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Friday, February 01, 2019

L. Brent Bozell & Tim Graham: The NFL Recovers From Kneeling Frenzy

The National Football League is back on top of the ratings heap after both conference championship games were so competitive they spilled into overtime.

Sunday’s New England Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs game drew 53.9 million viewers to CBS — a shocking 27 percent increase from last year and the most-watched NFL game outside of the Super Bowl in five years. This is in part because they used to call the Dallas Cowboys “America’s Team,” but the Patriots seem like “America’s Most Hated Team.”

Earlier that day on Fox, the Los Angeles Rams’ controversial referee-marred defeat of the New Orleans Saints had 44.1 million viewers — a 4.3 percent gain and Fox’s most-watched program since Super Bowl 51 in 2017.

It’s not just the playoffs. Ratings for NFL regular-season games rebounded, gaining 5 percent over the previous season. That’s not as amazing, since it’s a small increase after two years of frightening declines. But in today’s ever-declining ratings for broadcast TV, due to livestreaming and cord cutting, the NFL is still a dominant player, far outdrawing regular scripted TV shows.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

deception and lies do the overseas number count for the american audience?

Anonymous said...

Good for them. Still no longer interested. Still glad to have my Sundays back. Enjoy your games, but never forget who these people are that you're watching.

Anonymous said...

Just don't SHOW them kneeling. Screw them all!

Anonymous said...

Not for me and many others I know. Still not watching.

Anonymous said...

Stopped watching years ago.
They can spin this anyway they want, but if you look at sports in the news, I see a lot of empty seats in the stadiums.

They are not fooling me!