#ALLVIEWERSMATTER …
We reported earlier this month on the National Football League (NFL)’s precipitous decline in television ratings – especially for primetime games.
That trend is continuing …
While this week’s Thursday Night Football showdown between the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos fared modestly better than the previous week’s game between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers – viewership was still down on a year-to-year basis.
The Chargers-Broncos game drew five percent fewer viewers than 2015’s week six showdown between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.
Heading into week six, Thursday night games were drawing 15 percent fewer viewers – while Sunday night and Monday night contests were drawing 13 percent and 17 percent fewer viewers, respectively.
Sunday afternoon broadcasts have fared better, but are still down from 2015.
“Total audience performance is down 10 percent for broadcast and cable networks licensing from the NFL,” the website Fierce Cable noted.
What’s driving this ongoing ratings plunge? Some are blaming the #BlackLivesMatter protests initiated by San Francisco 49ers’ backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick, which polls show have alienated broad swaths of viewers.
A recent study from Quinnipiac University revealed that 54 percent of American adults disapproved of professional athletes protesting the national anthem – compared to just 38 percent who approved. Perhaps not surprisingly, white Americans disapproved of the protests by a two-to-one margin (63-30 percent), while black Americans overwhelmingly approved (74-17 percent).
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has not been subjected to government “curation.” At least not yet.
(Banner image via Travis Bell Photography)