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Eagles/Chiefs Highest Rated Monday Night Football Broadcast Since 1996

BSM Staff
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Eagles/Chiefs Highest Rated Monday Night Football Broadcast Since 1996

It was expected that Monday’s Super Bowl rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs would draw a large TV audience. But the Monday Night Football result might have surpassed even expectations set by ESPN and ABC.

The prime-time broadcast drew an average audience of 29.021 million viewers across multiple platforms (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and NFL+), rendering it the most-viewed Monday Night Football game since 1996. According to the measurements, 15.55 million people watched on ABC, while 11.49 million viewed the game on ESPN. The primary broadcast featured play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, color commentator Troy Aikman and sideline reporter Lisa Salters, along with NFL Live host Laura Rutledge and officiating analyst John Parry.

An additional 1.92 million viewers watched Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, colloquially known as the “ManningCast,” on ESPN2. The viewership figure marks the alternate presentation’s best average audience figure in more than two years. Moreover, Monday Night Countdown featuring Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, Robert Griffin III and Larry Fitzgerald garnered an average of 1.8 million viewers, marking its best audience of the season.

This Week 11 broadcast represents the largest average audience for a Monday Night Football broadcast in the history of the property airing on ESPN, which began in the 2006 season. Earlier in the year, the Week 1 matchup between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets drew an average of 22.6 million people, which was the record-setting Monday night broadcast at the time.

The Eagles’ victory over the Chiefs is the largest NFL viewership total of the season, with the previous high being a total of 27.1 million people from the Week 9 afternoon window on FOX. Monday Night Football games have been airing on The Walt Disney Company’s broadcast television network, ABC, since the second week of the regular season, including one game within a Monday night doubleheader within Week 2 and Week 3. The decision was reportedly made due to strikes by Hollywood writers and actors that created a dearth in new fall programming on the network.

John Ireland: Paul Finebaum is the Dick Vitale of College Football

BSM Staff
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John Ireland: Paul Finebaum is the Dick Vitale of College Football

Paul Finebaum has long had the ability to change or alter the narrative around college football programs and coaches. ESPN LA 710 host John Ireland wonders if Finebaum has that ability on the West Coast, too.

During Mason & Ireland Tuesday, a discussion was held about USC head coach Lincoln Riley and his subsequent failures leading the Trojans to a 7-5 record this season, John Ireland argued that Finebaum carries as much weight as anyone in the sport.

“Finebaum is the Dick Vitale of college football,” Ireland said. “He’s the biggest voice in college football that people pay attention to.”

Co-host Steve Mason called Finebaum the “spokesperson for the SEC”, while Ireland noted that Finebaum has the ability to make fans, boosters, and those associated with college programs to change their minds or shape the opinions of nearly anyone involved in the sport.

Ireland concluded by saying what Finebaum had to say about Riley — that he is a “fraud” and hid his deficiencies behind talents like Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and Caleb Williams — is something no one would have said about the USC coach three years ago.

He called Finebaum’s criticism of the situation fair.

Amazon Prime Video and Black Friday NFL Game a ‘Perfect Marriage’

BSM Staff
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Amazon Prime Video and Black Friday NFL Game a ‘Perfect Marriage’

The NFL is embarking on its first Black Friday football game, which will be broadcast on Friday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. ET when the Miami Dolphins the New York Jets. There has been a considerable amount of planning that has gone into the game, which is being presented for free by Amazon Prime Video as part of its media rights agreement with the NFL, and it will include various activations within and surrounding the matchup.

The coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with an extended pregame show featuring the TNF Tonight broadcast crew, which will lead up to kickoff at MetLife Stadium. 

Year-to-date, Amazon Prime Video is averaging 12.27 million total viewers according to measurement from Nielsen Media Research, which is a 26% increase through the first 10 games on the platform year-over-year. The enhanced streaming report from Nielsen that combines Amazon’s viewership data has accumulated an average minute audience of 13.43 million viewers across its media platforms.

The NFL as a whole is up 6% YoY in viewership, bringing in an average of 17.1 million viewers, which is the highest average at this moment in a season since 2015. It will now be looking to instantiate a new holiday tradition with the power of an online retailer that has launched a growing streaming platform and is reportedly exploring more ways to become involved in the sports media space.

