TV Sports Ratings

You’ve all probably read stories about the impressive ratings for the Opening Ceremonies - stories based on metered market ratings.  Well, we now have official national numbers for Friday night’s coverage and some idea of why these numbers were so much above the 2004 and 2000 games.

As per NBC, the rated portion of the telecast aired from 8-11:19p.  However, we have confirmed that local news had a start time of 12:04a, meaning that a full 45 (lower-rated) minutes were removed from the nationally rated portion.  This can legitimately be done, given the proper circumstances, but apparently has not been the practice in prior years (Athens ended at 11:49p, Atlanta at 12:38a) - at least not to this degree.

Using NBC’s timings, the telecast had a 10.3 in P18-49, a 9.4 in M18-49 and 34.9 million viewers.  The audience was 44% male with a median age of 50 years.  W50+ (21.4 rating) were the strongest demo - accounting for nearly 1/3 of viewers.  Conversely, M12-34 made up just 10% of viewers.

Using some crude arithmetic, it appears as these numbers are about +5-7% higher in most demos than they would have been with a “proper” 12a end time.  While these are still strong ratings and dwarf those of Athens, it would put them virtually flat with Sydney.

NBC is clearly going to use every trick in the book to pump up these numbers and you’re bound to see some very impressive cross-platform viewership numbers being thrown around.  But, when it comes to primetime broadcast coverage, this is a relatively huge, but still older and female skewing property.

Attached is a track of the last four Summer Games Opening Ceremonies

On Father’s Day from 3-9:04p, US Open coverage on NBC had a 4.6 rating among Men 18-49 and a 3.3 among Men 18-34, with an average audience of 12.0 million viewers (nearly doubling Saturday’s delivery on NBC).

The telecast had a male skew of 63% male with a median age of 55.

Compared with last year’s Sunday coverage, the US Open was up 31% in M18-49 and +26% in average audience.

The 6th and deciding game of the Stanley Cup Final (Wed 6/4; 8-11p) on NBC averaged 3.8s in Men 18-49/M18-34 with an average audience of 6.8 million viewers.

While the average audience was the largest of the series, demos were flat with Game 5.  As with most deciding games, sampling from casual viewers drove the audience increase.

The full series (Versus and NBC, Total U.S. ratings) averaged 2.7s in key male demos with an average audience of 4.6 million viewers.

Compared to the full 2007 final (Ottawa/Anaheim), the series was up 170% in Men 18-49, 200% in Men 18-34 and 159% in average audience.  Male skew was steady at 69%.  Median age dropped from 44 years to 42.

Going into tonight’s Game 6, Stanley Cup Final coverage on Versus and NBC has averaged 2.5 ratings in both M18-49 and M18-34 with an average audience of 4.2 million viewers.

Compared to 2007 data through 5 games, these levels are up 150% in Men 18-49, 178% in M18-34 and 135% in average audience.

Versus was the beneficiary of a much better matchup for them (domestic teams in widely-distributed markets) while NBC is riding high on the strength of the triple overtime classic Game 5.

A triple overtime thriller meant ratings gold for NBC, as Game 5 of Penguins/Red Wings hit series-high levels across the board.

Airing on NBC Monday 6/2, the telecast averaged a 3.78 in Men 18-49, a 3.89 in Men 18-34 and an average audience of 6.2 million viewers (about 2 million more than Games 3 and 4 - also on NBC).

More to come.

The third game of Penguins/Red Wings (and the first on NBC after Games 1 & 2 aired on Versus) averaged a 2.4 in Men 18-49 and a 2.3 in Men 18-34.

Compared to last year’s Game 3 on NBC (6/2/07), the telecast was up +243% in Men 18-49 and +283% in Men 18-34.

To put these numbers in additional context, NBC’s entertainment lineup (composed of repeat programming) averaged a 1.7 in M18-49 on Monday and a 1.6 on Tuesday.  Among M18-34, NBC averaged a 1.4 on Monday and a 1.2 on Tuesday.

So, for once, the NHL (which has accounted for historically low Primetime ratings on both NBC and ABC in past years) was actually a stronger performer than time period benchmarks. 

After bidding over $1 billion for the rights to MLB’s All-Star Game, Playoffs and World Series from 1990-1993, CBS announced that the Saturday Game of the Week - a tradition on NBC for over 30 years - would assume a lesser presence.  CBS sporadically scheduled 16 Saturday afternoon telecasts (often going weeks without a game) - a sharp contrast from the roughly 30 per season seen on NBC.

In hindsight, the reduction was both a symptom and accelerator of MLB’s migration from an enterprise driven by national revenue to one dependent on local media.  The rise of cable drove local rights skyward and the fewer games given to CBS and ESPN (whose Sunday Night exclusive window also began in 1990), the more to be sold to regional sports networks who were desperate for content and fueled by the duel revenue streams of advertising and subscriber fees.

With a larger consumer base for both streams, teams in big markets cleaned up and the revenue disparity between the haves and have-nots reached new heights (see Yankees/MSG deal). 

By the time the much-maligned CBS/MLB contract came to an end in 1993, the Saturday Game of the Week was drawing about 40% fewer viewers than NBC garnered just 5 years earlier - heavy erosion even by the standards of the cable era. 

Only after two seasons of the ill-fated Baseball Network (and a players’ strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series) did the Game of the Week return on Fox, with 18 Saturday windows starting in June and extending through the remainder of the season.

Although the return was generally welcome, 1996 ratings for FOX were about 1/3 lower than the CBS levels from 1993 - numbers which were considered anemic by MLB standards at the time. 

Only the steroid-inflated home run craze of 1998 moved the ratings needle in any significant way, but those gains were short-lived.  By 2007, the Game of the Week had drawn its smallest audience since 1996 with younger demos hitting all-time lows. 

There is no shame in erosion in this era of multi-platform saturation and audience fragmentation and even at these levels it pays for FOX to keep it on the air.  With the bulk of their investment devoted to the post-season, keeping a weekly presence on-air is a must.  In addition, MLB is the dominant content provider for the many FOX-controlled regional sports networks and what is good for the sport is good for FOX on both a national and local level. 

Whether the Game of the Week has lost its meaning in an ESPN/MLB.tv/Extra Innings world is an easily answered question at this point.  But, you have to wonder what might have been if MLB had seen fit to preserve its hallmark program - or at least make a concerted effort do so - rather than make a run for the short money.  Instead, the property was irreparably damaged by CBS and the Baseball Network.

FOX’s attempt to pick up the pieces has been admirable in some respects, but the situation brings to mind what David Letterman was told after NBC offered him the Tonight Show:  they are offering you the Jay Leno show, not the Johnny Carson Tonight Show - that’s gone.