Ground Report

July 2009

NFL: America’s Choice The National Football League is America’s most popular sports league, comprised of 32 franchises that compete each year to win the Super Bowl, the world’s biggest annual sporting event. Founded in 1920, the NFL developed the model for the successful modern sports league, including extensive revenue sharing, competitive excellence, strong franchises across the board, and national distribution. The NFL is the industry leader on a wide range of fronts. Business Week magazine calls the NFL "one of America’s best-run businesses."

(PART 1)

I. TELEVISION

Televison Viewership IN 2008… ï‚· 225 million Americans watched NFL games during the 2008 regular season – nearly 100 million more than the record number of Americans who voted in the 2008 presidential election (131.2 million).

NFL games on broadcast TV (CBS, FOX and NBC) averaged 16.6 million viewers. On cable, NFL games on ESPN averaged 12.0 million viewers and 4.9 million viewers on NFL Network.

Super Bowl XLIII is the most-watched program ever (151.6 million total viewers). The 18 most-watched programs in TV history are all Super Bowls.

Super Bowl XLIII was watched in 230 countries and territories in 34 languages.

RECORD LOCAL RATINGS IN 2008

NFL games topped the weekly local ratings a record 88 percent of the time in 2008 – topping the mark set last year (86 percent).

COMPARATIVE RATINGS NOTES…

NFL REGULAR SEASON vs. PRIME TIME BROADCAST TV

NFL games on CBS, FOX and NBC averaged 16.6 million viewers – 89 percent higher than the average primetime viewership among the four major over-the-air networks (8.8 million average on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC).

….In Ratings & Viewership

NFL HAS EDGE ON BROADCAST PRIMETIME

AVERAGE VIEWERS

NFL on Broadcast
Broadcast Primetime
NFL % Advantage

2002 Avg. Viewers 15.8 million 10.3 million 52%
2003 Avg. Viewers 15.5 million 9.9 million 56%
2004 Avg. Viewers 15.4 million 9.8 million 57%
2005 Avg. Viewers 15.6 million 9.7 million 61%
2006 Avg. Viewers 16.3 million 9.8 million 66%
2007 Avg. Viewers 16.6 million 8.7 million 91%
2008 Avg. Viewers 16.6 million 8.8 million 89%

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research. NFL regular season on Broadcast television (CBS, FOX & NBC…ABC prior to 2006). Broadcast primetime on BIG 4 networks (ABC, CBS, NBC & FOX) all programs, NFL regular season dates used.

AVERAGE RATINGS

NFL on Broadcast
Broadcast Primetime
NFL % Advantage

1998 HH Rating 11.3 8.3 36%
1999 HH Rating 11.4 8.2 39%
2000 HH Rating 10.7 7.8 37%
2001 HH Rating 10.1 7.3 38%
2002 HH Rating 10.4 6.9 51%
2003 HH Rating 10.3 6.5 58%
2004 HH Rating 10.1 6.4 58%
2005 HH Rating 10.1 6.3 60%
2006 HH Rating 10.4 6.3 65%
2007 HH Rating 10.4 6.0 86%
2008 HH Rating 10.2 5.5 85%

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research. NFL regular season on Broadcast television (CBS, FOX & NBC…ABC prior to 2006). Broadcast primetime on BIG 4 networks (ABC, CBS, NBC & FOX) all programs, NFL regular season dates used.

NFL VS. ENTERTAINMENT PROPERTIES

Super Bowl and Conference Championships compared to entertainment properties.

ï‚· Average Rating/Viewers for Each Event’s Most Recent Airing

Program
Rating
Avg. Viewers

Super Bowl XLIII (Feb. 2009) 42.0 98.7 million
AFC Championship Game (Jan. 2009) 22.0 40.6 million
NFC Championship Game (Jan. 2009) 21.9 38.4 million
2009 Academy Awards, 2/22/09 20.6 36.3 million
2009 Grammy Awards, 2/8/09 11.2 19.1 million
2009 Golden Globes, 1/11/09 9.3 14.9 million
2008 Emmy Awards, 9/21/08 8.4 12.3 million

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research, most recent event airing

6 of the 9 Most-Watched Shows Last TV Season Were NFL Games
10 MOST- WATCHED PROGRAMS OF 2008-09 TV SEASON, 9/4/08-5/29/09

