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February 8, 2021 7:35 pm  #1


8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

The US ratings for yesterday's SuperBowl have been delayed all day long,  but Numeris has reported that the Canadian ratings are down from 2020 when 9.5 million tuned in.  However, at 8.8 million average viewers yesterday ranks as the third most popular SuperBowl in Canada...
https://www.bellmedia.ca/the-lede/press/super-bowl-lv-becomes-third-biggest-on-record-with-8-8-million-viewers-on-ctv-tsn-and-rds/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=super-bowl-lv-becomes-third-biggest-on-record-with-8-8-million-viewers-on-ctv-tsn-and-rds

 

February 8, 2021 11:26 pm  #2


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

This is odd, Nielsen is saying that they are still processing and verifying the Super Bowl ratings and the numbers should be released tomorrow.  Apparently there have been problems with out of home viewing. 

Meantime Numeris has said that the Half Time Show with The Weeknd increased CTV/TSN/RDS audience to 11 million viewers for the performance.   
 

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February 9, 2021 11:34 am  #3


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

Finally, the US ratings are in for Sunday's SuperBowl.  Over 91 million watched the game on CBS. A great rating but no where near the top for the football extravaganza.  In fact it is the 18th highest rated game for viewers.  Here are the Sunday ratings from Showbuzz Daily.  Looks like the other networks could have  shut down for the evening, or maybe just showed a test pattern...they would have had about the same numbers...

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February 10, 2021 1:17 pm  #4


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

Nielsen Media research is estimating approximately 92-million viewers for Super Bowl LV on CBS (from 6:38-10:16 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 7). Comparably, no telecast of any kind has performed anywhere near this tally since the year-ago Super Bowl in 2020. But that telecast — 101.3 million on Feb. 2, 2020 for Super Bowl LIV — was 10 percent above this number. And the 92-million viewers for this Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Kansas City Chiefs match-up was actually the lowest for any live Super Bowl telecast since the 90.7 million viewers on NBC in 2006.

 

February 13, 2021 10:05 pm  #5


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

The ratings are still there in the U.S., but much lower than in seasons past. But as the NFL salivates at the prospect of a new agreement with broadcasters and cable, the question is starting to emerge: is there a scenario where it's simply too expensive to bid for the rights to these games? We may finally be at the financial breaking point, although don't expect future football won't be on TV somewhere.

NFL Finally Starts Talking Financial Terms With Networks for Mammoth TV Rights Deal

 

February 14, 2021 11:38 am  #6


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

This will be a very interesting negotiation between the NFL and US broadcasters and cable.  On the one hand NFL games still bring in great ratings for the networks but viewership has been sliding by about 10% per year.  The Super Bowl, same story, huge ratings but almost every year ratings are down.  Last Sunday's Super Bowl was the lowest rated since 2007.  And when you look at ratings for the big four US networks, some weeks sports and the NFL in particular make up 8 of the top 10 programs. However, this is sports, and the slide in ratings may only be temporary, since it always depends on the quality and excitment of the game.

According to the Variety article, the NFL wants to DOUBLE the current fees for broadcast rights, and they want a deal for at least 8 to 10 years.  Networks and cable have been struggling to turn profits on the current arrangement.  The current NFL broadcast rights are so expensive and with so many games, the schedule has been split between all four networks for years.  However ESPN (Disney ABC) is not in the rotation for the Super Bowl and dearly want to join CBS, NBC and FOX in the mix.  And Disney likely has the money to make it happen. 

Even CTV/TSN/RDS Canadian rights will be interesting.  Other than the Super Bowl the NFL does not have nearly the same ratings punch in Canada as the US.  Regular season games don't normally reach the top 30 until into the playoffs, and even then are not always spectacular, even though they do hit a very sweet demo with good numbers.  But with penny pinching Bell Media, how much money do they actually make with the NFL, or is owning the NFL Canadian broadcast rights more important than just dollars? 

What if the fees for Canadian rights also doubled?  To me it didn't look like CTV/TSN came anywhere near selling out the Super Bowl last Sunday.  The game had almost as much promo as commercials, and their rate of about $195,000 average cost per 30 second spot as compared to $5.6 million each over on CBS was a great deal.

Another great negotiation coming up in a few years will be the NHL broadcast rights with Rogers.  If a Canadian team were to make the Stanley Cup finals, especially Toronto or Montreal, then all bets could be off. However, unless Canadian NHL teams start getting to the finals, I think you will see some big changes coming up for the NHL rights here.  Probably see Rogers, CBC, TSN sharing the rights.   

Last edited by paterson1 (February 15, 2021 12:35 pm)

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February 16, 2021 10:53 am  #7


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

The NFL will probably get whatever it wants - Sports Illustrated doesn't think the ratings matter at this stage either...

RATINGS STILL SUPER
 
Some point to the Super Bowl viewership decline—“only” 92 million people watched—as evidence of the NFL loosening its grip as, by far, the most popular sport in the country. To those I say: Good luck with that.
 
