The heads of two of the network sports divisions televising the NFL believe pro football’s audience — down 8% to 16.5 million viewers on average across all regular-season telecasts in 2016 from 17.9 million in 2015 — will return during the upcoming 2017 campaign.
CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus in an interview at NFL Media Day at CBS Corp. headquarters in New York on Aug. 30 said some of the factors that hurt deliveries last season will not be in play this time around, "the biggest of which was the presidential election and the attention that led up to it," where "cable news viewership was two or three times greater than the year before."
The NFL saw its ratings status tarnish somewhat last season, as a significant chunk of its audience was intercepted by a number of factors, notably interest in the presidential election cycle.
McManus, who also serves as executive producer of "The NFL on CBS," also pointed to the retirement of legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, whose Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in his last game, the four-game suspension of New England signal-caller Tom Brady at the start of last season, and that Houston Texans’ defensive stalwart J.J. Watt missed almost the entire campaign. He also noted there were a number “of less than compelling games in big windows” that contributed to the audience decline.
McManus — who was quick to note that "NFL ratings remain incredibly dominant, there’s nothing even close" — is looking for a reversal and CBS (US) to attract more viewers this season. He anticipates that the "relatively small decrease in ratings” will be made up entirely or partially this year.
Eric Shanks, president, COO and executive producer of Fox Sports, in an interview after an Aug. 30 rehearsal at 21st Century Fox Inc.'s New York headquarters for FOX Sports 1 (US)'s new morning show, "First Things First" that is slated to debut Sept. 5, said that all data indicate that "NFL ratings will be better" this season. Shanks acknowledges that many are "still focused on the White House and politics" and that cable news ratings remain 30% to 40% above usual levels. That being said, he doesn’t believe the attention will be as strong as it was leading up to last fall's battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Moreover, Shanks believes FOX (US) is poised to gain ratings momentum, as it opens the season with doubleheaders the first two weekends of the season. McManus said that CBS, which is airing the Emmys on Sept. 17, requested single-headers the first two weeks in deference to the awards show and the start of its "Thursday Night Football" schedule Sept.28. "This works out well for us and for FOX," he said.
Shanks added that it is "hard to argue that our schedule for the first half of the season is not as good as we have ever had on paper, but we have to see how it plays out on the field."
He noted that FOX’s schedule showcases what he called the NFL’s two most popular brands, the Dallas Cowboys (who will appear nine times on FOX) and Green Bay Packers, each of which won their division in 2016 for only the second time since 1970.
"The league’s two most powerful brands are entering the season with their best combined performance in decades," he said. "We feel really good about the NFL."