“The time being right really goes back to last spring when we had to make the decision about playing a game on Black Friday,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, said on Tuesday. “I think the time that made it feel right is we had a full season of Thursday Night Football on Amazon.”

The goal in working with Amazon was not to simulcast a television product on the digital OTT streaming platform but rather to innovate within the broadcast property and enhance the viewership experience. With the company’s impressive first-year performance, the two sides were able to come to terms on and begin planning a special addition to the schedule and slate of games.

“It just felt like that perfect marriage and intersection to really come together, and I think we have a great plan,” Schroeder said. “The 3 o’clock time slot allows us to do stuff to build before it and sort of do some entertainment things on the Amazon side afterwards.”

Throughout the game, which will include play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, color commentator Kirk Herbstreit, and reporter Kaylee Hartung, Amazon will present exclusive deals scannable via a QR code on the screen.

Moreover, award-winning celebrity chef David Chang will join the broadcast and explore the tailgate scene surrounding the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

YouTube sports comedy group Dude Perfect will also present an alternate broadcast within the time slot, joining additional streams showcasing Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats and a Spanish language viewing option. After the contest concludes, Prime Video will present an exclusive concert with country music artist Garth Brooks for all fans to enjoy.

“We’ve put a lot against it in terms of promotion and marketing, but we’ll just have to see,” Jay Marine, vice president of Prime Video and global head of sports at Amazon, said regarding anticipated viewership figures. “It’s a new window, and so I expect it’ll continue to grow year after year in the same way.”

Last year’s Thanksgiving Day game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys on FOX Sports was the highest-rated regular-season contest on record, averaging 42 million viewers. Despite the success of that contest, along with the 60-year tradition that has had the Cowboys and Lions play on the holiday, the league views the forthcoming Black Friday game in a different manner. Rather than designating a team to play in the time slot, Schroeder presumes the NFL Black Friday football game will operate on a year-by-year basis and incorporate different locales.

“We’ve had multiple teams reach out and ask if they could be the annual host for the game,” Schroeder said. “….Our focus is much more on the opportunity to rotate this [and] give another market and NFL market the opportunity to host a really unique and exciting thing.”

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Added to Max Sports Tier

BSM Staff
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The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Added to Max Sports Tier

Meadowlark Media and Bleacher Report have reached a deal to broadcast a one-hour version of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on the Max sports tier on weekdays. Le Batard, who departed ESPN to host his program with the media venture in 2021, will see his program debut on the service on Monday, Nov. 27. DraftKings will remain the titular sponsor of the show, which is available to watch on both YouTube and the DraftKings Network’s free ad-supported television (FAST) channel. News of the deal was first reported by John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.

Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled the Bleacher Report-branded sports add-on in early October that grants subscribers the ability to watch live events simulcast on linear television channels. At the moment, the tier is free for all Max subscribers until Feb. 29, after which it will cost $9.99 per month.

The company is leveraging media rights to all of its sports properties, including MLB on TBS, the NBA on TNT and the NHL on TNT. Warner Bros. Discovery served as the broadcast home of the Stanley Cup Final last season, while it also broadcast semifinal-round matchups within the MLB postseason and NBA playoffs.

The platform also includes the expansive digital portfolio from Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, which includes original NFL Draft coverage, Creator League competitions, and podcasts, including those hosted by Mookie Betts, Travis Hunter, Von Miller, and Micah Parsons.

Meadowlark Media produces several programs with Dan Le Batard, and it has also added additional talent to create more content. Former ESPN writer Pablo Torre debuted a new show earlier in the month, and the company is also working with Wondery within a 45-episode podcast series titled Sports Explains the World. The media company also reached a deal with ESPN analyst Mina Kimes to appear on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz once per week.

“We want to be everywhere sports fans are and our unparalleled offering of leading sports, combined with the power of the Bleacher Report brand and content, including the unique way B/R engages with young sports fans, all delivered through the new Max platform will enable us to broaden our audience and delight new fans,” Luis Silberwasser, chairman and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, said in a statement announcing the launch of the B/R Sports Add-On on Max.

“We are uniquely positioned to offer viewers the best selection of premium sports and exciting events and fan-focused additional programming, all within a fantastic multi-sport product that will meet the evolving consumption needs of our viewers – both casual and hardcore sports fans.”

