Why are ESPN's Ratings Down?

[eacalhoun]

If sports is such a valuable commodity, then why are ESPN's ratings down - according to this report?

http://deadspin.com/espns-july-ratings-are-down-too-967158007

Sports fans (I am not one), do you have an answer as to the ratings drop? If ratings continue dropping, shouldn't the Mickey Mouse network charge pay-tv providers LESS for carriage and thus maybe the consumer would see a drop in their cable/sat bill?

 

[Deadlocked]

Because everyone has gotten tired of BCS(EC)PiN's BS. Fox Sports 1 can't come soon enough...

 

[cosmo_kramer]

The answer is most likely in the white box on that page you provided.

Other than baseball, what other major sports play in July??

 

[Rey]

i've gotten away from it a bit because as time goes on espn seems to be heading towards tabloid journalism. if i'm tuning to a sports channel that's all i want to see,sports.

 

[Rey]

The answer is most likely in the white box on that page you provided.

Other than baseball, what other major sports play in July??

good point sir.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Because every time I turn on ESPN Sportcenter is on.

How much Sportcenter can a person take.

Sportcenter hasn't been good since I was on it.

 

[Rey]

Because every time I turn on ESPN Sportcenter is on.

How much Sportcenter can a person take.

Sportcenter hasn't been good since I was on it.

HA! i had forgotten about that .

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Because every time I turn on ESPN Sportcenter is on.

How much Sportcenter can a person take.

Sportcenter hasn't been good since I was on it.

Imagine how much better it would have been if you actually made it on the air!!

 

[gatekeeper]

Couple more weeks their ratings will return. College football baby.. RTR

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Imagine how much better it would have been if you actually made it on the air!!

Imagine how much more the ratings would have gone down if we did.

(BTW we were on the air for a segment of College Basketball talk.)

 

[Tampa8]

To me the answer is simple. Diluted product. No different than the NHL expanding too much, if you take available product, spread over several outlets, each outlet suffers because there is only so much talent/product.
CBSSN
NBCSP
MLBN
RSN's
Tennis
Golf
Fuel
FSC
?BEIN
Various Hunting channels
NBATV
NHLN
And we haven't even had the new Fox programming.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

TV ratings overall are down in the summer for obvious reasons, and as said earlier, the reasons for a decline compared to 07/12 are listed in that article.

No fear, the ratings will rise soon once CFB and the NFL are in full swing.

And, for the OP's hope that lower ESPN's lower ratings will translate into lower carriage rates, and a drop in our monthly bill?? I'm still laughing at that one!!!

 

[eacalhoun]

And, for the OP's hope that lower ESPN's lower ratings will translate into lower carriage rates, and a drop in our monthly bill?? I'm still laughing at that one!!!

It WAS a joke - now were you laughing with me or AT me?

 

[cosmo_kramer]

It WAS a joke - now were you laughing with me or AT me?

with!!

 

[Rey]

i don't know anything that goes down unless we sacrifice some kind of option or options to lower our monthly bills.

 

[Rey]

It WAS a joke - now were you laughing with me or AT me?

damn..... i just wasted a post

 

[Teehar]

Rey,Scott,and Tampa8,all nailed it imo.

Too much sportscenter,tabloid journalism,diluted product.With all the money that ESPN makes,you would think they could air something besides sportscenter 18 hours a day.Heck even flag football would beat that.Another annoying thing to me,is the constant scroll at the bottom of the screen.They could do it once or twice per hour,instead of all the time.I really don't understand the need for ESPN news either.

Fox sports 1 is going to find the waters pretty choppy when they officially dive in.They better watch out for the undertow.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Probably doesn't help that people are using the web more and more for sports stuff. When you think about it, about 90% of what's on Sportscenter alone can be found online quite easily in terms of scores and video clips. Unless you ABSOLUTELY need to hear their commentary about it, what's the point? Nowadays the only time I pay attention is to Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption, and most of that time I'm listening to it on my SiriusXM radio in the car. Once Sportscenter comes on I tune out.

 

[oldengineer]

I stopped watching because I got tired of seeing unconvicted murderers, coaches who left multiple college programs on probation, ex players involved in scandals during their careers, etc glorified and treated as if they were gods.

 

[eacalhoun]

I stopped watching because I got tired of seeing unconvicted murderers, coaches who left multiple college programs on probation, ex players involved in scandals during their careers, etc glorified and treated as if they were gods.

I'm not a sports fan - I think I already said that - but I've seen enough of Jay Leno's monologues to know about THIS!