Sifting through the froth and smoke around viewership metrics is more difficult than ever. With a doubleheader on Monday night, ESPN and ABC had plenty of additional material for spinning and smoking.
Here are the basic, unprocessed figures. 7.9 million people watched Titans-Bills on ESPN on average across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes. The average viewership for Vikings-Eagles on ABC and ESPN+ was 12.9 million. Both numbers are not particularly impressive, which probably has something to do with the fact that neither game was particularly captivating.
The Disney P.R. spin doctors have fabricated a higher figure for the overall audience during the (for many) infuriating two-game overlap. An average of 20.6 million viewers watched the two games simultaneously across all networks. That number is higher than the typical attendance for the entire Broncos-Seahawks game in Week 1.
It ought to. There were two games. Four fandoms. Additionally, the outcome of the game (Vikings-Eagles) that was being shown on the larger network was unknown throughout the overlap.
With a six-hour ManningCast marathon preceding the back-to-back games, the issue of whether two games may do better now arises. The following year, ESPN and ABC (operating with the NFL) might give it a shot.
Login To Leave a Comment