Jerry Jones: I Wanted Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to See Jimmy Johnson Inducted into Ring of Honor

BSM Staff
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones informed FOX Sports analyst and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson that he’ll be inducted into the franchise’s Ring of Honor later this year.

The timing of the induction — Saturday, December 30th — was questioned by many in the Dallas media. However, during an interview with 105.3 The Fan’s Shan & RJ Tuesday, Jones revealed his thought process.

 “I didn’t want to do it last week because we were recognizing our Medal of Honor (recipients) and basically representing our servicepeople, and I didn’t want to do anything — particularly since we’re so committed and excited about what we’re doing with the Medal of Honor recipients,” Jones told the Dallas sports radio station. “So I didn’t want anything to get confused there, that’s the reason we made that announcement over in Charlotte, and that’s the reason we’re going to do this thing when (Troy) Aikman and (Joe) Buck are here.”

The Cowboys will take on the Detroit Lions in the game Johnson will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor.

The inclusion of Aikman is a natural decision for Jones. Johnson coached the Hall of Fame quarterback to two Super Bowl victories. Aikman famously cried on air when Johnson was informed he was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he was still working at FOX.

Johnson has long been thought of as a natural for the distinction from the Cowboys. However, a purported strain in the relationship between Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones prevented the Hall of Fame coach from receiving the honor. Johnson has previously questioned if his analysis centered upon the franchise and Jones himself had led to him being excluded from the team’s highest honor.

“Anytime I say anything about the Cowboys, positive or negative, that’s gonna be a headline in Dallas,” Johnson said on The Dan Patrick Show last year. “I’m not always right obviously, no one’s always right. But they’re gonna ask my opinion, and I’m gonna give it.”

Ken Carman: Eli Manning is Just as Good as Peyton Manning on ManningCast

BSM Staff
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The Week 11 matchup and Super Bowl LVII rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles drew captivating interest with several storylines surrounding the game on Monday night. Part of these offerings included the alternate broadcast presentation with Peyton and Eli Manning produced in tandem with Omaha Productions, Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, currently within its third season on the air.

On Monday night’s edition of the “ManningCast,” the show welcomed several guests throughout the proceedings, including Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark, former NFL quarterback and FOX Sports analyst Michael Vick, and actor Mark Wahlberg. Despite hosting a Cleveland-based radio program, 92.3 The Fan morning host Ken Carman watched the Monday Night Football game and decided to begin his viewing experience with the “ManningCast.” While he was watching the action, he evinced the facets of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning’s personality that makes the broadcast successful and enthralling every time it takes the air.

“Everybody wants to give Peyton Manning the credit because his reactions are just like he really tells it how he sees it; like, ‘This is dumb. Stop. What are you doing? Don’t do this,’” Carman said, “but Eli Manning is very good at explaining why what happened happened. I thought it was very good, and then they got to Mark Wahlberg by the end of the first quarter and I went, ‘Okay, I’m moving on. I’m going to go to the regular broadcast.’”

Aside from viewers, including co-host Anthony Lima, noticing that Wahlberg did not look enthused to be on the broadcast, others simply wanted the brothers to continue breaking down the game. Throughout the season, the show has been implementing fewer guests and is introducing new technologies that allow them to decipher and analyze the game in a manner more conducive for fans to understand.

Carman would like the program to focus on niche topics, such as discussing quarterback play with a guest, because he feels the show has moved towards an element of celebrities appearing for purposes of promoting a new project. With Wahlberg, Carman deduced that the reason behind his appearance was to promote a new movie of some kind, although he did not know that for certain.

Something Lima is bothered by within those breakdowns though is how the analysts always stop to perform breakdowns of wide receivers without running the entire play, which has compelled him to view the traditional broadcast instead. Conversely, Carman is interested in the breakdowns but knows it needs to be balanced to optimize the viewership experience.

“When I did basketball, I just sat there and listened to the coaches,” Carman said. “I so much want to learn what they know. Especially with football, to have a mastery of it with things like that. To listen to any of those guys have a conversation and hear how they can just break it down.”

