View Full Version : Beckham Debut Rating Is In
monster
23 Jul 2007, 07:15 PM
It's a 1.2 (http://everythingbutthegame.blogspot.com/2007/07/beckhams-overnight-nielsen-rating-on.html)
MasterShake29
23 Jul 2007, 08:01 PM
That's pretty darn good, no?
crookeddy
23 Jul 2007, 08:02 PM
That's pretty darn good, no?
It's not SPECTACULAR....
Panfilo
23 Jul 2007, 08:56 PM
Whats that like the 15th highest rated soccer game for the month of July. ;)
Cpt_K
23 Jul 2007, 11:16 PM
I wonder what the ratings are like for other sports that air on Saturday Night on ESPN that isn't college football.
QPR Kevin H
24 Jul 2007, 10:57 AM
So, great for MLS, but not necessarily in the range of big matches on Univision? And not in the range for the super high rated cable sports like Nascar, etc? Couple million viewers... I'll take it!
I would be worried if I was MLS. This was probably the most hyped MLS game ever, or at least in a very long time. According to the Associated Press it garnered a 1.0 rating and was watched by 1.4 million people. Approx. 1% of the ESPN homes tuned in. If you threw a test pattern on ESPN you could get close to that many I would guess.
I would love to see Beckham do well and get more people excited about the sport, but if people aren't tuning in for that match, they're not going to be turning in when they play Columbus or Colorado.
jd6885
24 Jul 2007, 03:31 PM
Wow. That's quite a bit lower than expect, considering they did play CHELSEA...
a) it was a friendly
b) Beckham only played 12 minutes, and even that was more than was being predicted, and promoted, in the runup to the game. Very few people thought he would play at all. Had he been fully healthy I'm certain that number would have been higher.
1.2 is pretty damn good for soccer, and unheard of for an MLS friendly; only the MLS cup gets a higher rating on average for MLS broadcasts. International tournaments get quite a higher rating.
BocaFan
24 Jul 2007, 04:25 PM
a) it was a friendly
Which matters how? If anything friendlies seem to be a bigger deal in MLS-world than (barely) meaningful league matches.
b) Beckham only played 12 minutes, and even that was more than was being predicted, and promoted, in the runup to the game. Very few people thought he would play at all. Had he been fully healthy I'm certain that number would have been higher.
Since i assume the 1.2 was an average rating over the 2 hours, this was probably a big contributor to the somewhat low rating.
Of course, if people are only interested in Becks when there are stars like John Terry, Lampard, Shevchenko and Donovan on the pitch, then that's not a good thing.
1.2 is pretty damn good for soccer, and unheard of for an MLS friendly;
If only the majority of that 1.2 were real football supporters. Then we'd have something to cheer about...
MasterShake29
24 Jul 2007, 06:20 PM
Wow. That's quite a bit lower than expect, considering they did play CHELSEA...
Expected by whom?
QPR Kevin H
25 Jul 2007, 09:47 AM
Which matters how? If anything friendlies seem to be a bigger deal in MLS-world than (barely) meaningful league matches.
Of course, if people are only interested in Becks when there are stars like John Terry, Lampard, Shevchenko and Donovan on the pitch, then that's not a good thing.
Chelsea playing in this match was of no significance whatsoever (well maybe to those curious about Beckham playing against an English club). A pre-season match is not going to draw fans that are seasoned soccer viewers. Honestly, why would they care about Chelsea right now, when in a few weeks they can see Chelsea play Liverpool in a properly competitive match?
I know some people that are die-hard MLS fans put a lot of value in these summer friendlies, but they're hardly must see TV for those who follow European leagues. Did that have an effect on the ratings - probably not.
This was a celebrity entertainment event - similar to other ESPN/EOE style programming. The rating was probably slightly under some of the other ESPN entertainment prime-time shows of late - 2.2 million people watched The Bronx is Burning premiere - 2.8 million watched the ESPY's.
Which matters how?
Kevin already answered this better than I could have.
Of course, if people are only interested in Becks when there are stars like John Terry, Lampard, Shevchenko and Donovan on the pitch, then that's not a good thing.
I really dont think that's going to be the case. People will tune in for a variety of reasons...the novelty, the show, and probably somewhere in there for the quality of play they think they might see out of Becks. I'm not sure any of that is true in this country of anyone OTHER than Beckham at the moment, at least not to the casual fan, certainly not Terry and Lampard and Shevchenko, who, while undoubtedly great players, could never get the attention Beckham gets.
SoFla Metro
25 Jul 2007, 07:59 PM
From a PR standpoint, it was a major win. It's being compared to previous MLS broadcasts on ESPN rather than Saturday night broadcasts on ESPN, which is good for MLS (I think). Overall very positive.
Miles360
25 Jul 2007, 09:00 PM
There are players in Galaxy's roster that can assist Beckham much better than Donovan who is the biggest joke, total non-performer, overrated stiff there is in the sport! Uggggggghhhh.
kstuart
25 Jul 2007, 09:47 PM
August 9th.
City Dave
31 Jul 2007, 09:46 AM
There are players in Galaxy's roster that can assist Beckham much better than Donovan who is the biggest joke, total non-performer, overrated stiff there is in the sport! Uggggggghhhh.
Who's sockpuppet are you? :rolleyes:
tab5g
02 Aug 2007, 05:00 PM
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/07/televisionweeks_sports_rating.php
this listing, that gives Source: Nielsen Media Research as a source, has:
National Ratings for Week of July 16-22, 2007
Event -- Outlet, Household Rating | Rating Men 18-49
MLS Soccer (Chelsea-L.A. Galaxy) -- ESPN, 0.9 | 1.1
MLS Soccer (Chelsea-L.A. Galaxy) -- Telefutura, 0.4 | 0.5
tab5g
02 Aug 2007, 05:02 PM
If only the majority of that 1.2 were real football supporters. Then we'd have something to cheer about...
how do you know the level of "realness" for these viewers as football supporters?
i don't think advertisers/sponsors (those who use the Nielsen data as currency) care about anything but eyeballs and viewers. the passion of the viewers is unimportant, as long as they are tuned to the content, that's all ratings represent.
City Dave
03 Aug 2007, 09:12 AM
Well, ESPN must have been happy. I got this in my inbox this morning from MLSnet:
ESPN2 Special: Galaxy at TFC Sunday
ESPN2 Primetime Thursday makes a special engagement this week when the network broadcasts LA Galaxy at Toronto FC live on Sunday, Aug. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET. David Beckham is expected to be on hand in front of a sold-out crowd of TFC faithful who will be out in full force in their ESPN2 debut.
'The Deuce' also has another hotly-contested match when the second-place Wizards travel to East-leading New England tonight at 7 p.m. ET