I can't deny their excellence. I thought Clemson would've wilted early and gotten smoked, but they showed me something. That, to me, was the hook and made it worth sticking with. But put an Oregon or some other annual pretender in there again, and am unlikely to give it more than a passing look every so often.
 
This is good for the B1G. ESPN needed to be reminded what will happen if they don't bid big for at least part of the B1G contract, because if they lose it all to Fox they will see similar ratings drops for their cfb content in total. The NFL can survive playoff matchups involving teams with smaller followings because everyone watches the NFL playoffs regardless. For college, regional matchups will usually not draw most casual fans from the rest of the country.
 
RUforJERSEY said:
How old are you guys who can't stay up until 11:30-12 midnight unless it's the weekend?
Click to expand...
Careful what you say! I do it, but it does get harder to do (I'm 45). I used to stay up past 2 frequently, but that just kills me now (I'm up at 6). But there was a time when I would ask the same question as you ... it all seemed so easy.
 
T
mdk01 said:
Agreed that there was almost no build up in coverage prior to the game. Add to that 2 small market teams and it just doesn't work.
Click to expand...

There was no build up because they are small markets.
 
Nosoj said:
A few thoughts on potential drivers for lower ratings:

1) 'Bama/SEC fatigue. Unless you're a 'Bama and/or SEC fan, no one wanted to see them win another one.
2) Both teams are from the Southeast. That limits the appeal in the rest of the country.
3) Story lines aren't as good. Last year you had Ohio State, a somewhat controversial playoff pick, with a 3rd string QB that had just beaten the juggernaut in Alabama and was looking for a return to glory. This year was the teams that were #1 and #2 in all but one of the playoff votes. And, just a hunch, I don't think Clemson appeals to a more casual viewer like Oregon might.
Click to expand...
No, there are a lot more people in the north and they were disinterested.
 
pmvon said:
No, there are a lot more people in the north and they were disinterested.
Click to expand...
Nosoj said:
A few thoughts on potential drivers for lower ratings:

1) 'Bama/SEC fatigue. Unless you're a 'Bama and/or SEC fan, no one wanted to see them win another one.
2) Both teams are from the Southeast. That limits the appeal in the rest of the country.
3) Story lines aren't as good. Last year you had Ohio State, a somewhat controversial playoff pick, with a 3rd string QB that had just beaten the juggernaut in Alabama and was looking for a return to glory. This year was the teams that were #1 and #2 in all but one of the playoff votes. And, just a hunch, I don't think Clemson appeals to a more casual viewer like Oregon might.
Click to expand...
 
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SHUSource said:
Careful what you say! I do it, but it does get harder to do (I'm 45). I used to stay up past 2 frequently, but that just kills me now (I'm up at 6). But there was a time when I would ask the same question as you ... it all seemed so easy.
Click to expand...
For whatever reason, the going to bed earlier bug hasn't bitten me. I've always gone to bed anywhere from 12-2 am and I get my 5-6 hours of sleep and wake up anywhere from 6-7 am. Many of my friends (I'm 53) won't go out past 11 pm anymore, which sucks. Even our monthly poker group (which includes a couple of posters here) has 1-2 guys who consistently leave around 11 pm and the rest of the group rarely goes past midnight anymore. Teasing and shaming hasn't helped, lol. So we moved our start from 7:30 pm to 7:00 pm to at least get more poker in.
 
I was off work Tuesday and I still passed out at halftime. Too late of a start as is the case w all these "prime time" games, NCAA or NFL. Start earlier or I don't watch it, that simple.
 
Caliknight said:
If Rutgers were to ever make that game, the ratings would be all time.
Click to expand...

Not sure if serious......

But I would agree that a full dream season (better than 2006 against better opponents)....four months of massive hype on NYC Market tvs would build a new level of fanbase. You'd need that kind of success sustained over time to set all time record ratings.

People want something they could easily follow every week. As it stands, Rutgers games are generally going to be relegated to the premium tier of BTN unless they're playing someone huge like OSU.....or unless they're ranked themselves.

That's the dark side of the the premium tv revenue models in sports - you can't easily get new fans interested when things aren't on free tv.
 
Talk about parochial small mindedness or is it effete snobbery? #1 vs #2, Prime Time, what more can you ask for? In the never never land that constitutes this board, apparently a (hypothetical) #4Minnesota vs.#6 Arizona State final would be a preferred match-up over a #1 Florida vs #2 TCU match-up.
 
How early do east coast folks want the game? 8:30 is smack in the middle of primetime and is 5:30 on the west coast - so perfectly positioned to give people across the country as much a chance of watching it as possible.

I don't think that drop suggests they need to change. Last year was the inaugural playoff-era NC with a more interesting, exciting match-up with mixed geographical appeal. This year, Clemson was kind of an interesting story - for folks that don't despise the ACC - but WTF wants to watch Alabama win again.

Pretty sure there wasn't a huge swarm of east coast guys aging into the "can't stay up past 11" between last year and this year.
 
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