Program
Average Viewers

1. NBC Super Bowl XLIII (Steelers-Cardinals), 2/1/09 98.7 million
2. CBS AFC Championship (Steelers-Ravens), 1/18/09 40.6 million
3. FOX NFC Championship (Cardinals-Eagles), 1/18/09 38.4 million
4. ABC Academy Awards, 2/22/09 36.3 million
5. CBS AFC Divisional Playoff (Steelers-Chargers), 1/11/09 34.1 million
6. FOX NFC Divisional Playoff (Eagles-Giants), 1/11/09 31.4 million
7. FOX American Idol (season premiere), 1/13/09 30.4 million
8. FOX American Idol, 1/14/09 30.3 million
9. FOX NFC Wildcard Playoff (Eagles-Vikings),1/4/09 30.0 million
10. FOX American Idol (season finale), 5/27/09 28.8 million

Source: NFL, The Nielsen Company, 9/4/08-5/29/09, Live+SD (minimum 30 minutes per telecast)

NFL 2008 TV RECAP

225 MILLION AMERICANS WATCHED NFL GAMES

NFL GAMES: RECORD 13 OF 15 MOST-WATCHED SHOWS THIS FALL & 14 OF 15 MOST-WATCHED SHOWS ON CABLE

NFL REGULAR-SEASON RATINGS EXCEED OTHER SPORTS’ PLAYOFFS

NFL VIEWERSHIP 89 PERCENT HIGHER THAN OTHER PRIMETIME PROGRAMMING

Football fans across America continued to tune their televisions to NFL games in large numbers in 2008. According to Nielsen Media Research, 225 million Americans watched NFL regular-season games in 2008. That’s nearly 100 million more than the record number of Americans who voted in the 2008 presidential election (131.2 million). In addition, a record 13 of the 15 most-watched TV shows among all programming this fall are NFL games (chart below) – up from 11 of the top 15 shows in fall 2007. Five years ago, in 2003, NFL games accounted for one of the top 15 fall programs. Also this fall, NFL games were the week’s most-watched TV program in 15 of the NFL’s 17 regular-season weeks.

NFL games were the highest-rated programs locally a record 88 percent of the time – topping the mark set last season (86 percent). By comparison, NFL games topped local NFL market ratings 73 percent of the time five years ago (in 2003) and 55 percent of the time in 2001.
NFL viewership on broadcast television continued to out-draw network primetime viewership. NFL games on CBS, FOX and NBC averaged 16.6 million viewers – 89 percent higher than the average primetime viewership among the four major over-the-air networks (8.8 million average on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC). That advantage is roughly even with last year and up from a 56 percent edge five years ago .

More 2008 NFL TV highlights:

ï‚· For the entire TV season, NFL games rank at the top of weekly programs in average viewership with the top two, and three of the top seven programs on network television (chart below).

In addition, NFL games and NFL pregame and postgame shows account for the top 10 programs among men 18-49 (chart below). 2008 NFL national games on NBC, CBS (Sunday national & Thanksgiving) and FOX (Sunday national & Thanksgiving) averaged a 10.1 rating which exceeds playoff broadcast averages for other sports: 2008 NBA Playoffs (3.7 rating) & NBA Finals (9.3 rating) on ABC; 2008 MLB NLCS (4.8 rating) & 2008 World Series (8.4 rating) on FOX.

FOX’s Sunday National Game (4:15 PM ET) was the most-watched weekly program on TV with an average of 22.3 million viewers (chart below).

CBS Sunday National Game (4:15 PM ET) was the second-most-watched weekly program on TV with an average of 21.7 million viewers (chart below).

NBC Sunday Night Football ranked fifth among all primetime shows with an average of 16.8 million viewers (chart below).

FOX’s Dec. 7 Cowboys-Steelers game is the most-watched show of the broadcast season with 25.7 million viewers.

CBS Sept. 14 Patriots-Jets game (plus conclusion of Chargers-Broncos) was viewed by 25.2 million fans, making it the most-watched NFL game on a September Sunday since at least 1991. (Prior to 1991, Nielsen Media Research did not regularly measure individual program viewership).

