The draft had better ratings than all NBA and NHL playoffs Thursday night:
@Ourand_SBJ Overnights:
ESPN NFL Draft: 6.8
ESPN2 Blazers-Spurs 2.7
ESPN2 Heat-Nets: 2.6
NFL Net NFL Draft: 1.9
NBCSN Bos-Montreal 1.2
NBCSN Ana-LA: 0.7
NFL Draft's Huge TV Ratings Remind Us Football Is Still King In America
http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-draft-first-round-tv-ratings-2014-5
The first round of the NFL Draft posted a huge 6.8 overnight rating on ESPN, the highest rating ever for the draft.
A 6.8 rating translates to an average of 7.9 million households throughout the night.
To get a better sense of how big a 6.8 rating, consider this:
* The actual number of people who watched was even higher as the draft was also broadcast on the NFL Network.
* The draft went head-to-head with a Miami Heat playoff game.
* In last year's NBA playoffs, there were 78 games prior to the Finals. Only one game, game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals (Heat-Pacers), posted a better rating (7.1) than last night's draft.
* Those 78 games had an average rating of 2.7.
* In last year's Major League Baseball playoffs, there were 32 games prior to the World Series. The highest-rated game was game six of the American League Championship Series (Red Sox-Tigers) which posted a 5.5 rating.
* Those 32 games averaged a 3.0 rating.
The good news for the other leagues is that the NBA Finals (10.4 average rating over 7 games) and the World Series (9.0 average rating over 6 games) still draw more people to the television than the NFL Draft.
But the gap is narrowing.
And for those who complain that the draft should be moved back to April....well...that's obviously not going to happen.
It's funny. I complain about the hype. But once I watched a show I needed to catch up on Thursday evening, I had the draft on all night.
Didn't watch one second of it. And I'm a big NFL fan.
It's just too much. Too much Berman. Too much Mel. Too much self importance. Too much hearing everybody say "National Football League" four times per sentence.
I get why folks like it, though. Thank goodness for choice!
Quote from: MU82 on May 11, 2014, 09:06:09 PM
Too much hearing everybody say "National Football League" four times per sentence.
Yes!! Drives me CRAZY the way Greg Gumbel takes 6 seconds to say N C A A on CBS. Branding at its most nauseating.