ITEM ONE:

NFL FINISHES FIRST…SECOND…THIRD…& FOURTH FOR FIRST TIME!

Think America was ready for some NFL football this September?  Was it ever!  For the TV week of September 9-15, NFL games were the four most watched programs in all of television – the first time in history that NFL regular-season games swept the top four spots.  In first place, 19.1 million viewers watched the first ABC NFL Monday Night Football game of the year between New England and Pittsburgh (9/9).  In the second spot was the CBS national game (9/15) with 17.7 million viewers.  Third was the FOX single game (9/15) with 15.6 million, and fourth was the CBS regional game (9/15) with 14.8 million.  “If you look at attendance and TV viewership, the data is pretty clear that the NFL is the most popular sport in the United States,” says JAY COAKLEY, professor of sociology at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. 

ITEM TWO:

LOCALLY?  TOPS, TOO

All those numbers above are national ratings.  How did the NFL do locally in Week 2?  Almost perfect!  In 28 of the 30 NFL markets, the local team’s game finished as the top-rated show of the week, the first time ever that has happened.  The Green Bay Packers registered an amazing 71 “share” (percentage of sets turned on at that time that are tuned into the game), three clubs pulled at least a 60 share, and 10 had a 50 or more share.  In the New York “double-market,” the only reason the Giants-Rams game finished second was because Jets-Patriots placed first!         

ITEM THREE:

18-TO-34s SURGE IN NFL

“Something dramatic,” says the New York Times (9/20), “has happened two weeks into the NFL season.”  No the Times isn’t talking about high scoring, increased passing, or close games.  It’s talking about the sharp increases of NFL ratings among men ages 18 to 34, the key demographic for all advertisers.  “No single group is more important to mass sports broadcasting than young men,” says the Times.  And in that category this year, the NFL has soared with “notable ratings leaps.”    All four of its networks have shown increases in the category:  ESPN by 26 percent, ABC by 24, FOX by 12 and CBS by 11.  The Times cites many possible reasons for the spike in 18-to-34 ratings, such as the explosion in fantasy football…the advent of the Houston Texans in a large market…RICKY WILLIAMS with Miami, STEVE SPURRIER with Washington, and JOHN MADDEN with Monday Night Football…and the belief by NFL fans that all teams have a chance at the playoffs.  “Whatever,” as many of the 18-to-34s might say, the Times says that “more young men are passing the nachos and tuning in to pro football.”