Sports TV News

Monday Night Football Sets Week 10 Viewership Record

“Our headset mics pick up a lot of the crowd noise you hear, so we need to be out in it.”

Published

2 weeks ago

November 15, 2023

BSM Staff

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN is reporting that more than 17.7 million viewers tuned in to the most recent Monday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills, setting another weekly record for the prime-time sports media entity.

The contest concluded on a game-winning field goal by the Broncos after the Bills took a penalty for having too many players on the field at once.

This total cumulative audience peaked, however, towards the latter end of the first half at 19.8 million viewers. In the final full quarter hour of the game, 18.5 million viewers were watching the proceedings, a strong time slot that contributed to the game being the most-watched program on television and leading in all key demographics.

On the year, Monday Night Football is averaging 15.6 million fans per game, which is the best since ESPN began broadcasting the property in 2006 and up 16% year-over-year (YoY). Ten of the 12 Monday Night Football broadcasts, however, have been simulcast on The Walt Disney Company’s over-the-air broadcast network, ABC, a decision that was made in an effort to present new programming amid simultaneous strikes by writers and actors.

For six of those broadcasts, the alternate presentation – Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, colloquially known as the “Manningcast” – was live on ESPN2 and most recently drew an average of 1.12 million viewers. The metric marks the program’s 25th consecutive episode that contained more than 1 million viewers.

The property’s play-by-play announcer, Joe Buck, is celebrating his 20th season working alongside analyst Troy Aikman, a broadcast pairing that first began at FOX Sports and transitioned to ESPN prior to last season. Buck recently faced criticism from Bills fans about expressing that it was a “cold night in Buffalo” when, in reality, the game-time temperature was 49°F. On Tuesday night, he interacted with fans on social media and explained the importance of having an open-air broadcast booth.

“You cannot do a game in a closed booth,” Buck posted. “It sounds like you’re removed from the action. Our headset mics pick up a lot of the crowd noise you hear, so we need to be out in it. And I prefer to feel it and hear it that way too. In a closed booth your voice would bounce back at you and sound flat.”

Buck will be back on the call with Aikman for the next Monday Night Football matchup, which takes place from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium when the Philadelphia Eagles face the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 20 at 8:15 PM ET.

BSM Staff

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Sports TV News

Scripps Sports Exec: Teams Are Making Contingency Deals For After Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Lawlor said that Scripps Sports “already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.”

Published

4 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

With the writing on the wall that Diamond Sports Group will drop its regional sports contracts after next year, entities like Scripps Sports are bracing for additional opportunities to work with various teams.

Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor recently said teams and leagues are already thinking ahead.

“There’s a lot of contingency planning by teams and leagues to have distribution options if the creditors pull the rug out early,” Lawlor told Cincinnati Business Courier. “It’s really messy right now.”

Lawlor added that Scripps has already been involved in contingency planning with those leagues and teams, with talks having gone on for months in some instances.

“(Scripps) already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.

Scripps Sports already stepped in to help provide a new TV home for both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes. Lawlor said returns with those teams, particularly in Vegas, have been great.

“We’ve been blown away by the Golden Knights over-the-air ratings and the number of people who have subscribed to direct-to-consumer,” he said.

Jordan Bondurant

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.

Sports TV News

Bob Iger: ESPN Could ‘Go It Alone’ and Not Take Financial Partners

“We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Published

4 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Courtesy: CNBC

As Disney continues to consider selling an ownership stake in ESPN, Disney CEO Bob Iger told employees he’s not ruling out the possibility of not bringing in new financial partners.

Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that Iger spoke at a Disney town hall on Tuesday and there’s no requirement in place that says Disney must seek out new investors to maintain ESPN’s financial future.

“We could go it alone,” he said. “We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Disney has already had some level of conversations with potential partners including pro sports leagues and big tech companies.

Jordan Bondurant

Sports TV News

NASCAR to Announce $1.1B Rights Deal with FOX, NBC, Prime Video, TNT

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Published

12 hours ago

November 29, 2023

BSM Staff

A photo of the NASCAR Cup Series, FOX, Prime Video, TNT, and NBC Sports logos

NASCAR is on the verge of announcing a new TV rights deal that will see the racing organization bring in $1.1 billion annually from five TV partners.

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Beginning in 2025 and running through the 2031 season, NASCAR will air its first 14 Cup Series events with FOX and FS1. The next five events will air on Amazon Prime Video, making the first time a NASCAR event will be shown exclusively on a streaming service.

Following Amazon’s portion of the schedule, another five events will be broadcast on both TNT and the B/R Sports tier of the Max streaming service. The final 14 races of the year will be broadcast with NBC, USA Network, and Peacock, according to reporting from Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern.

Previously, FOX Sports aired 18 races, while NBC aired 20, which includes two exhibition events.

In addition to its new deals with Amazon Prime Video and TNT for the Cup Series, NASCAR also has a previously announced new broadcast agreement with The CW to air each race of the Xfinity Series.

The upcoming announcement, which is expected either Wednesday or Thursday, comes on the heels of NASCAR President Steve Phelps admitting new TV partners would be entering the fray in the next contract.

“We are going to have an additional partner and we may have two additional partners,” Phelps told NBC Sports. “That’s kind of where we’re trying to figure out in these last few weeks — what that’s going to look like, but we already know we’re going to have more partners.”

BSM Staff