NBC’s Cowboys-Giants game on Dec. 14 was the most-watched Sunday Night Football game ever (23.1 million viewers).

ESPN’s Monday Night Football was the most-watched series on cable with an average of 12.0 million viewers. Monday Night Football accounted for 14 of the 15 most-watched cable programs this fall.

ESPN’s Eagles-Cowboys telecast on Sept. 15 is the most-watched show in cable history with 18.6 million viewers

NFL Network’s eight Thursday and Saturday Night Football games ranked as the top-rated show of the day among all programs on ad-supported cable networks. All 24 of NFL Network’s games dating to 2006 have earned cable’s top rating for the night.

NFL Network posted the week’s highest average primetime cable rating (2.31) among all cable networks for the week of Dec. 15-21. NFL Network’s Ravens-Cowboys telecast on Dec. 20 earned the fourth-highest cable rating (9.22) of any sporting event in 2008.

Following are the top network television weekly programs nationally in average total viewers:

Network
Program Viewers

1. FOX Sunday National Game 22.3 million
2. CBS Sunday National Game 21.7 million
3. Dancing With The Stars 19.2 million
4. CSI 18.8 million
5. NCIS 17.6 million
6. Dancing With The Stars Results 17.4 million
7. NBC Sunday Night Football 16.8 million
8. Desperate Housewives 16.2 million
9. The Mentalist 16.1 million
10. 60 Minutes 15.6 million

Following are this season’s top 10 weekly programs on television in a key demographic (avg. rating):

Men 18-49
Program Rating

1. FOX Sunday National Game 11.1
2. CBS Sunday National Game 10.4
3. NBC Sunday Night Football 8.7
4. FOX Sunday Single Game 7.9
5. CBS Sunday Single Game 7.1
5. The OT (FOX NFL Postgame)
7.1 7. ESPN Monday Night Football 6.8
8. NBC Sunday Night Pre-Kick 6.6
9. FOX Sunday Regional Game 6.3
10. CBS Sunday Regional Game 5.7

Broadcast Notes:
Regional — First window of a doubleheader
National — Second window of a doubleheader
Single — Only window on network not airing doubleheader that week.

Source: NFL, Nielsen Media Research, 9/1/08-12/31/08

Following were the 15 most-watched shows on TV last fall:

Program (Game)
Viewers

1. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Steelers), 12/7 25.7 million
2. CBS Sunday National (Broncos-Jets & Pats-Steelers), 11/30 25.5 million
3. CBS Sunday National (mostly Patriots-Jets), 9/14 25.2 million
4. 60 Minutes (Obama interview preceded by late SD-Pitt finish), 11/16 25.1 million
5. CBS Sunday National (mostly Steelers-Ravens), 12/14 24.4 million
6. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Cardinals), 10/12 23.7 million
7. CSI (season premiere), 10/9 23.5 million
8. FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Giants), 11/2 23.3 million
9. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Cardinals), 11/23 23.3 million
10. CBS Sunday National (mostly Colts-Packers), 10/19 23.2 million
11. NBC Sunday Night Football (Giants-Cowboys), 12/14 23.1 million
12. FOX Thanksgiving Day (Seahawks-Cowboys), 11/27 22.7 million
13. CBS Sunday National (mostly Colts-Steelers), 11/9 22.4 million
14. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Steelers), 10/26 22.3 million
15. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Packers), 9/21 22.2 million

Source: NFL, Nielsen Media Research, 9/1/08-12/31/08

Following are the 15 most-watched basic cable shows on TV last fall:

Program
Date
Viewers

1. ESPN Monday Night Football (Eagles-Cowboys), 9/15 18.6 million
2. ESPN Monday Night Football (Steelers-Redskins), 11/3 14.2 million
3. ESPN Monday Night Football (Packers-Bears), 12/22 13.8 million
4. TNT MLB ALCS (Red Sox-Rays Game 7), 10/19 13.4 million
5. ESPN Monday Night Football (Vikings-Packers), 9/8 12.5 million
6. ESPN Monday Night Football (Jets-Chargers), 9/22 11.88 million
7. ESPN Monday Night Football (49ers-Cardinals), 11/10 11.87 million
8. ESPN Monday Night Football (Ravens-Steelers), 9/29 11.78 million
9. ESPN Monday Night Football (Colts-Titans), 10/27 11.6 million
10. ESPN Monday Night Football (Bucs-Panthers), 12/8 11.58 million
11. ESPN Monday Night Football (Browns-Bills), 11/17 11.57 million
12. ESPN Monday Night Football (Giants-Browns), 10/13 11.42 million
13. ESPN Monday Night Football (Packers-Saints), 11/24 11.38 million
14. ESPN Monday Night Football (Vikings-Saints), 10/6 11.0 million
15. ESPN Monday Night Football (Broncos-Patriots), 10/20 10.8 million

