Quote:
Originally Posted by cuervo72
I guess what I do wonder then is yeah, what's the goal? Is it to get more viewers, or to get the viewers you already have to watch more football?
edit: And in those calculations...honestly, do they GAF what those in the SEC think? Aren't they already tapped out, if viewers in Alabama will watch anything that drapes itself in maroon but essentially nothing else?
|
Those markets -- generally speaking -- are the ones that watch college football. They prefer games with local connections but they watch more generally as well. Go back to the pre-SEC Network days (since it's existence skews subsequent ESPN data IMO), as many as 16 of the top 25 markets for CFB viewing were in the SEC footprint. And that's with the top SEC game of the week being on CBS, not ESPN.
Found the 2011 data -- with USC & Stanford finishing in the top 7, USC was preseason #1 -- LA & SF ranked 43rd and 44th in TV ratings.
Now a 1.4 and 1.3 rating in huge media markets (compared to twice that rating in the 20s and 4x that rating in Birmingham year in & year out) is going to produce nice raw numbers but those are also the absolute peak possibilities, you're not going to get those consistently.
Another good piece from 2012 (around the Rutgers to B10 talks) had several quotable highlights, among them noting how NYC is 73rd of 77 markets in terms of "percentage of avid college football fans" but that's enough to be 2nd in raw numbers of fans. To me though, the key there is "avid". Those people are likely to watch OSU-Michigan or OU-Texas or Bama-Auburn (as long as the games are competitive) without regard to what conference Rutgers is in.
To be fair - against my own arguments frankly - the article notes that carriage fees drive the deals, not audience (conceding that nothing is likely to drive the audience there). That comes down to the malleability of the cable providers, which isn't something I'd bet on being reliable but mileage may vary.
Does Rutgers really bring in NYC market? - Dollars - ESPN Playbook- ESPN
At it's core, in the television era, college football is IMO a regional sport that has national reach. Similar to NASCAR in its prime. There are pockets outside the core but it's not a significant 365 day a year concern in too many places outside those areas.