NFL lands 37 of top 50 rated television shows of 2017, proves demise has been greatly exaggerated

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Source: Touchdown Wire (USA Today), by Michael Colangelo


Remember all those thought pieces about how the NFL is losing its grip on America? Ratings are down! People hate players kneeling! It’s all Colin Kaepernick’s fault! The ratings are so bad that Papa John had to step in and blame the NFL for falling pizza sales. The league will never recover. Those NFL boycotts are working . . . or none of that is happening and the NFL is still the rule of American entertainment.

The NFL owns 13 of the top 20 and 37 of the top 50 most watched programs of 2017. So ratings are down for the NFL, but ratings are down for everything. The NFL still gives advertisers and partners the best and widest access to customers and viewers.

Live programming played in 2015, 2016, and 2017. It will play in 2018. It’s what grabs viewers and forces them to watch because they can’t delay it. They can’t record it and not have it ruined. They can’t have social media slow down and ignore it. The NFL is still the best sports product on television. It’s the best thing for advertisers. It’s the most watched piece of content. The problem about pointing to the NFL’s ratings decline — and it is declining — is that it doesn’t seem that bad in comparison to everything else. Everything is declining.

Here is the full list of the top 50 programs. Everything is live. Normal broadcast sitcoms and programs aren’t represented. The NFL’s only real competition is President Trump, and unless he starts slinging Trump shirts and Trump steaks and Trump properties during actual speeches, the NFL is the best thing for advertising men and women.

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Read the rest at: http://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2018/01/02/nfl-lands-37-of-top-50-rated-television-shows-of-2017-proves-demise-has-been-greatly-exaggerated/