New Big Ten Media Rights Deal

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#151      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Virtue4 said:
Thought this was interesting:

View attachment 19285
Click to expand...
Here's a corresponding article: https://medium.com/run-it-back-with...ms-were-the-most-watched-in-2021-49ef4f315858.

Note that this is appears to be TV viewers only, which I believe doesn't include streaming numbers for whatever network those games were on (i.e. UI's #s don't include people who streamed on BTN or Fox Sports apps/websites).

edit--per the page "Streaming numbers are included when available. Games that do not have available data are counted as zero." --so this isn't truly apples to apples since they didn't report what values include streaming and what don't.

Interesting that UI is nominally behind UCLA and ever so slightly ahead of USC. It kind of changes my enthusiasm level for adding them to the B1G.

It also realy sucks to be behind IU in these metrics but maybe that's because Hoosiers don't know how to stream.

Also:
Stanford at 46, Cal at 74.
 
#152      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Here's the whole list. B1G is bolded, SEC italicized for your viewing pleasure

Ranking the most-watched college football programs in 2021​

The numbers next to each school indicate the average number of viewers per week for a 12-week season.

Streaming numbers are included when available. Games that do not have available data are counted as zero.

  1. Ohio State — 5.22M
  2. Michigan — 4.74M
  3. Alabama — 4.64M
  4. Penn State — 3.87M
  5. Georgia — 3.61M
  6. Oklahoma — 3.46M
  7. Auburn — 3.22M
  8. Michigan State — 2.89M
  9. Notre Dame — 2.84M
  10. Oregon — 2.57M
  11. Wisconsin — 2.41M
  12. Nebraska — 2.29M
  13. Texas — 2.26M
  14. Florida — 2.21M
  15. Arkansas — 2.03M
  16. LSU — 1.90M
  17. Texas A&M — 1.86M
  18. Mississippi — 1.81M
  19. Clemson — 1.74M
  20. Iowa — 1.64M
  21. Purdue — 1.63M
  22. Oklahoma State — 1.58M
  23. Tennessee — 1.51M
  24. Minnesota — 1.28M
  25. Florida State — 1.27M
  26. Indiana — 1.24M
  27. Iowa State — 1.219M
  28. Cincinnati — 1.216M
  29. UCLA — 1.18M
  30. Baylor — 1.16M
  31. Illinois — 1.13M
  32. Southern Cal — 1.11M
  33. Kentucky — 1.08M
  34. Navy — 1.039M
  35. Miami — 1.038M
  36. North Carolina — 1.032M
  37. Utah — 994K
  38. Washington — 985K
  39. Maryland — 971K
  40. West Virginia — 948K
  41. TCU — 907K
  42. BYU — 893K
  43. Mississippi State — 858K
  44. Army — 804K
  45. Texas Tech — 798K
  46. Stanford — 778K
  47. Arizona State — 739K
  48. Northwestern — 716K
  49. Boise State — 657K
  50. Kansas State — 636K
  51. Louisville — 616K
  52. Virginia — 611K
  53. South Carolina — 575K
  54. Pittsburgh — 550K
  55. Kansas — 540K
  56. Wake Forest — 526K
  57. NC State — 525K
  58. Rutgers — 488K
  59. Washington State — 483K
  60. Missouri — 462K
  61. Georgia Tech — 459K
  62. Virginia Tech — 447K
  63. UCF — 407K
  64. Colorado — 366K
  65. Tulsa — 358K
  66. Tulane — 356K
  67. Arizona — 337K
  68. Louisiana — 334K
  69. Oregon State — 321K
  70. South Florida — 303K
  71. East Carolina — 301K
  72. Air Force — 255K
  73. Appalachian State — 241K
  74. Houston — 232K
  75. Coastal Carolina — 223K
  76. California — 222K
  77. Syracuse — 219K
  78. San Diego State — 198K
  79. Memphis — 193K
  80. Western Michigan — 171K
  81. SMU — 164K
  82. UAB — 163K
  83. Northern Illinois — 163K
  84. Boston College — 156K
  85. Hawaii — 139K
  86. Ohio — 130K
  87. Eastern Michigan — 122K
  88. Buffalo — 119K
  89. Kent State — 117K
  90. Temple — 112.7K
  91. Ball State — 112.6K
  92. Western Kentucky — 97K
  93. Utah State — 91K
  94. Akron — 90K
  95. Marshall — 85K
  96. Nevada — 78K
  97. Duke — 64K
  98. UTEP — 63K
  99. Colorado State — 59K
  100. San Jose State — 59K
  101. UTSA — 51.9K
  102. Georgia State — 51.7K
  103. ULM — 50K
  104. Fresno State — 45K
  105. Wyoming — 38K
  106. Vanderbilt — 37K
  107. UNLV — 34K
  108. South Alabama — 26K
  109. New Mexico — 25K
  110. Troy — 24K
 
