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Technical Issue Causes Inaccurate Nielsen Ratings For Spurs Games On FS Southwest

FS Southwest officials "confirmed that a technical problem was to blame" for what Nielsen had registered as a more than 40% drop in Spurs TV ratings over the first half of the season, according to W. Scott Bailey of the SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL. FS Southwest Senior VP & GM Steve Simpson said, “We knew something was different coming out of the gate this season." The ratings crash "made little sense considering that the Spurs own one of the best records in the NBA." Some fans "blamed the decline on Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich's public comments" about President Trump and the election. But the "real culprit was a faulty encoder that failed to send a proper signal from Fox to Nielsen, resulting in the ratings company not recording the actual audience for dozens of Spurs games." The glitch caused Spurs TV ratings on the net to "drop to about a 5.2 on average." Now that the issue has been resolved, the "true ratings have been north of 7.0 on average." Simpson said the updated numbers are "right where we all expected them to be." He added that the Spurs were the "only franchise affected by the ratings glitch." This "could not have come at a worse time" for the net, as the Spurs will be "negotiating new TV contracts at the end of the season" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/27).

YOU CAN KICK IT: Bailey noted Spurs Sports & Entertainment has "reached an agreement with FS Southwest to broadcast six" of USL club San Antonio FC's matches this season. The TV deal could "drive more fans to Toyota Field and boost San Antonio’s chances of convincing MLS officials that there is enough support here for big league soccer." The matches "will also be streamed live on Fox Sports Go" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/23).

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