Although ratings for the 2024 NFL Draft were down 3% from last year’s event, the metrics still surpassed several other sports league counterparts airing programming within the time slot. The draft averaged 5.74 million viewers across its three days on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network, according to the NFL and Nielsen Media Research.

Within those ratings, however, was a strong Day 1 performance that accumulated an average of 12.1 million viewers, which is up 6% year-over-year. Moreover, its total unduplicated audience equated to 34.3 million viewers, the highest mark since 2021. The stellar ratings were a point of discussion on the In The Loop midday program on SportsRadio 610 in Houston.

The program had a discussion on Monday pertaining to whether or not the NFL Draft should be extended to a week-long event. In 2010, the NFL expanded the draft to a three-day format and has been holding the event around the country for nearly a decade. Next year’s draft will be held at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., the historic home of the Green Bay Packers.

“While I wouldn’t go that far, there’s a case to be made for maybe four – maybe four days of it,” co-host John Lopez said on Tuesday. “NFL Draft ratings came out for Thursday and Friday – Saturday, I believe, I haven’t seen those yet – and it was beyond embarrassing for every other sport, especially the NBA.”

While the NFL Draft averaged 12.1 million viewers on Thursday, the next best performance was an average of 3.34 million viewers for the NBA Playoffs Western Conference battle between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers on TNT. In the earlier time slot as part of a doubleheader of games presented on TNT, the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers game averaged 2.57 million viewers. NBA TV aired the Cleveland Cavaliers’ matchup against the Orlando Magic and averaged 2.52 million viewers across the game. Viewership data for these matchups is courtesy of Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch.

“The NBA tried to counter it with three standalone games on different networks,” Lopez added. “Didn’t matter – more than 2 million [additional] fans were watching the second and third rounds of the draft than the NBA Playoffs.”

Earlier in the week, CBS Sports announced that Matt Ryan was joining the cast of The NFL Today and also revealed that Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms will not be returning to the program. As it embarks on five decades of studio coverage surrounding the NFL on CBS, the show will enter the 2024 NFL season with the new studio team that also includes host James Brown and analysts Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson and J.J. Watt. In reviewing the decision, which coincided with Esiason signing an extension to remain with Audacy in morning drive on WFAN, ESPN New York afternoon host Michael Kay speculated about what could have happened.

“I hope CBS buttoned everything up because if you’re getting rid of guys just because of their age, you’re going to get yourself in trouble,” Kay said. “You can’t fire somebody because of their age.”

Previous reports indicated that contracts for several members of the show were expiring after the conclusion of the NFL season. Brown reached an extension with CBS Sports, and Cowher, Esiason and Simms were all reportedly working on expiring deals. In its announcement, CBS Sports divulged that Cowher will be returning, whereas Esiason and Simms are not among the cast members of the show. As he co-hosted The Michael Kay Show on Tuesday afternoon, Kay asked Don La Greca if he felt that Ryan was more relevant than Esiason and Simms.

“I don’t know what it is that they see in Matt Ryan,” La Greca said, concurring with Kay. “He doesn’t jump off as somebody that I gotta go to see, but maybe they’ve looked into it or whatever, but if they’re trying to get the coveted younger demographic, I guess they feel like, ‘I want to get guys that can play.’”

La Greca compared the move to an observation he has evinced in baseball pertaining to older analysts and how some of them struggle to understand the analytics that have become embedded within parts of the modern game. Even though he never felt Esiason and Simms had not reached a point where “the game passed them by” or that their anecdotes and perspectives were old school, he can understand diminished appeal at an older age.

“They probably have some analytic where they’re able to test the market and see what the fans want,” La Greca said. “They’re doing it for a reason and they’re experts at what they do, and I’m all for change.”

Kay then stated that he believed an impetus for this move was the retirement of Sean McManus as chairman of CBS Sports, resulting in David Berson being promoted to president and chief executive officer of the division. Without mentioning Berson by name, Kay insinuated that the company “brought a new guy in who wants to put his own imprint.” Co-host Peter Rosenberg added that he felt it was the main thing surrounding these changes with The NFL Today.

“I guess my only problem with it is is that it doesn’t seem like you need any experience at all,” La Greca remarked. “We saw all of these guys eventually gradually move up to where they were – to prove that they can do it. Now it doesn’t seem like whether they can do it or not is part of the process.”

Sports Rap Radio is set to launch on WXYT 1270-AM with a diverse lineup of all-Black hosts. Co-owned by former Detroit News columnist Rob Parker, the new sports-talk format has revealed its show schedule for the station’s switch at 7 a.m. on May 16th.

Lindsey Hunter, a retired Pistons guard and member of the 2004 NBA championship team, will team up with Detroit native Montezz Allen to co-host “The Pitbulls” afternoon drive show from 3-7 p.m. Parker had announced the addition of Allen in a release last week.

B.J. Armstrong, another co-owner of “Sports Rap Radio,” will take over the mid-morning slot from 10 a.m. to noon, hosting solo. A Detroit native, Armstrong is also a member of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. The midday show, “The Bad Boys,” will feature Detroit native Martin Weiss and JR Gamble as co-hosts.

“We’ve had this idea and I’m just really looking forward to having something where, you know, the people can be proud,” Armstrong told the Detroit News. “Finally, here we are. We’re getting close.”

The original lineup of shows for “Sports Rap Radio” will run daily from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, with the nationally syndicated show “The Odd Couple” hosted by Chris Broussard and Rob Parker airing from 7 to 10 at night. Parker and his business partners, including NBA agent Armstrong, former Connecticut football and track-and-field athlete Dave Kenney who now works as an asset manager, and former Michigan and Detroit Country Day receiver Maurice Ways who is employed at ESPN, have leased airtime and office space at 1270-AM in Southfield, Michigan.