Anyone have any thoughts on why the CFL ratings continue to struggle?
The much ballyhoo'd move to CTV this past weekend was a flop with the game plummeting 17% year over year.
For the season, CFL ratings are down almost 5% and only 4 of 14 weeks have actually surpassed 2023. I know streaming is a thing but streaming is more relevant when comparing numbers today versus ten years ago. Year over year the shift hasn't been that significant. In fact Adam Seaborn has gone on record saying that the streaming numbers for sports overall are very minimal.
I was hopeful that a strong year of ratings this year, and ideally next year, could lead to a larger TV contract that would allow the league to grow their salary cap to a better number for the players and potentially reignite a push for some sort of expansion (which seems to have all but died out lately).
Curious on thoughts. The numbers aren't trending the way I had hoped considering they came out of the gate with a 20% jump over 2023.
The first game on CTV last weekend was: the first CFL game they have aired in ages; played on a Saturday afternoon where people are not used to finding CFL games; and was started while another CFL game was already under way and watchable on TSN. But the CTV #s still beat all the other TSN #s of that week (except for the combined TSN & RDS #s (CFL football is huge in Quebec, as the RDS #s consistently show).
SO, there is nothing wrong or disappointing IMO with that first game # on CTV (and it did feature 2 of the most popular teams now arguably). And there is no need to spin CFL gloom & doom with TV#s compared to the past when more and more of Joe Q Public is either cord cutting or streaming. We shall see come the East play-off games and the GC what the combined TSN & CTV #s are like.
OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 7:56 pm
The first game on CTV last weekend was: the first CFL game they have aired in ages; played on a Saturday afternoon where people are not used to finding CFL games; and was started while another CFL game was already under way and watchable on TSN. But the CTV #s still beat all the other TSN #s of that week (except for the combined TSN & RDS #s (CFL football is huge in Quebec, as the RDS #s consistently show).
SO, there is nothing wrong or disappointing IMO with that first game # on CTV (and it did feature 2 of the most popular teams now arguably). And there is no need to spin CFL gloom & doom with TV#s compared to the past when more and more of Joe Q Public is either cord cutting or streaming. We shall see come the East play-off games and the GC what the combined TSN & CTV #s are like.
Well said, OV! I haven't seen a lot of promotion on CTV itself either - they seem more concerned with promoting their NFL property. In any event, we need to wait far more than one week to determine if there is an impact from being back on CTV.
I will also note that I think Riders fans are starting to tune out a little with their team on a long winless streak. This is the third consecutive year in which they started the season strongly before a significant fade. They can still turn this season around but Riders fans don't seem to have a lot of faith at the moment.
Think Good news is these afternoon games... get good crowds... Bomber and I think Ticat games were both sold out...even our playoff game had a good crowd which is massive for us... Think if you want a better TV ratings you have to play in the evening... Having a good crowd right now , playing at fan friendly times is really important...