Two Books About Fox News Reveal What We Already Know: The Network Employs Liars

BNM Staff
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Two Books About Fox News Reveal What We Already Know: The Network Employs Liars

    I open with a serious challenge. I dare you to read these two books on Rupert Murdoch and his Fox “News” empire with an open mind. Two recent releases on Fox News, Brian Stelter’s Network of Lies and Michael Wolf’s The Fall summarize why Fox is a clear and present danger to democracy and has destroyed media credibility, not only among the right-wing media, but across the board.

    Fox News is revered in some sections of the broadcast landscape and by many who write and read on this site, because it is successful, and too many here value ratings above all else. Fox News is the number one cable network, but it remains far behind the broadcast networks that cater to a more mainstream audience.

    But as these two books show, the formula for the Fox News success is basic: Carve an audience from the disaffected, the same 35 to 40% of the general public that support Donald Trump, and cater to that echo chamber. 35 to 40% is not enough to win an election, but its plenty to win a ratings battle in this fragmented market. While CNN and MSNBC split the left and mainstream audience, Fox News, until recently had the right to itself.

    Brian Stelter’s book goes deep into the ways the network has attempted to hold on to that audience, first when Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and then in the aftermath when others from the right challenged Fox News for dominance. The result led to the network cooling on Trump and Rupert Murdoch labeling him a “loser”.

    Fox News learned quickly it only took a few weeks of trying to exalt Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to frontrunner to see the ratings slip. The ultimate lesson for the cable channel was not to educate its viewers and bring them along to what they now knew: That Donald Trump is a sore loser, and his candidates across the board were losing as well.

    There was no effort to carry the enlightening January 6th Congressional hearings or bring on moderate Republicans who wanted to save the party. Instead, Fox News quickly swung back to the right, follwing their audience, not leading it.

    This is a fundamental decision by the Murdoch-operated network which thrust the outlet even further away from news or journalism, and towards cheerleader commentary. Fox News decided, as their Dominion lawsuit discovery revealed, to hide its true knowledge and feelings about Donald Trump and broadcast repeated lies its audience preferred to hear. It was a business decision, not a journalism decision.

    Now, in normal newsrooms — where I have worked for 4 decades — there was a divide between the sales department and the journalists. But in this case, as Stelter reveals, Fox News was nearly the opposite. Management from Rupert Murdoch on down had cooled on Trump, and while Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and others “hated” him as well, (according to their subpoenaed text messages and emails) they led the charge back into the Trump camp as soon as they saw the numbers dropping.

    True journalists are willing to go to unpopular places, take heat from one side, or both sides to report the truth. But not Fox News.

    Both management and anchors, producers, and many reporters are either ordered, or willingly slink to not following the news, but instead following their audience. A decision that has kept Fox profitable, but damaged the media landscape and led to distrust of all outlets.

    Michael Wolf’s book traces the Murdoch family’s entry into American journalism and the damage it has done. It also takes a look into the future of Murdoch’s news empire with him gone. This tandem of tomes should leave readers with thorough disgust, not reverence for a successful, but destructive organization.

    Go on, I dare you to read.

    Dave Rothenberg: Tom Brady is Interesting to Listen To

    BSM Staff
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    Future FOX Sports analyst Tom Brady elevated eyebrows with his harsh criticism of today’s play in the NFL while appearing with Stephen A. Smith. 98.7 ESPN New York host Dave Rothenberg believes Brady is coming out of his analyst shell.

    During DiPietro & Rothenberg Tuesday morning, the New York host played a clip of Brady calling today’s NFL action subpar, before reacting to the comments.

    “Interesting stuff. He’s good. He’s interesting to listen to,” Dave Rothenberg said after hearing Brady claim he would refuse to throw the ball over the middle while playing against Ray Lewis due to fearing his receivers being injured.

    “He is,” Rick DiPietro agreed. “We’ll see how that works in his broadcasting career — if that ends up happening. I don’t think he’s wrong. I think he’s right. You do see a lot of mediocre football.”

    DiPietro’s comment about Brady comes after speculation continues that the future Hall of Fame quarterback doesn’t ever call games for FOX Sports. Many have hypothesized that Brady was forced to accept the deal due to the very large salary the network agreed to pay him. However, in the same interview with Stephen A. Smith, Brady shared he’s already making preparations to join FOX next year.

