In N.Y., Richard Morgan reports NFL TV viewership "has tumbled" 9% from a year ago heading into Week 17, "leaving the cumulative audience for the NFL’s 103 national telecasts through Week 16 down by more than 150 million viewers." Among the contributing factors for the league's ratings woes are "cord-cutting millennials who are too busy ... to think of switching on the TV." Mulligan Investment Bankers' Brian Mulligan indicated that the "fleeting attention spans" of millennials have made DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel the "preferred millennial outlet for NFL content." Mulligan: "I’ve seen tailgate parties skip the game they came to see just to watch more Red Zone. But the dirty little secret is these viewers aren’t counted in NFL ratings" (N.Y. POST, 12/29).
THE COACHES CLICKER: Syracuse coach Dino Babers will be part of CFP broadcasts for the "second consecutive year on New Year's Day," as he will "participate in the Coaches Film Room component" of ESPN's Megacast for the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl games. Other coaches taking part include North Carolina's Larry Fedora, West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, Ole Miss' Matt Luke, TCU's Gary Patterson and former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema. Babers was "one of the most active and interesting participants in the telecast last year during the national championship game" (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 12/29).
MUCH TOO MUCH? In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal wrote if there is a "sports media person of the year" for '17, it is "probably ESPN’s Jemele Hill, who exemplifies a very 2017 struggle." The idea is that "people who work in sports media are supposed to be themselves, be accessible and interact honestly with their audiences." Rosenthal: "Just not too much" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 12/28).
