CBS President & CEO Les Moonves yesterday "alluded to problems with the NFL -- presumably accusations of violence perpetrated" by Vikings RB Adrian Peterson and former Ravens RB Ray Rice -- but said the net's ratings for last Thursday's Steelers-Ravens game were "above expectations," according to Paul Bond of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Moonves even suggested that the "controversy might have increased viewership" for the game. Moonves: "I'm sure that may have attracted a little bit more attention. Possibly in the wrong way, but it did attract attention. And the number was very good. The game wasn't very good. The number could have been even higher if we had a close game, but people started tuning out in the last half hour, 45 minutes." He added, "This week we have a lesser matchup with Atlanta and Tampa Bay, so the numbers will be down, and we expect the other networks to point that out." He added, "The advertising is terrific … football is still the best thing on television." Moonves: "The ratings are phenomenal, the advertising rates still go up, there are still certain advertisers that have to have it … we love having those games on Thursday night" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 9/17).
PRIME NUMBERS: Night time was the right time for the NFL in Week 2. The first “TNF” telecast of the season drew a combined 24.202 million viewers across CBS and NFL Network for the Steelers-Ravens matchup from 8:28-11:09pm ET. CBS alone drew 20.771 million viewers for the game and drew 19.4 million viewers just in primetime (8:00-11:00pm). That figure dwarfed the net’s figure on the comparable Thursday last year, which was before the net rolled out new episodes of its highly-rated scripted shows. CBS last year averaged 5.8 million viewers on the comparable Thursday night, with programming that included repeat episodes of “The Big Bang Theory” and “Elementary,” as well as “Big Brother” and a special “CBS Fall Preview Show.” NFL Network drew 3.4 million viewers by itself for Steelers-Ravens. Last year, when the net was the sole carrier of “TNF,” it drew 8.8 million viewers for Jets-Patriots. Meanwhile, NBC finished with an average of 22.2 million viewers for the Bears comeback win against the 49ers on “SNF,” up 8% from 20.5 million viewers for 49ers-Seahawks in Week 2 last year. That game had a one-hour lightning delay during the first quarter. Bears-49ers delivered NBC a win in primetime on Sunday and marked the most-viewed Sunday NFL regular-season primetime game on record (dating back to ’87). ESPN finished with 14.9 million viewers for the Eagles’ last-second win over the Colts on “MNF,” up 4% from Steelers-Bengals in Week 2 last year. The game delivered ESPN a win in primetime on Monday among all nets -- cable or broadcast (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
SEARCHING FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: VARIETY's Brian Steinberg reported the NFL may have to "contend with something potentially even more devastating" than off-the field issues and concussion concerns. Younger viewers are "walking away from broadcasts of its games." The average audience among adults 18-49 for NFL broadcasts across CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network has "declined by about 10.6% over the last four seasons," to about 7.7 million in '13 from 8.6 million in '10. Meanwhile, the audience among males 18-24 also has "fallen off, tumbling about 5.3% in the same time period," to approximately 847,000 in '13 from 894,000 in '10. Baylor marketing professor Kirk Wakefield said, "This segment is not passionate about the NFL like older age groups." Steinberg writes if the league and the nets "can’t find a way to stoke growth among 18-to-49ers, their exodus is likely to make some advertisers reconsider the value of NFL games, and, subsequently, force the networks to wonder why they continue to fork over huge amounts of cash to televise it all" (VARIETY.com, 9/17).
