SmashMouth

CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC will generate about $2.5 billion in NFL advertising revenue this season, but a 10 percent shortfall could translate to a $200 million cut in earnings, an analyst estimates.
NFL's ratings woes continued in Week 2, and Wall Street is taking notice, given there are fewer excuses for falling viewership than there were a year ago when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were distracting TV-watching Americans.

While NFL games remain some of the most-watched content on television, ratings slid 12 percent in the NFL's opening weekend, with many blaming Hurricane Irma. But without dramatic weather, the second weekend was off 15 percent year-over-year. This comes after an 8 percent ratings slump last season.

Guggenheim Securities analyst Michael Morris said he had been optimistic heading into the new season because audiences would appreciate some changes, including fewer commercial breaks and allowing players to creatively celebrate touchdowns. Now, though, he says, "early results do not support this optimism."

Jefferies analyst John Janedis figures CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC will generate about $2.5 billion in NFL advertising revenue this season, but a 10 percent shortfall could translate to a $200 million cut in earnings.

Since the NFL season opened Sept. 7, shares of NBC parent Comcast are off 9 percent, ESPN parent Disney has seen its stock drop 3 percent and shares of CBS are down 5 percent. Only shares of 21st Century Fox have risen in that time frame, up 2 percent.

"Continued declines in NFL ratings again this season will likely place further downward pressure on media stocks," said Morris. He added, in fact, that "the NFL is an indicator of overall primetime programming ratings performance."

Pundits, meanwhile, continue to opine on the reason for the fall, with some trying mightily to dismiss a J.D. Power survey in July that put most of the blame on players who protest the National Anthem, the most prominent of them being Colin Kaepernick, who does not currently play for an NFL team.

That survey indicated 30 percent of the viewers who watched less football in 2016 than they did the season prior said they did so because they were offended by players protesting the anthem.

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neugey

My tuning into college football games and not tuning into any NFL but the Saints seems to be working!

QBREES9

Way to much football.