#153      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
Those TV numbers have us sitting in a better position than I would have guessed. There are quite a few decent programs below us. I would aspire for us to be ahead of IU, Purdue, and Minnesota, and its not out of the realm of possibility if we can raise the floor to 6 wins.

One thought about Peacock: I remember reading somewhere that NBC got Roundball Rock back for their Olympic basketball coverage last year. I wonder if they got the rights back in full, and if they are going to use it for Peacock basketball coverage. Its a minor touch, but having Roundball Rock with rainbow peacock logo might tickle 90s nostalgia enough to make it feel right. I never really bought into the song's use for Fox college basketball. Admittedly a very small priority, but it would help me I think.
 
#156      

spotter

S
spotter
Calm Down Saturday Night Live GIF by Seeso
 
#157      

the juiceman cometh

T
the juiceman cometh
Ransom Stoddard said:
Here's the whole list. B1G is bolded, SEC italicized for your viewing pleasure

Ranking the most-watched college football programs in 2021​

The numbers next to each school indicate the average number of viewers per week for a 12-week season.

Streaming numbers are included when available. Games that do not have available data are counted as zero.

  1. Ohio State — 5.22M
  2. Michigan — 4.74M
  3. Alabama — 4.64M
  4. Penn State — 3.87M
  5. Georgia — 3.61M
  6. Oklahoma — 3.46M
  7. Auburn — 3.22M
  8. Michigan State — 2.89M
  9. Notre Dame — 2.84M
  10. Oregon — 2.57M
  11. Wisconsin — 2.41M
  12. Nebraska — 2.29M
  13. Texas — 2.26M
  14. Florida — 2.21M
  15. Arkansas — 2.03M
  16. LSU — 1.90M
  17. Texas A&M — 1.86M
  18. Mississippi — 1.81M
  19. Clemson — 1.74M
  20. Iowa — 1.64M
  21. Purdue — 1.63M
  22. Oklahoma State — 1.58M
  23. Tennessee — 1.51M
  24. Minnesota — 1.28M
  25. Florida State — 1.27M
  26. Indiana — 1.24M
  27. Iowa State — 1.219M
  28. Cincinnati — 1.216M
  29. UCLA — 1.18M
  30. Baylor — 1.16M
  31. Illinois — 1.13M
  32. Southern Cal — 1.11M
  33. Kentucky — 1.08M
  34. Navy — 1.039M
  35. Miami — 1.038M
  36. North Carolina — 1.032M
  37. Utah — 994K
  38. Washington — 985K
  39. Maryland — 971K
  40. West Virginia — 948K
  41. TCU — 907K
  42. BYU — 893K
  43. Mississippi State — 858K
  44. Army — 804K
  45. Texas Tech — 798K
  46. Stanford — 778K
  47. Arizona State — 739K
  48. Northwestern — 716K
  49. Boise State — 657K
  50. Kansas State — 636K
  51. Louisville — 616K
  52. Virginia — 611K
  53. South Carolina — 575K
  54. Pittsburgh — 550K
  55. Kansas — 540K
  56. Wake Forest — 526K
  57. NC State — 525K
  58. Rutgers — 488K
  59. Washington State — 483K
  60. Missouri — 462K
  61. Georgia Tech — 459K
  62. Virginia Tech — 447K
  63. UCF — 407K
  64. Colorado — 366K
  65. Tulsa — 358K
  66. Tulane — 356K
  67. Arizona — 337K
  68. Louisiana — 334K
  69. Oregon State — 321K
  70. South Florida — 303K
  71. East Carolina — 301K
  72. Air Force — 255K
  73. Appalachian State — 241K
  74. Houston — 232K
  75. Coastal Carolina — 223K
  76. California — 222K
  77. Syracuse — 219K
  78. San Diego State — 198K
  79. Memphis — 193K
  80. Western Michigan — 171K
  81. SMU — 164K
  82. UAB — 163K
  83. Northern Illinois — 163K
  84. Boston College — 156K
  85. Hawaii — 139K
  86. Ohio — 130K
  87. Eastern Michigan — 122K
  88. Buffalo — 119K
  89. Kent State — 117K
  90. Temple — 112.7K
  91. Ball State — 112.6K
  92. Western Kentucky — 97K
  93. Utah State — 91K
  94. Akron — 90K
  95. Marshall — 85K
  96. Nevada — 78K
  97. Duke — 64K
  98. UTEP — 63K
  99. Colorado State — 59K
  100. San Jose State — 59K
  101. UTSA — 51.9K
  102. Georgia State — 51.7K
  103. ULM — 50K
  104. Fresno State — 45K
  105. Wyoming — 38K
  106. Vanderbilt — 37K
  107. UNLV — 34K
  108. South Alabama — 26K
  109. New Mexico — 25K
  110. Troy — 24K
Click to expand...
I'm skeptical of these numbers because of the streaming issue you pointed out. I feel like there has to be a better method of handling instances of not having streaming numbers. You should be able to at least come up with a rough estimate by extrapolation. But if there's any accuracy to this it should rule out Cal joining. They're three spots behind Appalachian St.!
 
