The '16 NFL Draft saw viewership gains across ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network compared to last year, but was still lower than the drama-filled '14 Draft featuring QB Johnny Manziel and DE Michael Sam. ESPN and ESPN2 for three days of coverage combined to average 3.02 million viewers, up 3% from 2.93 million viewers last year, but well below the 4.12 million viewers in '14. ESPN recovered well on Friday and Saturday after first-round viewership on Thursday was down 10% (6.28 million viewers vs. 7.03 million in '15). Friday's combined coverage of Rounds 2-3 across ESPN/ESPN2 was up 9%, while Saturday afternoon's coverage of rounds 4-7 was up 32%. Cleveland-Akron was ESPN/ESPN2's top market during the three days of coverage, averaging a 6.3 local rating. Columbus (6.2), New Orleans (4.0), Dayton (4.0) and Jacksonville (3.7) rounded out the top five markets. Meanwhile, NFL Network saw its best viewership for the Draft since it moved to three days in '10. Each day saw viewership gains. First-round coverage on Thursday finished with 2.04 million viewers, up 12% from last year and marking the net's second-best Day 1 on record, behind only 2.43 million viewers in '14. NFL Network also saw record highs for viewership on Friday and Saturday (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
|
NFL DRAFT VIEWERSHIP: THREE-DAY COVERAGE
|
|
YEAR
|
ESPN/ESPN (000)
|
NFL NETWORK (000)
|
|
'16
|
3,020
|
1,280
|
|
'15
|
2,931
|
1,022
|
|
'14
|
4,121
|
1,235
|
|
'13
|
3,035
|
929
|
|
'12
|
2,924
|
757
|
|
'11
|
2,918
|
565
|
|
'10
|
3,717
|
560
|
|
|
|
|
INSIDE THE DECISION MAKING: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted ESPN addressed the story about a video of Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil
smoking a bong being posted on Twitter "on-air 55 minutes into its coverage" when Notre Dame OT Ronnie Stanley was selected by the Ravens at No. 6. ESPN NFL News Editor Jim Carr said, "It ended up taking about 45 minutes from the time I first became aware of the tweet until our first report. It was a tricky situation and important to not rush to air without getting as much information as possible, especially from Tunsil’s camp. We didn’t want to go with the report until we reached out to Tunsil or his reps." Deitsch noted NFL Network also "aired its report on Tunsil 55 minutes into its coverage when insider Ian Rapoport appeared on camera." Rapoport was "out in front of ESPN," identifying that the person in the video "was indeed Tunsil." NFL Network Coordinating Producer Charlie Yook said that Rapoport "was the one who gave his production the heads up on the story." Meanwhile, NFL Net's Deion Sanders "had the best broadcasting night" of his career, asking Tunsil a "series of terrific questions" (
SI.com, 5/1). THE MMQB's Gary Gramling wrote, "I was zeroed in on NFLN when the Tunsil drama was unfolding, so I’m not sure exactly how ESPN handled it. I did find Todd McShay’s late Thursday comments, in which he was a little too aggressive in painting the Ole Miss program as a victim, to be odd at best, off-putting at worst" (
MMQB.SI.com, 5/1).
IMPORT EXPERTS: THE MMQB's Peter King writes German WR Moritz Böhringer, who was drafted by the Vikings, was "manna from heaven for NFL Network," and was "handled exceedingly well by Mike Mayock and Rich Eisen, particularly." Mayock on the phone with Vikings coach Mike Zimmer during a break, and replayed after the break, "was good TV" (MMQB.SI.com, 5/2).
V FOR VENDETTA: USA TODAY's Alysha Tsuji noted ESPN's Dick Vitale announced the Buccaneers' No. 108 pick on Saturday after saying "a few words about how proud he is to be a season ticket holder and how much he loves the Bucs." Vitale: "With the 108th draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft (drum roll, please) they take a quarterback -- Dicky V from out of Seton Hall University! The next Tom Brady! Oh, I’m only kidding, only kidding" (USATODAY.com, 5/1). In DC, Nick Martin wrote Vitale was tapped by the Buccaneers to announce the pick and "despite a guest appearance ... Vitale still managed to steal the spotlight" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 4/30).
