The NFL’s top picks could not measure up to last year on ESPN and FOX.
Monday’s Bengals/Buccaneers NFL preseason game had a 2.9 final rating and 4.2 million viewers on ESPN, down 36% in ratings and 39% in viewership from Browns/Washington last year (4.5, 6.9M) and down 24% and 25%, respectively, from Steelers/Washington in 2013 (3.8, 5.6M).
Keep in mind last year’s game, the second for Browns QB Johnny Manziel, was ESPN’s most-watched preseason telecast since 2009. Even accounting for last year’s “Manziel effect,” the Buccaneers’ win put up mediocre numbers — ranking as the the lowest rated and least watched Monday night NFL game of any kind since Seahawks/Chargers in 2008 (2.7, 4.0M).
Monday marked the second time that the #1 overall pick, Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston, played in front of a shrinking audience. His preseason debut against the Vikings declined 37% on NFL Network, with the caveat that last year’s comparable game featured Manziel’s debut.
The numbers have not been much better for the #2 overall pick, Titans QB Marcus Mariota. Sunday’s Rams/Titans game drew a 3.3 final rating and 5.4 million viewers on FOX, down 13% in ratings and viewership from Chiefs/Panthers last year (3.8, 6.2M), down 20% and 16%, respectively, from Colts/Giants in 2013 (4.1, 6.5M), and the least-watched Sunday night NFL telecast since the current television deal began in 2006.
Mariota’s debut against the Falcons also declined, slipping 3% on NFL Network.
Locally, Bengals/Buccaneers had a 6.2 rating in Tampa-St. Petersburg and a 5.2 in Cincinnati. The game was simulcast on local affiliates in both markets, earning a 7.9 on Tampa independent affiliate WMOR and a 12.3 on Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT. Sunday’s Rams/Titans game had a 17.7 in Nashville, up 16% from the Titans’ second preseason game last year.
(Mon. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily, ESPN; Sun. numbers via TV By the Numbers, Media Life Magazine, tennessean.com)