#158      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
NJJ871 said:
The absence of "Chicago's Team" on this list is a reminder that Cal (especially) and Stanford being in metro SF doesn't automatically equate to viewers.
Click to expand...
But it DOES equal cable subscriptions. Every cable company would pick up BTN.

The real interesting hypothetical is the Big Ten is dying (lol), and someone like the Big XII is in our position, pretty much expanding at will. If they were trying to get Big XII Network on cable in Chicago, would adding NU be sure to deliver? I’m INCLINED to say yes, but it’s honestly not a 100% sure thing, IMO. Adding Illinois obviously gets it done.
 
#159      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Ransom Stoddard said:
Here's a corresponding article: https://medium.com/run-it-back-with...ms-were-the-most-watched-in-2021-49ef4f315858.

Note that this is appears to be TV viewers only, which I believe doesn't include streaming numbers for whatever network those games were on (i.e. UI's #s don't include people who streamed on BTN or Fox Sports apps/websites).

edit--per the page "Streaming numbers are included when available. Games that do not have available data are counted as zero." --so this isn't truly apples to apples since they didn't report what values include streaming and what don't.

Interesting that UI is nominally behind UCLA and ever so slightly ahead of USC. It kind of changes my enthusiasm level for adding them to the B1G.

It also realy sucks to be behind IU in these metrics but maybe that's because Hoosiers don't know how to stream.

Also:
Stanford at 46, Cal at 74.
Click to expand...
IU had games vs. Michigan, OSU, PSU and MSU, usually at good times (IIRC). I don’t think this speaks to IU viewers so much as IU matchups.
 
#160      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
Fighter of the Nightman said:
But it DOES equal cable subscriptions. Every cable company would pick up BTN.

The real interesting hypothetical is the Big Ten is dying (lol), and someone like the Big XII is in our position, pretty much expanding at will. If they were trying to get Big XII Network on cable in Chicago, would adding NU be sure to deliver? I’m INCLINED to say yes, but it’s honestly not a 100% sure thing, IMO. Adding Illinois obviously gets it done.
Click to expand...
You are right. Given BTN’s track record it seems likely it gets done. But given that Marquee Network is basically only on Comcast, it’s not impossible for deals for not come through.
 
#161      

Illwinsagain

Illwinsagain
Cary, IL
Illwinsagain
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1561850333294481409

Click to expand...
Once again, I am very happy to have Josh as our AD. He may or may not be the best AD in the country, but I do believe that he is the best AD for us. His enthusiasm for the University is impossible to hide. I really hope that he doesn't get visions of grandeur and run for office or try to be the head of the NCAA or something like that. I am sure he could be very successful, but I doubt as happy as he appears to be. It could just be my orange tinted glasses or spiked orange kool-aid, but he is getting paid well to do a job that he appears to love.
 
#162      

ktal

ktal
ktal
Key sentence: These media rights don't include money from bowls, the NCAA tournament, the college football playoff, or radio. So there's a significant slice of annual revenue yet to be tallied. On top of that, B1G should be getting a slice of sub-licensing, such as Amazon's deal with DirectTV, to show the Thursday night games in bars and restaurants. And I would expect more tie-ups for on-demand deals to show games after game day.

I think streaming will be a much bigger slice of the market when this is renegotiated in 2030. I'm glad this contract is already building those relationships.
 
#163      

redwingillini11

redwingillini11
White and Sixth
North Aurora
redwingillini11
New The Athletic article about the process for selecting games to air on Peacock:
theathletic.com

What Big Ten football games will be Peacock-exclusive? Here's how NBC will decide

You won't find Ohio State-Michigan sent straight to Peacock, but don't expect it to be just snoozers either, a network executive says.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
What can we learn? Not much.
That said, not all of the Peacock-only games will be decided or announced before the season. The network plans to hold off on some scheduling decisions until later in the season to take advantage of developing storylines such as Cinderella teams and players chasing the Heisman or significant records, and busts.
...
While it may seem that less-than-thrilling games would be throw-aways to bury on streaming — is there much audience potential for, say, a lowly Rutgers team hosting a mediocre UCLA squad in November? — that’s not always the case and runs counter to what the network is trying to build. Rivalries and meaningful games between good teams are likely to end up on Peacock alongside probable groaners. There are only so many broadcast TV windows available, too, so some quality games are going to end up on streaming.
...
That said, marquee matchups are going to remain on linear TV, plus streaming, for the foreseeable future.
...
The process to decide Peacock-only games will include consulting the conference, too. Cordella declined to disclose details about any veto process, so it’s unclear if NBC ultimately makes the final call — although that seems likely. That said, it’s not in anyone’s financial self-interest to run afoul of the other partner. The network is confident it’ll be able to make the case for why a game is on TV or why it’s on only Peacock.
Click to expand...

Basically:
1. They won't only put bottom-feeder teams on Peacock, because they want interesting games to drive long term subscriptions.
2. They won't put the best matchups on there, obviously.
3. The conference will be involved in the process, but we don't know how much.

To me, this means we are likely to see a bunch of mid-tier matchups involving one good team like Illinois-Wisconsin, Northwestern-Ohio State, Michigan-Maryland, and maybe even a Purdue-Indiana.
 
#164      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
redwingillini11 said:
New The Athletic article about the process for selecting games to air on Peacock:
theathletic.com

What Big Ten football games will be Peacock-exclusive? Here's how NBC will decide

You won't find Ohio State-Michigan sent straight to Peacock, but don't expect it to be just snoozers either, a network executive says.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
What can we learn? Not much.


Basically:
1. They won't only put bottom-feeder teams on Peacock, because they want interesting games to drive long term subscriptions.
2. They won't put the best matchups on there, obviously.
3. The conference will be involved in the process, but we don't know how much.

To me, this means we are likely to see a bunch of mid-tier matchups involving one good team like Illinois-Wisconsin, Northwestern-Ohio State, Michigan-Maryland, and maybe even a Purdue-Indiana.
Click to expand...
This won't be rocket science. The top 3 games will be on the networks, and the next best will be on Peacock for those 8 weeks, with an emphasis toward spreading the Peacock games to include all of the largest fanbases to force them to sign up.
 
#165      

KBLEE

KBLEE
Montgomery, IL
KBLEE
They did a similar thing a few years ago when the EPL games went to streaming. They made sure that each team played at least one match on NBC Gold (app prior to Peacock launch). I would guess they will try to do this for football as well. The last 2 years, Notre Dame has had a Peacock exclusive game as well. They are just trying to drive subscriptions.
 
#166      

IlliniFaninHoosierLand

IlliniFaninHoosierLand
IlliniFaninHoosierLand
KBLEE said:
They did a similar thing a few years ago when the EPL games went to streaming. They made sure that each team played at least one match on NBC Gold (app prior to Peacock launch).
Click to expand...

I will say that Goal Rush (I think that's what they call it?) is one of the more enjoyable things to have on Peacock during EPL season.
 
#167      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
Re: the future of the Big Ten, this may be old news but I just noticed there are no longer any conference games listed in the "Future Schedules" page on the team website.

Zero doubt divisions will be scrapped for 2024 when USC and UCLA arrive, but c'mon man, give us one more year to savor the beefy Midwestern excellence of the B1G West.
 
#168      

superfan

superfan
superfan
Fighter of the Nightman said:
IU had games vs. Michigan, OSU, PSU and MSU, usually at good times (IIRC). I don’t think this speaks to IU viewers so much as IU matchups.
Click to expand...
I had the same reaction when I saw where IU landed on the list. I could also explain Minny and Purdue since they had much better seasons and played meaningful games.

Then I started mentally making a "masochist index" of the fanbases with the most loyalty (using this list as a proxy) and least reward (based on recent football success). Holy guacamole. If our fans aren't #1 by that math, then I pity whoever is.
 
#169      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
superfan said:
Then I started mentally making a "masochist index" of the fanbases with the most loyalty (using this list as a proxy) and least reward (based on recent football success). Holy guacamole. If our fans aren't #1 by that math, then I pity whoever is.
Click to expand...
When it comes to fans really truly caring in massive numbers as it all collapses around them, seems like a two-horse race between Tennessee and Nebraska. With Florida State teetering into that territory.

That trio must have been ranked 1-2-3 at some point in the late 90's, and look at them now.

Historically speaking, South Carolina also deserves credit for being incredibly well supported despite minimal success.

Illini fans don't care enough about football to be on that list, let's be real. Basketball is a different story when it comes to our lost decade of the 2010's.
 
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#170      

superfan

superfan
superfan
ChiefGritty said:
When it comes to fans really truly caring in massive numbers as it all collapses around them, seems like a two-horse race between Tennessee and Nebraska. With Florida State teetering into that territory.

That trio must have been ranked 1-2-3 at some point in the late 90's, and look at them now.

Historically speaking, South Carolina also deserves credit for being incredibly well supported despite minimal success.

Illini fans don't care enough about football to be on that list, let's be real. Basketball is a different story when it comes to our lost decade of the 2010's.
Click to expand...

Ok. Given how discussions usually unfold on this forum (i.e., benign post > unnecessary contrarian response > meaningless argument), I probably should have included the following statement:

Disclaimer: This fictional index is not scientific. For entertainment and discussion purposes only.

Nebraska is a fantastic add, though I'd have to rename it the "delusion index." Tennessee went 7-6 last year and .500 in the SEC so their viewership passed the sniff test.

For all of the hand-wringing, Illini fans cared enough to double up South Carolina in 2021 viewership. Not sure why you'd include the Gamecocks but exclude the Illini.
 
#171      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiefGritty said:
When it comes to fans really truly caring in massive numbers as it all collapses around them, seems like a two-horse race between Tennessee and Nebraska. With Florida State teetering into that territory.

That trio must have been ranked 1-2-3 at some point in the late 90's, and look at them now.

Historically speaking, South Carolina also deserves credit for being incredibly well supported despite minimal success.

Illini fans don't care enough about football to be on that list, let's be real. Basketball is a different story when it comes to our lost decade of the 2010's.
Click to expand...
I don’t know … if we have a 6-6 season, our big games the following year will have at least 50-55k if we’re projected to be decent. That’s full crowds at a place like Minnesota or Oregon… can Duke or Wake Forest say the same?? Lol, because they’re sadly our peers record-wise over the last three decades!

You can say that those schools will fill their smaller stadiums "better" with a smaller alumni base, but my point is this:

We don't JUST have a pathetic football record over the last three decades; we have gone up and down in a fashion that absolutely destroys fan morale and acts as an emotional dagger for younger fans looking to pick a team. The fact that 35k will be in the stands of Memorial Stadium (almost) no matter what is actually kind of astounding. We compare our attendance to Iowa and Wisconsin, but we shouldn't. We have been SO MUCH WORSE than those programs, yet our online presence and attendance (when we show signs of life) is actually surprisingly good. If we had the record of Wisconsin over the last several decades, does anyone here not think we'd have over 70k in the stands?
 
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#173      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
superfan said:
For all of the hand-wringing, Illini fans cared enough to double up South Carolina in 2021 viewership. Not sure why you'd include the Gamecocks but exclude the Illini.
Click to expand...
Illinois played on network TV against way more popular opponents twice (after being on network only twice in the preceding five full regular seasons), whereas South Carolina wasn't on network TV at all, and that dumb methodology counts their game exclusive to ESPN+ as a zero.

The eyeballs are in large part just a function of what channel you're on and when. That's why the deal that is the subject of this thread is was so sought after by the league.

And anyway, to compare apples to apples, both teams had one conference game that was an 11AM start on ESPN2. UI/Minny week 10 was 595k viewers, SCar/Tenn week 6 was 795k.

UTSA/Illinois got a zero rating and had only a quarter of the viewership as a same week Boise State/UCF game that started at 9:40PM on a weeknight.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

College Football TV Ratings

College football TV ratings for the 2023 regular season, bowls, College Football Playoff and National Championship.
www.sportsmediawatch.com www.sportsmediawatch.com

Lots of fun to peruse, check it out.
 
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#174      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
ChiefGritty said:
Illinois played on network TV against way more popular opponents twice (after being on network only twice in the preceding five full regular seasons), whereas South Carolina wasn't on network TV at all, and that dumb methodology counts their game exclusive to ESPN+ as a zero.

The eyeballs are in large part just a function of what channel you're on and when. That's why the deal that is the subject of this thread is was so sought after by the league.

And anyway, to compare apples to apples, both teams had one conference game that was an 11AM start on ESPN2. UI/Minny week 10 was 595k viewers, SCar/Tenn week 6 was 795k.

UTSA/Illinois got a zero rating and had only a quarter of the viewership as a same week Boise State/UCF game that started at 9:40PM on a weeknight.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

College Football TV Ratings

College football TV ratings for the 2023 regular season, bowls, College Football Playoff and National Championship.
www.sportsmediawatch.com www.sportsmediawatch.com

Lots of fun to peruse, check it out.
Click to expand...
Tennessee also has a massive fan base that probably accounts for AT LEAST that difference, if you ask me.

If I were to offer a semi-educated guess, I would wager that if you looked at historical data, Illini football TV ratings fluctuate drastically with how good we are. Most bad teams don't get good ratings anyway (mostly due to not being on good channels at good times but also due to fan apathy), but I would suspect it's especially the case among our fans, especially in the state of Illinois. I don't have as good of an example for football because we aren't exactly "good" yet, but look at how our basketball TV ratings progressed as we got better (just picking a few examples):

2018-19
Tuesday 2/5 vs. #9 Michigan State on ESPN2 at 6:00 pm - 549k viewers
(This was that upset win Ayo's freshman year, BTW.)

2019-20
Sunday 2/2 at #18 Iowa on FS1 at 12:00 pm - 628k viewers
(Yes, it's on a Sunday, but we drew more on FS1 than ESPN2....!!)

Thursday 3/5 at #19 Ohio State on ESPN at 6:00 pm - 944k viewers
(This one was on ESPN rather than ESPN2, but a huge increase still.)

2020-21
Wednesday 12/2 vs. #2 Baylor (Indy) on ESPN at 9:00 pm - 1.04M viewers
(Primetime matchup sure ... but 9:00 pm for both teams makes that a GREAT rating.)

Tuesday 3/2 at #2 Michigan on ESPN at 6:30 pm - 1.57M viewers
(Michigan has plenty of fans, but this is an exceptional regular season rating.)

