There was quite a bit of discussion a week or so ago when it was revealed that 88 of the 100 most-viewed shows on television in 2016 were live sports telecasts and seven more were live TV events (can you say "debates?") Regular season NFL games took 49 spots out of the top 100 and the NFL Playoffs accounted for 11 more, including six of the top 10. Yet, there are troubling signs with the 900 pound TV gorilla - the NFL - and its ratings decline last year.
Average NFL viewership in 2016 dipped by 8% overall even though ratings didn't decline quite that much over the final two months of the season. And, in response, the NFL is putting a lot on the table to discuss and potentially change.
Potential changes in the way the NFL broadcasts its games include:
- Testing four longer commercial breaks rather than five shorter ones in an attempt to speed up the game.
- Using a double box to show a commercial along with live footage from the stadium in an attempt to keep viewer eyeballs' on the TV screen.
- And, NFL Films is conducting focus group research with different break patterns and such in order to gauge viewer reaction.
The decline in sports programming ratings is happening. Yet, how big is the problem? Of the top 100 programs, the only non-sports telecasts were the Presidential Debates or live events like The Oscars or The Grammys. The non-live programs that dented the top 100? Checking in at #60 is "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" (which has a huge asterisk as it aired following Super Bowl 50.) NCIS was #81 and #93.
We'll continue to hear about ratings declines for the NFL, NASCAR, college football and other sports programming but, for advertisers, there is still gold in live programming and the engaged viewers that these telecasts deliver. If the bubble is bursting, there's still quite a bit of air left.
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