CBS Chair, President & CEO Les Moonves "remains bullish about the NFL" despite ratings being down for games during the first half of the season, according to David Lieberman of DEADLINE. Moonves on a conference call Thursday discussing CBS' quarterly results said that it is "unclear whether the election or some other factors hurt the early season football viewing." He said, “Let’s see what happens a little bit down the road.” Moonves added that CBS "expects to have a deal soon to offer games on CBS All Access" (DEADLINE.com, 11/3). Meanwhile, Fox CEO James Murdoch on Wednesday during a quarterly earning conference call said that despite a "'lot of noise' about falling TV ratings for NFL games, Fox is doing just fine with the games it is broadcasting." Fox Exec co-Chair Lachlan Murdoch added that the World Series going to a full seven games is "obviously good for Fox, though he wouldn't say how much money the network will make from the contest" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 11/2).
SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS: Friday's episode of "Mike & Mike" on ESPN Radio contained a lot of talk about declining NFL ratings, with ESPN's Herm Edwards noting the public is "over-saturated with football" and the lack of good quarterback play is leading to a “boring game for fans.” Edwards said the presence of Thursday night games by themselves is not causing poor ratings, but they largely have been "bad games, so people turn the television.” ESPN's Field Yates echoed that, saying, "The product has been watered-down during a lot of the primetime games. Some of these Thursday night games have been tough to watch.” ESPN's Trey Wingo called this a "transition period" for the NFL. He said, "For so long, we knew who the stars were and we knew what the games were. Peyton (Manning) has left, and you can pretend like he doesn’t drive the needle, but you would be pretending." ESPN's Mike Golic noted there are several things the NFL "needs to look at." But Wingo replied, "They have to want to fix them. And I think that’s the bigger issue because the NFL is like, ‘Hey, we’re fine. We’ll be good’” ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 11/4). Fox' Curt Menefee noted many of primetime games this season “have been uninteresting matchups.” While fans are “still watching their hometown team, they're just not watching bad games from out of town teams." He also brought up a common refrain -- that the presidential election has a "lot of to do with it." Menefee: "If you look at the three years that the numbers have been down in the NFL this century, all three were election years -- 2000, 2012, and this one. Now I do think there are issues that the league has to address, but the impact of the ratings that people are putting on them right now -- let's wait and see after the election" ("Closing Bell,” CNBC, 11/3).
WAKE-UP CALL: In Miami, Greg Cote wrote it is "good" that NFL ratings are "down significantly." Cote: "No other sports league needs a slap in the face more." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s "preening conglomerate sails along imperviously, thinking it is bulletproof." The league has been "cocky for too long in its impenetrable suit of armor." If nothing else, the downturn in ratings has "forced a refreshingly humbled NFL to work to earn back the trust and the viewers who have left it." Cote: "This is not a bad thing" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/3).
CULT OF PERSONALITY: In Seattle, Bob Condotta reports Seahawks CB Richard Sherman on Thursday "spent most of his 15-minute press conference attacking the NFL," claiming the league is to blame for the declining ratings by "taking the fun out of things." Sherman said, "Every other league, you see the players have a good time. It’s a game. This isn’t politics. This isn’t justice. This is entertainment. And they’re no longer allowing the players to entertain. They’re no longer allowing the players to show any kind of personality, any kind of uniqueness, any individuality. Because they want to control the product." Condotta notes it was "simply the latest in a long line of increasingly candid critiques at the NFL" (SEATTLE TIMES, 11/4).
