NFL ratings numbers continue to show that women are the "fastest-growing segment" of the league's viewing fanbase, according to Tara Sullivan of the BOSTON GLOBE. Fox Sports Exec VP and Head of Strategy & Analytics Mike Mulvihill said, "What we’re seeing is not only is women’s viewership up, but it’s up at a greater rate than that of men." Through Week 5 at Fox, Mulvihill said that the Sunday NFL package is up 9% among women viewers in the 25-54 demographic and 5% among men, and that the "TNF" package is up 17% among women and 9% among men. Sullivan notes those numbers are "impossible to ignore." Mulvihill: "We’ve been paying close attention to the trend among female viewers because I feel like it’s going to have an impact on our future goals of the business of the NFL. I’m not terribly surprised by it because I feel it’s a trend that’s been a long time coming" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/14).
TAKING THE STAGE: ESPN's Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre discussed former NFLer Rob Gronkowski's broadcasting debut on Fox during pregame coverage for "TNF" last week. Torre said, "This is brilliant. What a brilliant hire that you have Rob Gronkowski doing this. I just wonder like is live TV really the medium for this guy?" Jones: "That's why it's not that brilliant!" ("High Noon," ESPN, 10/11).
