Fox Sports 1 Update

[stever20]

last years Feb games averaged 107.7k viewers per game(not even counting the Georgetown/Michigan St OOC game on 2/1)
this year's Feb games averaged 98.6k viewers per game on FS1.

So the ratings are not better this year than last. Also keep in mind- last year had 28 games, this year from what I saw on the awful announcing site only had 12.

It's just remarkable the fox apologists on here. Fox was a major mistake. We went with $$$ over much more guaranteed exposure. Period.

Brother Stever, ok, I don't have the time or energy this morning to chase down your cherry-picked numbers and once again show that you're full of sh-t. And I've lost track of what you're even arguing about. Are you talking specifically about March 4th ratings only...? Full year ratings...? Are you taking into account that we've had more games on Big FOX...? Do you have a link to your numbers...? Maybe you can compose a 3,297th post and answer these questions.

I'm comparing Feb 2015 numbers on FS1 to Feb 2014 numbers on FS1.

And I'm sorry- but having a few extra games on Fox doesn't change the fact that games being on FS1 absolutely blow. Being happy about having a 127k game between 2 of your best teams just sums it up absolutely perfectly.

[billyjack]

last years Feb games averaged 107.7k viewers per game(not even counting the Georgetown/Michigan St OOC game on 2/1)
this year's Feb games averaged 98.6k viewers per game on FS1.

So the ratings are not better this year than last. Also keep in mind- last year had 28 games, this year from what I saw on the awful announcing site only had 12.

It's just remarkable the fox apologists on here. Fox was a major mistake. We went with $$$ over much more guaranteed exposure. Period.

Brother Stever, ok, I don't have the time or energy this morning to chase down your cherry-picked numbers and once again show that you're full of sh-t. And I've lost track of what you're even arguing about. Are you talking specifically about March 4th ratings only...? Full year ratings...? Are you taking into account that we've had more games on Big FOX...? Do you have a link to your numbers...? Maybe you can compose a 3,297th post and answer these questions.

I'm comparing Feb 2015 numbers on FS1 to Feb 2014 numbers on FS1.

And I'm sorry- but having a few extra games on Fox doesn't change the fact that games being on FS1 absolutely blow. Being happy about having a 127k game between 2 of your best teams just sums it up absolutely perfectly.

Why don't you fill in some details...
- How many games were on FS1 each year?
- How many more games were on Big FOX this year?
- What premier matchups were moved to Big FOX this year?
- What premier matchups were on weeknights this year compared to weekends last year?
- How do Pac-12 numbers compare?
- Are you saying this is a Big East problem, a Pac-12 problem, a FS1 problem, or some, or all?
- What regions of the country had better FS1 ratings?
- Did regional ratings changes account for different numbers year to year?
- Has The South tuned out BE and Pac-12 games, accounting for numbers changes?
- What cities have given us the best ratings?
- What cities have given the Pac-12 their best ratings?
- What games were going h2h each year? Undefeated Kentucky?
- Which of our games got the best ratings?
- Which Pac-12 games got the best ratings?
- What is the ratings comparison in January year to year? December? November?

Out of the countless numbers of variables that are involved with these numbers, you've decided to go cherry-picking and then make an enormous negative blanket statement about the entire situation.

Maybe you can answer some of these questions in your 3,298th post...

[Make Your Bones]

I think "exposure" and "national respect" are not nearly as valuable as people make them out to be. Our recruiting classes are great this year and all pundits are forced to mention us with the "power" conferences. The worst insults we're getting is people claiming the B1G or Pac 12 are better despite the numbers, not people saying we're the A10 version 2.0 (no offense to A10, cheering for their continued success).

You know what does matter? Money to build our programs, which we're getting plenty of from Fox. The ability for recruits & fans to watch almost all games, which is a push between FSGo and WatchESPN. Tourney success, which is the issue we should really be worrying about. If Fox never improves, but our basketball stays good, ESPN will give us a decent contract when the time comes. They're a business, not on a personal vendetta to destroy to Big East.

[TheBall]

And I'm sorry- but having a few extra games on Fox doesn't change the fact that games being on FS1 absolutely blow. Being happy about having a 127k game between 2 of your best teams just sums it up absolutely perfectly.

Wrong

First, 127k is a good number for year two.
Second, the fox national games more than make up for any viewer deficiency of other games. Absolutely. Those games are gold.

Look espn treated us like second class citizens for a decade. Outside if nova, gtown and Marquette, the others were treated like crap. Heck, I remember some nova v gtown games that were interweb stream only. And espn paid us crap.

We are in such a better spot not it is not even funny. We will grow with fox, and fox is putting in a very good effort marketing the conference. You might be seeking more immediate results, but for those of us who are realistic about the project, we are very happy

And having every game televised is amazing. And we all know that eventually some of these games will be in fs2, and you will complain about that, but whatever. A game between seton hall and DePaul should be on fs2.

