Well, I guess another way of looking at this is that MLS's ratings was 32.26% higher than the average for NBCSN's ratings for January. Link
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k I know I sound insane, but, I still believe it got more. When is the first NBC broadcast game being shown? I guess I can check on mlssoccer.com
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k Sept 15 It will be interesting to see what happens during the Olympics. I count 4 games during that span. No idea what sports NBC plans on showing on NBCSN.
Relevant story. My friend called me 20 minutes into the NY-FCD game and said the game wasn't on. Turns out, he had tuned into NBC (the network). He didn't know that NBC Sports Network even existed. It takes time and effort to build awareness of a product. NBC-Comcast still has work to do.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k how far MLS needs to go in the US. The Canadian match-up was over 500K viewers I think...
I somehow thought it was going to be on NBC broadcast, and didn't notice it was on NBCS until a day before the game. Pretty sad, as I should have been paying more attention. I'd been wrapped up watching pre-season and the hype around it and missed the announcement.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k On what I posted in the other thread, where you mentioned people never complain about Nielsen if the ratings are good? I just don't believe the ratings are accurate, would rather see the cable companies tv ratings, which, despite the privacy issue, would have a larger portion of the population than a Nielsen household. Believe them if you want, I won't lose any sleep.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k You may not believe the ratings are accurate but a lot of companies with millions of dollars to spend believe they are accurate.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k Yes, I know this, and they can throw their money where ever they want.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k An unhyped, mid-day Sunday soccer game on an obscure network had relatively poor ratings. Shocking ...
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k 82K isn't very good but you have to factor in a few things such as the fact that not many people are aware of NBC Sports Network yet and some people thought the game was on NBC. The ratings may have been higher if it was NY vs LA or Seattle. As the season progresses I think more fans will be aware of MLS on NBC Sports Network and get used to tuning in to watch. I think if 100-150K tune in per game NBC would be pretty content. Jon Miller of NBC Sports is gunning for at least 0.3 per game on NBCSN and 1.0 for games on NBC.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k I think you're right. I probably would have never heard or even watched NBCS had they not purchased NHL when it was Versus. I tend to stick with FSC, and , some ESPN.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k It doesn't help the MLS that the majority of people I talk to that are potential MLS fans have never heard of the NBCSN. I had someone refer to the channel as the one with all the hunting and fishing shows. I know the Yahoo article made the point that they rated higher then the MLS match on opening day. I think the problem is it's pretty hard to sell games on a network the majority of neutrals don't watch the promos between your hunting and fishing shows. The NBCSN needs to get more attractive programming on their network and indirectly that will help the MLS ratings. For the time being I don't expect massive growth in viewership. The experiment seemed promising but the reality has been disappointing so far, non-MLS programming on the network is pretty dull. I'm not even sure a "network" was the way to go. Your never going to compete with ESPN, it's a monster and it continues to grow. I think they should focus on... 1) Showing games from a range of sports . 2) HBO style documentaries and talk shows. Making that type of show more available to people who don't have HBO subscriptions. Maybe even fictional sports based television shows. 3) Reality TV, which might bring more awareness then anything. From people who aren't even interested in sports. My mom knows nothing about sports but she knows all about T.O. because of his show. While that hasn't attracted her as a fan of the NFL I feel like that sort of exposure benefits the league and whatever channel it's on indirectly. I think trying to directly compete with ESPN is a decision the might end up regretting. They should be trying to complement ESPN and offer things they don't.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k Well, 0.3 would be at least 450,000 viewers a game so that would be a 450% increase over this weekend's numbers. If they don't get this turned around in a hurry, and in a massive way, they won't reach that during this contract. A 1.0 on NBC is plausible by 2014, but only if they work for it.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k What does a regular season NHL game do on this network? That is more of a key comparison then anything else. Also > FSC = improvement. Improvement = good/
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k How do you like their NHL coverage? In terms of quality is it better than MLS?
That's the whole problem with the re-branding. People say "NBC Sports" and people think the broadcast network. I don't think they did a good job educating the public that Versus and NBC Sports Net are the same exact thing. You could lose a good 100,000 viewers on something like that.
Re: MLS Debut on NBC Sports 82k Keep in mind that's a big reason the NBC Sports Group got MLS in the first place. They needed more original programming and more sports. But I see where you're coming from. It would be interesting to see what the ratings would be like if they had MLS after a NHL game.
For the opinions of Baby Boomers to be irrelevant. They've been dampening our worldly, soccer oriented views for far too long. RFrancisR would randomize the Nielsen process by ignoring everyone over 40, since they're randomly irrelevant to us at BigSoccer (unless you like soccer or you're Ron Paul).