Source: NFL, Nielsen Media Research, 9/1/08-12/31/08

…AND THE STRONG RATINGS CONTINUED INTO THE PLAYOFFS

NFL PLAYOFF RATINGS TOP OTHER SPORTS’ CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

ï‚· The ten 2008 NFL Playoff games played this January (prior to Super Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1) averaged 29.9 million viewers — more than the combined average viewership of the 2008 NBA Finals and 2008 World Series. In addition, the Playoffs topped the average primetime viewership of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics (including Opening and Closing Ceremonies).

Most Recent Postseason Rating Averages, By Sport

Sport
Average Rating
Avg. Viewers

2008 NFL Playoffs* 17.4 29.9 million
2008 Beijing Olympics** 16.2 27.7 million
2009 Daytona 500 9.2 16.0 million
2009 NBA Finals 8.4 14.3 million
2008 World Series 8.4 13.6 million
*does not include Super Bowl XLIII
** primetime

’08 WILD CARD PLAYOFFS MOST-WATCHED IN 5 YEARS

An average of 25.8 million fans watched 2008 NFL Wild Card games, the most for an NFL Wild Card Weekend since January 2003 (25.9 million average).

The Sunday afternoon Philadelphia Eagles-Minnesota Vikings game on FOX was the most-watched show of the TV season to that point (30.0 million viewers).

The Saturday night Indianapolis Colts-San Diego Chargers game on NBC drew 27.8 million viewers to rank as the most-watched Saturday Wild Card game in 10 years (30.7 million for Cardinals-Cowboys on ABC, 1/2/99).

Most-Watched Shows on Television, Week of Dec. 29, 2008-Jan 4, 2009

Program
Average Viewers

1. FOX NFC Wild Card Playoff (Eagles-Vikings) 30.0 million
2. NBC AFC Wild Card Playoff (Colts-Chargers) 27.8 million
3. CBS AFC Wild Card Playoff (Ravens-Dolphins) 23.9 million
4. NBC NFC Wild Card Playoff (Falcons-Cardinals) 21.0 million
5. Rose Bowl (Penn State-USC) 20.6 million
6. Desperate Housewives 14.4 million
7. NCIS 13.4 million
8. Sugar Bowl 13.4 million
9. Cold Case 12.6 million
10. 60 Minutes 12.3 million

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research

NFL Divisional Playoffs ranked as 4 of the 5 most-watched programs that week

NFL playoff games accounted for 4 of the 5 most-watched programs on television that week.

Most-Watched Shows on Television, Week of Jan. 5-11, 2009

Program
Average Viewers

1. CBS AFC Divisional Playoff (Chargers-Steelers) 34.1 million
2. FOX NFC Divisional Playoff (Eagles-Giants) 31.4 million
3. BCS Championship Game (Florida-Oklahoma) 26.8 million
4. CBS AFC Divisional Playoff (Ravens-Titans) 25.5 million
5. FOX NFC Divisional Playoff (Cardinals-Panthers) 23.8 million
6. The Mentalist 19.6 million
7. NCIS 19.1 million
8. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Texas-Ohio State) 17.1 million
9. 60 Minutes 15.0 million
10. Golden Globe Awards 14.9 million

Source: NFL & Nielsen Media Research

AFC & NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

ï‚· The 2008 AFC & NFC Championship Games rank as the two most-watched shows of the 2008-09 television season. The AFC Championship Game tops all other programs (including season premieres of popular primetime programming such as American Idol, CSI and Dancing with the Stars) with an average of 40.6 million viewers and is followed in second by the NFC Championship game with 38.4 million viewers.

Sportscapper Island.com
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