Rick Kissell at Variety noticed that NFL football gets good ratings:
Pro football is this fall’s hottest reality show.
At the halfway point of the season, the National Football League has never been a more dominant ratings force.
Football has always been the “fall’s hottest reality show”. And broadcast prime time audiences continue their multi-decade decline. Ergo, relative football ratings vs. other broadcast prime time ratings improve every season!
And Rick jumps on the “It’s the economy” meme to explain football’s ratings increases this fall, and like everybody else, he doesn’t have any data to back it up.
Amid a troubled economy and high unemployment, Americans — many armed with their high-def bigscreen TVs — may simply be gravitating toward the best value for their buck.
Or it could be Brett Favre in Minnesota, or it could be two undefeated teams past halfway in the season, or it could be a lot of other things. Or it could be that it was Friday and Rick hadn’t met his quota of articles for the week.
Football is recession-proof. It’s just not the high ratings it’s been getting, because people have to go to the games or they’ll get blacked out in the local market, so obviously people are still buying tickets.
Why the hostility, Bill? I agree with you that it isn’t the economy, though. Hell–I’m willing to bet it’s the fact that football is always popular in America (and rightfully so) and the ratings increase on a yearly basis.
“Best value for their buck”? What is with that nonsense?
The NFL is becoming more and more of a stronger sport. Its the only entertainment entity out there that has been able to retain most of ratings from previous decades.
HDTVs are giving the sport an even bigger push b/c its crystal and a better watch for games at home.
The NFL does a great job with marketing all 32 teams so it gives the networks a chance to throw any matchup out there and still get solid local and national ratings.
halfway through the season there are matchups and teams people won’t suffer through Browns, chiefs, raiders. rams. lions, bucs and especially redskins games unless they’re devoted homers and drunk at 1:15. there are games about to get blacked out – including Jacksonville.
NBC did the smart thing in getting the right to claim the best game of the day instead of being stuck with under achievers at the end of the season. quite a few late season MNF games on ABC were between teams that were fighting for the top draft pick and not a playoff slot.
Far as the crummy economy getting football ratings up – why not. I know enough people that would rather stay home and watch the game instead of leaving the house and paying for stuff they can’t afford. Or they just want to enjoy the glory of their 65 inch 1080p HD TV. I also know quite a few folk who have been laid off in the last month who watch the games cause it gives them three hours of entertainment without being beaten to death with depressing economic news.
I like how you guys backtrack this ridiculous assertion in a followup.
Jack, not backtracking, just two different posts, by two different people who have two different points of view.
Too much coffee, Bill?