TV execs are cautiously optimistic that the NFL’s TV ratings will be up this weekend following President Trump’s remarks based in part on the attention that is been placed on the games from the remarks and the debate that followed. It is always a folly to predict TV ratings, but some broadcast execs say they are particularly enthused by ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” matchup that features the Cowboys, the league’s highest-rated team. That game will be compared to last year’s “MNF” from this week that ran up against the first Trump-Clinton debate and produced the lowest viewership on record. One exec said, “It’s a great chance for the league to be up as a whole."
In a series of five Sunday morning tweets, Fox Sports executive Mike Mulvihill tweeted that he’s most interested in initial tune in from 1:00-1:15pm ET, when people will watch to view what happens during the anthem and time spent viewing numbers. “Increase in reach and decrease in TSV this week would imply a surge among people who don't typically watch,” he tweeted. “The reach number across all Sun/Mon games is probably most instructive in seeing whether this twitter maelstrom has mattered at all.”
