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NFL Easily Sets Record As Draft Averaged 8.3 Million Viewers

The NFL Draft averaged a record 8.3 million viewers for three days of coverage across ESPN, ABC and NFL Network, easily topping last year’s record of 6.1 million viewers. Each day of this year’s event, held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, saw record numbers. Saturday’s telecast of Rounds 4-7 averaged 4.1 million viewers, up 33% from last year. Overall, the three-day event was up 36% from ’19 (Austin Karp, THE DAILY). In Atlanta, Tim Tucker writes the record viewership was "expected because of the large number of people staying at home and the lack of competition on TV from other live sports events." Fascination about the NFL's first virtual draft also "may have attracted viewers" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 4/27).

PRETTY SMOOTH SAILING: ESPN/VP Production Seth Markman said that he was "overwhelmed with how everything came together over the three days." Markman: "I thought a coach or general manager might put a towel on the camera or point it another direction, but there were zero issues. There were a couple times that we lost a feed or two, but it quickly came back." The AP's Joe Reedy noted after "early concerns about how the NFL could conduct a virtual draft, everyone appeared to end up having fun with it." Coaches and GMs "embraced their children or spouses being on camera and draft picks got to watch from home comfortably instead of waiting in a green room." Despite being spread out throughout the country, there were "very few instances of analysts talking over one another, which Markman credited to his directors keeping everyone informed of what was happening" (AP, 4/26).

MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Markman said he wished the network's Suzy Kolber was on the air more during Round 1 for post-pick interviews. He said, "Suzy was so well-prepared for the draft and to talk to the kids like she always does, but it just didn't work out from a technical standpoint the way we kind of had planned it. I feel bad it lessened her role a little bit" (THEATHLETIC.com, 4/27). In N.Y, Bob Raissman noted with the exception of No. 1 pick Joe Burrow (Bengals) and No. 26 pick Jordan Love (Packers), there were "no one-on-one interviews with the draftees on Thursday night." The spin is the draft picks were "going rapidly and there wasn’t enough time for the interviews." But ESPN "would have better served viewers if they cut out most of the analysis between picks and gone directly to the interviews with the players and their families" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/26). THE ATHLETIC's Lindsay Jones noted the remotely held draft "largely provided a favorable viewer experience." But without being able to "rely on interviews with prospects and lingering green room footage, and without the ease of moving seamlessly between analysts, ESPN often focused on nuggets from prospects’ personal lives" (THEATHLETIC.com, 4/25).

GOING TOO FAR: In DC, Cindy Boren notes ESPN "apologized Sunday for an NFL draft graphic that highlighted" Bengals WR Tee Higgins' mother's "struggle with drug addiction, saying it 'should not have aired' during the broadcast Saturday." The broadcast "featured stories of players’ personal tragedies, including deceased family members or other difficult matters." Some of those stories were "captured in short graphics, which caught the attention of viewers." The graphic read: "Mom, Camilla, fought drug addiction for 16 years." However, Higgins "quickly tweeted that he had no problem" with the graphic. Markman in a statement wrote, "It was a mistake and we apologize for it. We want our draft coverage to personalize players and, where appropriate, acknowledge the obstacles they’ve had to overcome on their journey to the NFL. This graphic lacked proper context" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/27).

THE HOST WITH THE MOST: USA TODAY’s Nate Davis writes ESPN “did a nice job taking the lead on the draft telecast.” Host Trey Wingo “did his best to orchestrate a simulcast that integrated NFL Network analysts, featured numerous remote shots of players, coaches and team executives all while dispensing crisp analysis in a socially distanced production environment” (USA TODAY, 4/27). THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch writes Wingo "showed his usual professionalism in navigating all the unknowns" (THEATHLETIC.com, 4/27). THE BIG LEAD's Liam McKeone wrote Wingo had "immense responsibility during a novel experience for everyone involved, and handled it as well as ESPN, the NFL, and anyone else involved could have possibly hoped." McKeone: "In the world of broadcasting, this is pretty damn close to a Herculean task. It turns out Wingo was more than up for the challenge" (THEBIGLEAD.com, 4/26). Despite that, in Annapolis, Tim Schwartz noted Wingo "made his biggest gaffe ... with just 20 minutes left in a marathon of NFL Draft coverage" when he said Navy QB Malcolm Perry, who was drafted by the Dolphins, instead played at Army. Schwartz: "The reaction on social media was, as expected, not good" (Annapolis CAPITAL GAZETTE, 4/26).

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