Judging by the television ratings, NFL fans have had their fill of football by 8 PM each Sunday.
NBC is on pace to set the all-time record low for a primetime NFL franchise on broadcast television, reports Michael Hiestand of USA Today. Through last Sunday, NBC Sunday Night Football is averaging a 10.2 rating, down 9% from last year, and down 6% from the current record low — a 10.8 average for ABC Monday Night Football in 2005.
SNF is coming off of a week that saw a particularly uninspiring match-up — the Indianapolis Colts versus the lowly Baltimore Ravens — draw an 8.1 rating. The 8.1 marks a 37% decline from the comparable Saints/Cowboys game last year.
Part of the problem for NBC comes from flex scheduling, or the lack thereof. There is not much depth in this year’s NFL; what some refer to as parity in the league may be best described as widespread mediocrity. With only a few very good teams in the league, there are very few marquee match-ups. And while the NFL has been the beneficiary of huge ratings for titanic games like Patriots/Colts, Cowboys/Packers and Patriots/Cowboys, NBC has seen very little of that success because those huge games are always protected by the networks on which they air. As a result, there is not much left to ‘flex’ in. One need only look at the fact that NBC has added 6-7 Washington versus the 7-6 Vikings to its schedule.
The dearth of good games has left NBC with some very unappealing match-ups in recent weeks. Match-ups like Patriots/Bills, Bengals/Steelers and the aforementioned Colts/Ravens did little to inspire viewers to tune in, as each game drew less than a 10.0 rating. And while Patriots/Eagles on November 25 gave NBC its highest SNF rating ever, that was due to the network lucking into a potential major upset.
With only three more games left on the schedule, NBC is looking at a slew of mediocre match-ups. Washington (6-7) will play on the network for two straight weeks, this Sunday against the Giants (9-4), and a week later against the Vikings (7-6). In Week 17, NBC is currently slated to air the 4-9 Chiefs against the 3-10 Jets, though that game will likely be flexed out.
The same problem afflicting NBC has also hurt ratings for Monday Night Football on ESPN. The battle between the Saints and the comically bad Falcons on Monday drew a 6.7 cable rating, tied with Giants/Falcons earlier this season as the lowest rated Monday Night Football game ever. So far this season, MNF is averaging a 7.4 national rating and an 8.7 cable rating, down 10% and 12% from an 8.2 and 9.9 through the comparable date last year.
The five lowest rated Monday Night Football games of all time have each occurred this season, and four of the five games included a team from the basement of the NFL: Saints/Falcons on Monday, 49ers/Cardinals in September, Giants/Falcons in October, and 49ers/Seahawks in November. Certainly, nobody predicted in April that Michael Vick would go to prison and the Falcons would be 3-10. However, one does wonder what possessed the NFL to give the 49ers two MNF appearances.