The Super Bowl’s lost viewership during the pandemic is far less than the lost viewership of other sports and their pinnacle programming this year, as noted here:
 
Event Decline in Viewership


  • Super Bowl 9%
  • World Series 30%
  • NBA Finals 49%
  • NHL Finals 61%

 
From this perspective, the Super Bowl’s decline by only 9% illustrates the immense popularity of the sport.
 
More importantly, does any of it matter? Will any network use this as some kind of leverage in their upcoming negotiations with the NFL? Of course not.
 
The new media deals, as I have been saying, will be massive. There will be the traditional network suitors—NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC/ESPN—and streaming suitors such as Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, etc. There is no more powerful programming for mass viewership than NFL programming; both the league and the networks know it. A slight Super Bowl ratings dip, especially in this environment, will have zero effect on that.
 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/02/16/business-of-football-impact-of-super-bowl-ratings-drop-russell-wilson-criticisms

 

 

February 17, 2021 11:34 am  #8


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

When it comes to bidding for NFL broadcast rights, I doubt CBS  has forgotten 1994, when FOX was awarded the NFC rights for four years and the 1997 Super Bowl for a bid of 1.58B. For the next four years, CBS saw a decline in ratings plus a loss of strong VHF affiliates in some markets. Atlanta Ch 5 to 46, Cleveland ch 8 to 19 and Detroit ch 2 to 62. When the AFC rights came up for renewal in 1998, CBS took no chances. They paid 4B for eight years worth of games leaving NBC on the outside. The NFL will get what it wants in these negotiations. One thing that will be interesting. Where does Sunday Ticket land. DirectTV has had exclusivity of the product for many years. Maybe it will be offered to cable and/or streaming providers.

 

February 19, 2021 6:10 pm  #9


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

mace wrote:

When it comes to bidding for NFL broadcast rights, I doubt CBS  has forgotten 1994, when FOX was awarded the NFC rights for four years and the 1997 Super Bowl for a bid of 1.58B. For the next four years, CBS saw a decline in ratings plus a loss of strong VHF affiliates in some markets. Atlanta Ch 5 to 46, Cleveland ch 8 to 19 and Detroit ch 2 to 62. When the AFC rights came up for renewal in 1998, CBS took no chances. They paid 4B for eight years worth of games leaving NBC on the outside. The NFL will get what it wants in these negotiations. One thing that will be interesting. Where does Sunday Ticket land. DirectTV has had exclusivity of the product for many years. Maybe it will be offered to cable and/or streaming providers.

The NFL is asking for a 100% increase:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/19/nfl-asking-for-100percent-increase-on-tv-rights-disney-pushing-back-.html
 

 

February 19, 2021 7:26 pm  #10


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

Media Observer wrote:

mace wrote:

When it comes to bidding for NFL broadcast rights, I doubt CBS  has forgotten 1994, when FOX was awarded the NFC rights for four years and the 1997 Super Bowl for a bid of 1.58B. For the next four years, CBS saw a decline in ratings plus a loss of strong VHF affiliates in some markets. Atlanta Ch 5 to 46, Cleveland ch 8 to 19 and Detroit ch 2 to 62. When the AFC rights came up for renewal in 1998, CBS took no chances. They paid 4B for eight years worth of games leaving NBC on the outside. The NFL will get what it wants in these negotiations. One thing that will be interesting. Where does Sunday Ticket land. DirectTV has had exclusivity of the product for many years. Maybe it will be offered to cable and/or streaming providers.

The NFL is asking for a 100% increase:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/19/nfl-asking-for-100percent-increase-on-tv-rights-disney-pushing-back-.html
 

I wonder if they're doing that because they've got YouTube in their back pocket and can gamble on trying to soak the networks for a while longer before inevitably making that jump.
 

 

February 20, 2021 5:08 pm  #11


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

I think you’ll see all of the networks bid for the NFL. It’s a marquee property that every network covets regardless of price. As mentioned CBS declined severely without the NFL and Fox built an entire network around the league.
In Canada the simsub revenue will keep our networks interested. You don’t have production costs associated with a major league broadcast so even at a high cost it still makes some sense.
As for the NHL I think you’ll see Rogers pay less to hold on to the rights. Now that Rogers is thought of as the home of hockey they’ll likely drop the CBC as a partner.
Bell will be happy to keep the regional Leafs and Habs games. They cover the most important markets.

Last edited by Prod Guy (February 20, 2021 5:10 pm)

 

February 20, 2021 6:23 pm  #12


Re: 8.8 Million Watch CTV/TSN/RDS SuperBowl Yesterday

I think you are right that all the US networks will bid for a share of the NFL rights.  But since some networks are having problems making money on it now, doubling the price will take some very creative programming and selling around the games. But the NFL brings in the ratings, and the big four networks don't have much going on other than sports.

Rogers has been taking a financial bath on the NHL deal so far and the next package will definitely be split up.  Roger's original arrangement with the CBC was only for 3 years. It has been extended by Rogers twice and runs until 2026.  Sportsnet's penetration will continue to slide as more viewers cut cable and the City television stations don't have the OTA coverage needed for national broadcasts. 

So regardless CBC will likely be here to stay. They will return and split up the rights with Rogers and Bell.  Even if CBC morphs into something else over the next few years, can't really see them out of NHL Hockey or sports completely.  

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