TV Ratings: Steep Drop For NFL Preseason Opener on FOX (Also: PGA Championship, Nationwide Series)

Posted by | 08/17/2012 at 11:57 pm

The preseason debut of the NFL on FOX suffered a big drop from last year’s comparable telecast. In other news, ratings for the PGA Championship on TNT held steady compared to the last Olympic year, and Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race had a modest decline on ABC.

  • Big Decline For NFL Preseason on FOX: Thursday’s Bengals/Falcons NFL preseason game drew 4.75 million viewers on FOX, down 45% from Eagles/Steelers in Week 2 of last year’s preseason (8.587M), and down 18% from Patriots/Falcons in Week 2 of the 2010 preseason (5.785M). The game was also down 45% from last year in the adults 18-49 demographic (from 3.1 to 1.7). (Thursday’s numbers from TV By the Numbers)
  • TNT’s PGA Championship Coverage Even With Last Olympic Year: Four-day coverage of the 2012 PGA Championship averaged a 0.9 U.S. rating on TNT, even with coverage in 2008 — the last time the tournament had to compete with the Olympic Games. Last year’s average was not immediately available. (Turner Sports)
  • Slight Decline For Nationwide Series on ABC: Last Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at the Glen drew a 1.2 final rating and 1.723 million viewers on ABC, down 8% in ratings and 10% in viewership from last year (1.3, 1.913M, ESPN), and down 8% and 9%, respectively, from 2010 (1.3, 1.887M, ESPN). This year’s race aired opposite coverage of the Olympic Games. (ESPN)
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  • nmhodell

    Bad teams in games of the nfl preseason will get bad ratings!!

  • JakeFrankie

    Maybe people are sick of watching nearly 3 and half hour NFL games with commericals nonstop and barley any action?

  • james

    I don’t think you can simply attribute this drop in ratings to “bad teams” in the preseason. First, MOST teams are performing badly in the preseason, this year and in years past. Second, each year, following the perennial spring/summer football drought, most fans are chomping at the proverbial bit to see ANYTHING pigskin-related. I wonder if the amount of DVR use is somehow skewing the ratings. I know that I use my Prime Time Anytime feature to record everything on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX during prime time. A Dish coworker convinced me to get the Hopper HD DVR, and this feature is brilliant. It automatically records all the Prime Time shows for me, and I watch when I have the time. Do DVR recordings actually alter ratings, if we’re not watching live?

  • Karl

    Anyone think a factor is that the annual summer non-baseball sports drought typically quenched by football was instead quenched by the Olympics that put up massive numbers? Don’t get me wrong, Week 1 will still put up real NFL numbers but I’m a loyal fan of an NFL team but I DVR the preseason games, watch the first half in 40 minutes, and I miss absolutely nothing.