Also, ratings aren't actually real numbers. They don't log every cable box and scan it for the channel it's on. Ratings are pretty arbitrary.

[anXUfan]

I think "exposure" and "national respect" are not nearly as valuable as people make them out to be. Our recruiting classes are great this year and all pundits are forced to mention us with the "power" conferences. The worst insults we're getting is people claiming the B1G or Pac 12 are better despite the numbers, not people saying we're the A10 version 2.0 (no offense to A10, cheering for their continued success).

You know what does matter? Money to build our programs, which we're getting plenty of from Fox. The ability for recruits & fans to watch almost all games, which is a push between FSGo and WatchESPN. Tourney success, which is the issue we should really be worrying about. If Fox never improves, but our basketball stays good, ESPN will give us a decent contract when the time comes. They're a business, not on a personal vendetta to destroy to Big East.

Couldn't agree more with this post.

[DudeAnon]

I normally disagree with a lot of what you post, but I do think your thoughts on FS1 are almost spot on. The only thing I would maybe change is FS1 being a bust; I'm not sure I'm ready to go that far...yet.

What FS1 could do to really help themselves is expand their basketball coverage during the season. A deal with some of the smaller conferences or other basketball only leagues would help. The mountain west, A10, Horizon, maybe the MVC would be decent adds. I'm not saying these leagues are going to dramatically improve ratings because they won't; what I am saying is the average basketball fan is going to go home and flip on ESPN networks to see a basketball game. Unless they wanting to watch a specific team/game on a specific network, FS1 won't even come on in their home. FS1 needs to find a way to have basketball every night. When the BE is not on tv, I'm not watching FS1 because I could care less about the UFC. If my team is not playing, I'll go to ESPN or even CBS Sports to find a game to watch. FS1 needs to find a way to bring in basketball fans, not just only BE fans.

CBS Sports has done a great making themselves a niche channel for College basketball fans. I now habitually watch their "Inside College Basketball" show that has some great personalities (Pete Gillen) and I think it airs almost every night. I know Fox is trying to mimic ESPN with their "Fox Sports Live". But they might be better of just trying to corner their own niche markets.

[Jet915]

Ratings for basketball games from February 23rd-March 1st.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: XAVIER at ST. JOHN’S Mon 8:00PM-10:08PM 128 0.1 225
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: PAC-12: WASHINGTON STATE at UCLA Sun 9:30PM-11:39PM 129 0.1 208
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: PROVIDENCE at VILLANOVA Tue 7:00PM- 9:15PM 135 0.1 155
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: PAC-12: OREGON at STANFORD Sun 7:00PM- 9:08PM 128 0.1 146
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: PAC-12: ARIZONA STATE at UTAH Thu 10:30PM-12:30AM 120 0.0 106
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: MARQUETTE at PROVIDENCE Sun 3:30PM- 5:30PM 120 0.1 91
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: MARQUETTE at BUTLER Wed 8:00PM- 9:55PM 115 0.1 84
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: CREIGHTON at DEPAUL Tue 9:15PM-11:12PM 117 0.1 77
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: C-USA: UTEP at LA TECH Thu 8:00PM-10:02PM 122 0.0 34

[stever20]

Ratings for basketball games from February 23rd-March 1st.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: XAVIER at ST. JOHN’S Mon 8:00PM-10:08PM 128 0.1 225
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: PAC-12: WASHINGTON STATE at UCLA Sun 9:30PM-11:39PM 129 0.1 208
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: PROVIDENCE at VILLANOVA Tue 7:00PM- 9:15PM 135 0.1 155
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: PAC-12: OREGON at STANFORD Sun 7:00PM- 9:08PM 128 0.1 146
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: PAC-12: ARIZONA STATE at UTAH Thu 10:30PM-12:30AM 120 0.0 106
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: MARQUETTE at PROVIDENCE Sun 3:30PM- 5:30PM 120 0.1 91
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: MARQUETTE at BUTLER Wed 8:00PM- 9:55PM 115 0.1 84
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: BIG EAST: CREIGHTON at DEPAUL Tue 9:15PM-11:12PM 117 0.1 77
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: C-USA: UTEP at LA TECH Thu 8:00PM-10:02PM 122 0.0 34

so average viewership of the 5 Big East games last week was 126.4k viewers
avg viewership of 5 Big East games last year same week was 113.2k viewers

so week to week is up by about 13k viewers for the same number of games.

it'll be interesting to see how this comparison continues thru the tourney

last year this week
118k
175k
168k
169k
71k
112k
74k
44k
so 8 games with an average of about 116k viewers.

I will say the entire Feb average could be a bit misleading only because last year had the Olympics and some folks are like anything but the Olympics.....

[TheBall]

The numbers keep improving. Slow and steady.

Next year's late Feb conf push could get up to 300k viewers. I think that's a reasonable goal for next year in late February for some of the more marquee games.

[Boyee]

They are putting Saturday's DePaul at Marquette game on Fox Sports 2. My Comcast Xfinity doesn't get this channel.