    “I love preparing for this new opportunity at FOX and broadcasting,” Brady said. “[I have] talked to some amazing people who have given me great information, and now it’s about taking the time to really prepare and get out there and give people what they want

    Hard Knocks Director: NFL Films Has Built Trust With Teams

    BSM Staff
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    Hard Knocks Director: NFL Films Has Built Trust With Teams

    HBO Sports and NFL Films will premiere the first episode of the in-season edition of Hard Knocks with the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday night at 9 PM ET on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes of the acclaimed, 18-time Emmy award-winning series will debut on Tuesday through January 9th and then on each Tuesday during the team’s potential postseason run.

    Ahead of the team’s Black Friday matchup against the New York Jets, 560 WQAM morning host Joe Rose asked NFL Films producer and director Steve Trout about the process the league went through in securing the Dolphins for the series.

    “The league is constantly trying to figure out what teams are good fits for different projects and different shows,” Trout said. “I’m not exactly sure how that all went down, but once it was decided, the Dolphins have been open-arms [in] welcoming us…. You get organizations that [are] transparent and they’re okay with showing what’s happening because I think it’s very clear they believe in what’s happening.”

    The New York Jets appeared on the training camp edition of the show, which drew considerable interest and intrigue pertaining to the mystique surrounding new quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Throughout the program, Jets fans became accustomed to Rodgers and the impact he was having on the team, along with meetings between players and coaches and how they go about player development.

    The team lost Rodgers to an Achilles injury on its first offensive drive of the season, but the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player is trying to expedite his return to the field, perhaps during this season. Whereas the Jets’ edition of Hard Knocks took place in training camp and the preseason, the Dolphins are in the midst of contending for the Super Bowl and taking part in a similar, but modified production.

    “The August Hard Knocks is really six to eight times bigger than what we have here,” Trout said. “We’ve got to keep it small because we’re here for so much longer. I think what we’ve mastered over our 20 years of this is blending into the background and being the fly on the wall, and the model for this in-season has to be that way because you’re coming in – the plane’s already in flight – and so you’ve really got to make yourself small, yet still capture all that genuine gold if you will.”

    Rose remarked that the Dolphins team has felt like a fun group to follow throughout the season, a sentiment Trout backed by avouching that he cannot discern any change in demeanor or actions just because of the presence of cameras. For HBO Sports and NFL Films, that is a fundamental aspect of the production every time the company brings cameras around an organization, and the Dolphins have been, to Trout, among the most genuine to appear on the program.

    “Maybe people watch on a Sunday for three hours and they’re under a helmet and they’re football players,” Trout said. “Our goal is to make them dads and husbands and sons and friends, and so I think you’re going to see that tonight.”

    When the Jets were on the program before the season, there were reports that the team was limiting access to meetings where players were cut from the group ahead of the season. Because of this, Hard Knocks displayed these difficult moments utilizing different forms of storytelling and shot selections based on their inventory. The Dolphins do not seem to be limiting access to their team, nor is the team selectively removing parts of episodes beforehand unless they contain proprietary information that could influence competitive balance, such as play calls.

    “I think the reason, Joe, that NFL Films is able to do it is because of the trust; because teams trust us more than the FOXs or the ESPNs or the CBSs of the world,” Rose said. “They’re not watching the show to pick out scenes…. We’re just trying to tell a story, and they allow us to do that and tell the story because of that trust, and I think that’s been built up over the years.”

    Big Ten Network Sees Largest Audience Ever for Ohio State/Minnesota

    BSM Staff
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    Big Ten Network Sees Largest Audience Ever for Ohio State/Minnesota

    The Big Ten Network saw its largest-ever audience Saturday as #2 ranked Ohio State defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

    According to the network, more than 2 million viewers watched the Buckeyes 37-3 victory. It is the first event in Big Ten Network history to eclipse the two million viewer mark.

    Previously, the network’s largest audience was a 2021 football broadcast featuring Iowa and Nebraska. That game was held on Black Friday and drew 1.99 million viewers.

    The new high mark continues a trend of increased viewership on BTN this fall. The third most-watched game in the cable channel’s history came in September as Michigan defeated Rutgers in front of a television audience of 1.93 million.

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