The NFL Network “earned a 2.3 overnight cable rating for Broncos-Chiefs“, according to the Sports Business Daily, which is pretty horrible for an NFL game. In fact, I’m willing to bet it was the lowest rated NFL telecast of all time. (Not so much; USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that a “1997 Falcons-Panthers game on TNT, facing a World Series Game 7, drew a 1.7 national rating”.)
Granted, for a network that most people don’t even have, and considering that a 2.3 rating is pretty damn good for the NBA or Major League Baseball (in the regular season, anyway; TNT’s opening night NBA games averaged a 1.7 this year), the number is fairly impressive. However, comparing it to Monday Night Football, which has been averaging almost obscenely good ratings this season (around a 9 to a 10 rating, which is unheard of on cable), the number looks downright pitiful.
The NFL would have been smart to work out a deal with ESPN, TNT or even Versus. TNT would have been the best move; putting the NFL on a mainstream cable network would have ensured even more high ratings. Look for the numbers to go even lower once NFL Network starts airing games on the lowest rated night of the week (Saturday). And, considering that one of the future Thursday night games is Browns/Steelers, it looks like its going to be a long winter.
Bold prediction: all things being equal (that is, the NFL Network stays at its current distribution), TNT’s NBA doubleheader either outrates or comes close to the NFL Network’s Browns/Steelers game on December 7. That night TNT has Detroit/Dallas and Miami/Sacramento, which could come around a 1.1 to a 1.4 rating. I would be shocked if Browns/Steelers got a 2.0 rating; the highest I can imagine for a dud like that would be a 1.7. Losing to one of the ‘lesser lights’ would be an embarrassment for the NFL. Even more embarrassing would be if the MAC Championship game on ESPN beat Bengals/Ravens this Thursday, but that’s not going to happen.
Update: David Barron of the Houston Chronicle adds this:
