ESPN has never been shy about beating its own drum, and on Tuesday the tub-thumpers at "the worldwide leader in sports" issued the news that Monday night's BCS Championship Game in which Auburn edged Oregon 22-19 on the last play of the game drew the largest audience in cable television history.
Bully for ESPN. But, that news bit turns out to be classic half-truth.
ESPN earning 16.1% of all the televisions in the nation's biggest markets—that would be the "overnight ratings" to us dunderheads who didn't major in broadcast journalism at Syracuse University—is the lowest BCS title game rating in six years. It is off 11% from the previous year's showdown between Alabama and Texas that appeared on Fox Sports.
Even given the understanding that Auburn and Oregon don't claim the national identity of the more consistently-successful Alabama and Texas, a recession of 11% is rather huge. All of ESPN's BCS games dropped considerably except the Sugar Bowl that enjoyed having a big national brand in Ohio State playing against Arkansas. Its viewership went up 25%.
Worse than ESPN's effect on the title game was the 14% drop in viewership of the anchor of New Year's Day, the revered "Granddaddy of them All," the Rose Bowl. TCU, a BCS bowl interloper for the first time, nipped Wisconsin by two points in a thriller that was in doubt to the last minute. Yet, the cold-bound natives of Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, failed to tune by 20% less than the number who watched the Rose Bowl on ABC in 2000, the last time the Badgers visited Pasadena.
So, what's the problem? The problem is that ESPN is a cable network, not a universally-available, over-the-air network like ABC, CBS, Fox, or NBC. Not everyone subscribes to cable TV service, and in a rotten economy like America finds itself, those figures are dropping daily.
Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pointed out a week ago that Milwaukee-area TV households without cable service is at 22.6%, while the national percentage of broadcast-only homes in 9.6%.
We all know this first year of cable exclusivity is here to stay for the short-term because ESPN's contract is in its first year. Frankly, advertisers, while depending on their product, are going to be split on this. Executives at Ford, vigorously selling its "new" Ford F-150 pickup truck, realize those who can't afford cable TV aren't in the market for a new truck. Beer brands like Budweiser, Coors, and Miller, on the other hand, probably sell better in a lousy economy. Let's ask them in Milwaukee.
The fathers of the BCS owe it to the nation to make sure the games, especially the annual Rose Bowl treat and the championship game, are available on network and cable TV. The biggest football games belong on the networks.
Bob Boyles
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