Television programs are bound to see a drop in ratings at one point or another. It’s inevitable. But when a program sees continuous declines in the number of people tuning in (and in staying tuned in), it raises questions and concerns. The National Football League is busy trying to determine the cause of a consistent decline in ratings, particularly during primetime matchups.
One initial theory for the decline in ratings was the hustle and bustle of the election season. During the presidential debates, ratings for primetime games understandably suffered, but prior to the debates and after, the NFL has still seen a decline in the number of people tuning in.
Some blame the poor scheduling of teams, while others blame the high number of penalties called that drag out the length of the game. According to Brian Rolapp, NFL Media executive vice president and NFL Network president and chief executive, the league is looking to find ways to make games more interesting and hold audience’s attention. One reason Rolapp believes fans are frustrated is partly because of the number of commercials and the length of commercial breaks.
When addressed with the decline in ratings at a National Association of Broadcasters convention in New York, Rolapp said, “In a world where Netflix has no commercials and consumers are used to 15 seconds of pre-roll, is there a better way to do commercials with our broadcast partners?”
He then went on to add that while the league is “not overly surprised” by the drop in viewers tuning in, he said that they’re also “not overly worried about it” and said that the league is keeping an open mind and staying flexible regarding any changes.
When taking all possibilities into consideration, it looks like America’s ever shortening attention span can be the main culprit for the ratings drop. So now the question is whether the NFL will cater to our need for instant gratification and make the games more interesting and give us a reason to not tune into a different program.