Saturday 3/13 vs. #5 Iowa (BTT) on CBS at 2:30 pm - 2.89M viewers
Sunday 3/14 vs. #9 Ohio State (BTT) on CBS at 2:30 pm - 3.68M viewers
(This one more proves the point that the way to get "good ratings" is to play at good times in meaningful games on big-time channels.)

Sunday 3/21 vs. Loyola (Chicago) on CBS at 11:00 am - 6.16M viewers
(This was the second highest watched NCAA game of the Second Round.)

Point being that it's fan enthusiasm, game times, channel and the relevance of the game that dictate your ratings - at LEAST as much as the size of your fan base. I do not think there are that many more Illini basketball fans in 2022 than there were in the fall of 2019 ... we just have a reason to reengage, and the Illini are on better channels at better times.

On a similar note, I think we have a lot of football fans, as well. However, many are not going to tune in if we are already 3-8, and neutral fans cannot be expected to care about a bad Illini team, either. I cannot find historical data on our regular season games during our 2007 Rose Bowl season, but I am willing to bet our ratings were pretty good.
 
#175      

Ransom Stoddard

Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Ransom Stoddard
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Tennessee also has a massive fan base that probably accounts for AT LEAST that difference, if you ask me.

If I were to offer a semi-educated guess, I would wager that if you looked at historical data, Illini football TV ratings fluctuate drastically with how good we are. Most bad teams don't get good ratings anyway (mostly due to not being on good channels at good times but also due to fan apathy), but I would suspect it's especially the case among our fans, especially in the state of Illinois. I don't have as good of an example for football because we aren't exactly "good" yet, but look at how our basketball TV ratings progressed as we got better (just picking a few examples):

2018-19
Tuesday 2/5 vs. #9 Michigan State on ESPN2 at 6:00 pm - 549k viewers
(This was that upset win Ayo's freshman year, BTW.)

2019-20
Sunday 2/2 at #18 Iowa on FS1 at 12:00 pm - 628k viewers
(Yes, it's on a Sunday, but we drew more on FS1 than ESPN2....!!)

Thursday 3/5 at #19 Ohio State on ESPN at 6:00 pm - 944k viewers
(This one was on ESPN rather than ESPN2, but a huge increase still.)

2020-21
Wednesday 12/2 vs. #2 Baylor (Indy) on ESPN at 9:00 pm - 1.04M viewers
(Primetime matchup sure ... but 9:00 pm for both teams makes that a GREAT rating.)

Tuesday 3/2 at #2 Michigan on ESPN at 6:30 pm - 1.57M viewers
(Michigan has plenty of fans, but this is an exceptional regular season rating.)

Saturday 3/13 vs. #5 Iowa (BTT) on CBS at 2:30 pm - 2.89M viewers
Sunday 3/14 vs. #9 Ohio State (BTT) on CBS at 2:30 pm - 3.68M viewers
(This one more proves the point that the way to get "good ratings" is to play at good times in meaningful games on big-time channels.)

Sunday 3/21 vs. Loyola (Chicago) on CBS at 11:00 am - 6.16M viewers
(This was the second highest watched NCAA game of the Second Round.)

Point being that it's fan enthusiasm, game times, channel and the relevance of the game that dictate your ratings - at LEAST as much as the size of your fan base. I do not think there are that many more Illini basketball fans in 2022 than there were in the fall of 2019 ... we just have a reason to reengage, and the Illini are on better channels at better times.

On a similar note, I think we have a lot of football fans, as well. However, many are not going to tune in if we are already 3-8, and neutral fans cannot be expected to care about a bad Illini team, either. I cannot find historical data on our regular season games during our 2007 Rose Bowl season, but I am willing to bet our ratings were pretty good.
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I agree with this a lot. Network and timeslot mean a lot IMO, because there is some subset of viewers (that I count myself among) that are going to watch a game on a prime channel at a prime time simply because it is on. I can't tell you how many SEC and ACC games I watched last winter because there wasn't a B1G game on that I felt like switching to. Same with football--if there isn't a B1G game on that I have a heavy interest in, I'm just as likely to watch whatever's on one of the major networks--because it's there.
 
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