SBJ Media: Strong Opening Drive For NFL Ratings

I made my first visit to Camp Randall Stadium Saturday to watch Wisconsin thrash Central Michigan, 61-0. The atmosphere in Madison was great. But what most impressed me was the fact that the stadium remained nearly full -- and still engaged -- in the third quarter when the score was 54-0.

RATINGS TAKEAWAYS FROM NFL OPENING WEEKEND

• NFL and media execs were encouraged with the league’s TV performance during the first weekend. The highest-rated windows (i.e. Sunday afternoon national game, "Sunday Night Football") showed increases, even though most of the highlighted games were not competitive. The question of whether the NFL could continue to see increased ratings was the top sports media storyline going into the season. While final numbers still have not been released, league and network execs like what they saw.
  
  
• The good news: Overall, ratings were up, and in today’s TV market, any degree of growth is a big victory -- even if it’s only percentage points. Fox Exec VP and Head of Strategy & Analytics Mike Mulvihill added up the overnight numbers for Week 1 games through "SNF" and found a 4% increase (64.8 total ratings points this year versus 62.6 a year ago). Those gains came even with blowouts in key games like Titans-Browns (CBS), Giants-Cowboys (Fox) and Steelers-Patriots (NBC).
  
  
• Areas of concern: Some of the teams that the league and networks want to be competitive did not fare well on the field. Historically, when the Steelers and Bears are winning, the league’s ratings follow suit. Both teams lost their first game; neither played well. The Browns were one of the most-hyped teams during the offseason -- so much so that CBS assigned their top crew to cover their blowout loss to the Titans. The game generated a 35.4 local rating in the Cleveland-Akron market, proving that the excitement is there. Network execs are hoping the team’s performance gets better, as the Browns have four primetime games this season.
  
  
• Other areas of concern: the Los Angeles and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale markets. The Chargers exciting overtime win over the Colts only drew a 5.9 local rating in L.A. on CBS -- 46% lower than the L.A. rating for the Cowboys' blowout win over the Giants (8.6) that Fox carried at the same time. It’s noteworthy when a local team gets beat in the ratings during Week 1. In Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, the Dolphins only pulled a 10.9 local rating for a loss to the Ravens. If the team is as bad as it appeared yesterday, that could fall into the single digits quickly.
  

40TH ANNIVERSARY BRINGS ESPN ALUM BACK TOGETHER

On a panel were (l-r) Mike Tirico, Suzy Kolber, Dan Patrick, Chris Berman, Robin Roberts and Bob Ley

• Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick’s return to host “SportsCenter” garnered most of the headlines this weekend, but ESPN execs say all the celebrations around the network’s 40th anniversary made for an emotional week in and around Bristol. Here are five events that meant a lot to the people I contacted:
  
  
  • On Friday, before Olbermann and Patrick went on the air, ESPN hosted a town hall meeting with the most-famous faces to come out of Bristol: Chris Berman, Suzy Kolber, Bob Ley, Patrick, Robin Roberts and Mike Tirico. ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen stood off to the side of the stage and received a long, standing ovation. All of the panelists gave him a hug before going on stage; all were teary-eyed.
    
    
  • ESPN unveiled a museum of its history on Friday, complete with a replica of the first “SportsCenter” set, walkways filled pictures and then-and-now videos. The coolest part: visitors can use iPads to listen to employees talking about their time with the network.
    
    
  • Fourteen current employees have been with ESPN since 1979-80. Ten of them gathered on Friday afternoon to watch a sneak preview of the ESPN40 special that aired that night.
    
    
  • A group of around 300 former employees attended a Saturday night party at the Crystal Bees bowling alley in nearby Southington. The party, which was planned via Facebook, included former execs like Chuck Pagano and John Walsh, as well as on-air talent like Berman, Ley, Karie Ross, Sal Marchiano and Greg Wyatt.
    
    
  • Rasmussen and ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro were on the Fenway Park field before the “Sunday Night Baseball” telecast between the Yankees and Red Sox. Rasmussen threw out the first pitch to Pitaro. I took note of Pitaro’s garb. The big Yankees fan opted for a custom ESPN jersey rather than a Red Sox one.
    
    
    

    Pitaro was on the field at Fenway chatting up Red Sox owners John Henry (l) and Tom WernerCHRIS LAPLACA
    
    

SPEED READS     

• ESPN is getting blasted on social media for its new on-screen graphics during tonight’s “Monday Night Football” opener. The new graphics list the down-and-distance in a yellow hue that closely resembles a penalty flag. Most complaints are coming from fans who see the yellow flash at the end of every play and mistakenly think that a penalty flag has been thrown. My bet is that ESPN tweaks that color scheme by Week 2. EDITOR’S NOTE: ESPN switched the color at halftime, stripping out the yellow for black. Bravo.
  
  
• Most of the real drama around the Raiders prior to Week 1 happened just after the conclusion of HBO's “Hard Knocks,” and observers didn’t let the irony go unnoticed. Former NFLer Drew Butler: “Antonio Brown and Mike Mayock fighting two days after Hard Knocks leaves encapsulates exactly what Hard Knocks with the Oakland Raiders was. All bark, no bite.” The Ringer’s Claire McNear: “It’s one thing for the show to be boring. It’s another for the show to outright miss (or worse, ignore) the biggest story of the NFL preseason.” The Athletic’s John Martin: “The Antonio Brown Twitter video is better than anything Hard Knocks aired.” 
  
  
• ESPN Senior VP/College Networks Rosalyn Durant had a busy night in Death Valley during ACC Network's first college football telecast.
  
  
• Make sure you read The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis on Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick: “The density that Keith Olbermann could achieve with a sports highlight was absolutely incredible. It’s as if everything the public collectively knew about sports, and everything they knew about pop culture, was in a bag and he’s just reaching in there and pulling stuff out. ...These guys come in and they just go way, way up the high-brow scale, without losing sports fans. ... Everybody wanted to be Dan and Keith. For a very brief period of time, that job became the biggest job in sports TV.”
  
  
• Mark Cuban has sold a controlling interest in AXS TV and HDNet Movies to Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Steve Harvey will join as an investor. Cuban, who founded AXS back in 2001, will remain an equity partner, alongside AEG.
  
  
• My older brother Chris and I made our way to Janesville, Wisc., on Saturday night to help celebrate the fourth anniversary of Barkley's Burgers, Brews & Dawgs, one of three local bars owned by NBC Sports Group's Greg Hughes. A highlight of the night: getting a chance to meet Hughes' three older brothers.
  
  
  

  Pictured (l-r): John Ourand, Kevin Hughes, David Hughes, Greg Hughes, John Hughes, Chris Ourand

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