Part of TV drop off for CFP may be simple as Buckeyes playing v Buckeyes not playing

per the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Alabama's win over Clemson in Monday night's National Championship pulled in 25.7 million viewers on ESPN, which served as a 24 percent drop from last year's title game between Ohio State and Oregon.

That Ohio State-Oregon game, the first championship of the four-team playoff era, brought in 33.8 million viewers.

That drop has generated a lot of talk. Is part of it nothing more than the fact that the Buckeyes, almost inarguably the biggest TV draw in college football, weren't there?

The ratings were down this year. Most of that was attributed to the semifinals being played on New Year's Eve, and then maybe a hangover from fans who missed those games not watching the title game as much as last year.

But at least part of the dropoff may be as simple as the Buckeyes playing vs. the Buckeyes not playing.

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index....regon_beats_alabam.html#incart_social_feature

Go Gophers!!

^ . . . The first thing I thought of when reading the "numbers". Look at the footprint of the B1G geographically and in number of viewers/eyeballs.

I enjoyed watching Clemson, especially since having attended the Clemson/GT game this year. But Clemson doesn't have the cachet that the Buckeyes do nationally.

So 1+2= -25% drop in ratings, likely.

Playing the Semi Finals on New Years eve was a huge mistake. And the committee doesn't see it as a problem. And the National Championship on a Monday? Again, why? This scheduling in driven by TV money, if they are losing eye balls, they will demand a change in the scheduling.

spermophilus said:

^ . . . The first thing I thought of when reading the "numbers". Look at the footprint of the B1G geographically and in number of viewers/eyeballs.

I enjoyed watching Clemson, especially since having attended the Clemson/GT game this year. But Clemson doesn't have the cachet that the Buckeyes do nationally.

So 1+2= -25% drop in ratings, likely.

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Agreed and you could even say the same about Oregon, Nike U has created a nice brand for itself on the gridiron

My thoughts on the days of the game. Semi-Finals on NYE... very gutsy. Lots of people have plans/traditions. Me personally? I loved it. Sat at home with my 18 month old and brought the New Years in with baby in the crib and wife sleeping on the couch. I know for the vast majority it is not an ideal night.

I think playing the championship on a Monday is the best night they can do it. They can't do it on a Sunday unless they do it NFL Wild Card Weekend which it would have been. I think if they want better TV numbers put it on network tv not on cable.

Having the semis on NYE was ratings suicide.

theTurning said:

Having the semis on NYE was ratings suicide.

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This is all anyone needs to know.

This will be the case with or without Ohio State being involved in the playoffs. Play the quarterfinals on New Year's Eve? Ratings suicide.

Schnauzer said:

This is all anyone needs to know.

This will be the case with or without Ohio State being involved in the playoffs. Play the quarterfinals on New Year's Eve? Ratings suicide.

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Considering a 25% drop in the championship drop, it would be completely speculation to assume 100% of the semi-finals ratings drop was due to the day.

The semi-finals had a 35-40% drop in ratings. It would be actually pretty safe to assume 15+% of that was due to something other than the New Years Day/New Years Eve question when you consider the next round didn't have that question and dropped 25%.


Much of the ratings drop could be to the novelty of it being the first playoff. Some of the ratings drop could be due to the fact that Oklahoma, Clemson, and Michigan State does not have near the pull of Ohio State, Florida State (With a heisman winner and defending national champs), and Oregon (with a heisman winner). Some of the ratings drop could be due to the fact that the games were terrible.


People can complain about NYE all they want. It wasn't nearly as terrible as people say it was. And it will remain as negotiated in the current contract until the current contract expires. We are through two years. 2/3 years the games will be on new years eve for the next ten years. I think it goes like this:
2017 - NYE
2018 - NYD
2019 - NYE
2020 - NYE
2021 - NYD
2022 - NYE
2023 - NYE
2024 - NYD
2025 - NYE

You may see a change to this pattern in 2026. I would also guess 2026 will be the year it increases teams.