With NFL ratings "waning" this season, the league is "weighing options to drive broadcast viewers from switching out commercials to tweaking the game itself," according to Diana Marszalek of BROADCASTING & CABLE. NFL Exec VP/Media Brian Rolapp at the NAB Conference in N.Y. said, "If we don’t keep an open mind about preserving some flexibility, any measure of success you have can go away pretty quickly. We look constantly at improving the rules of the game, the safety of the game and the quality of the game -- even if that means changing things that some people think are sacred cows.” Rolapp said despite the well-publicized dip in ratings, “we are not overly surprised" nor “overly worried.” He added that election season "seems to take a toll on NFL viewership, and this year is no exception." However, Rolapp said, “We don’t blame everything on the election.” He added that "picking up the pace" of games is "one option." Rolapp: “Could they be shorter? Could they be better? Are replays too long? We constantly look at those things to make the pace of the games more interesting.” Rolapp noted that the league is also “'looking very hard' at changing the way it commercializes broadcasts, as running up to 70 ads per game can be a turnoff" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 11/9).
NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME: In Miami, Greg Cote writes "if you wonder why NFL prime-time TV ratings are down, blame matchups" like tonight's "TNF" contest, featuring the winless Browns against the 4-4 Ravens (MIAMI HERALD, 11/10). SPORTING NEWS' Ron Clements writes "TNF" games have a "reputation for not being the best games of the week," and Browns-Ravens "won’t do much, on the surface, to inspire fans to tune in" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 11/10). The NFL and many observers, have blamed the election in part for the drop in TV ratings this season, and ESPN’s Mark Schlereth said Browns-Ravens is "certainly not the game you probably want to come out of the gate with when you’re trying to prove your product isn't bad." Schlereth: "From a national standpoint, if you are not in Baltimore or you’re not in Cleveland, do you really care about this game right now?” ESPN’s Mike Golic: “You knew when you were making the schedule -- everybody knows when the election is and everybody knows when you made this game. So it is a little surprising” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 11/10).
TOO MUCH NEGATIVITY: ESPN's Mike Greenberg noted Saints QB Drew Brees earlier this week referenced the mistrust between players and the league as one reason ratings are down. Greenberg said, "Every single week, there are different players talking about how awful the NFL is. I think at some point that starts to seep in a little bit to the general consciousness and creates a sort of negative air about the product” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 11/10).
DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Ben Cohen notes last Thursday's Thunder-Warriors matchup on TNT "saw higher ratings among people 18-to-34 and males 12-to-34" than Falcons-Buccaneers did on NFL Network. That younger audience is "exactly the one the NBA is cultivating at a time when the NFL’s ratings have unexpectedly slipped" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/10).
