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    Ratings dip for NFL conference championship games; Nielsen week in review

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    Kansas City Chiefs' Damien Williams runs for a touchdown during the second half of the NFL AFC Championship football game against the Tennessee Titans Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, in Kansas City, MO. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

    By David Bauder, Media Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    It's no secret, sports fans. Better games produce better ratings.

    That was the simple lesson for the NFL this week, after a dip in viewership for its conference championship games, compared to 2019. The Nielsen company said 42.8 million people watched the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers to punch their Super Bowl ticket, and 41.1 million people watched Kansas City beat Tennessee.

    Both conference championship games went into overtime last year, and the audiences were 44.2 million and 53.9 million, Nielsen said. By contrast, this year's games were one-sided.

    LSU's win over Clemson in the college football national championship game was seen by 25.6 million on ESPN, Nielsen said. That's a little over a million more than last year's game reached.

    With the benefit of an NFL game in primetime, Fox led all the broadcast networks in ratings last week, averaging 9.9 million viewers. CBS had 4.9 million viewers in primetime, NBC had 4.2 million, ABC had 3.8 million, Univision had 1.6 million, ION Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 890,000 and the CW had 790,000.

    ESPN led the cable networks, averaging 4.28 million viewers in primetime. Fox News Channel averaged 2.75 million, MSNBC had 1.86 million, CNN had 1.46 million and TLC had 1.18 million.

    ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.3 million viewers last week. NBC's "Nightly News" had 8.1 million viewers and the "CBS Evening News" had 5.9 million viewers.

    The top 20 programs as measured by Nielsen last week, their network and viewership:

    1. NFC Championship: Green Bay at San Francisco, Fox, 42.79 million.
    2. "NFL Post-Game" (9:44 to 9:49 p.m. Eastern), Fox, 31.29 million.
    3. College Football Championship: Clemson vs. LSU, ESPN, 25.58 million.
    4. "NFL Post-Game" (9:50 to 10:04 p.m. Eastern), Fox, 23.92 million.
    5. "College Football Post-Game," ESPN, 16.7 million.
    6. "Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time, Match 4," ABC, 13.55 million.
    7. "911: Lone Star," Fox, 11.41 million.
    8. "NCIS," CBS, 10.13 million.
    9. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 8.88 million.
    10. "FBI," CBS, 8.57 million
    11. "Chicago Med," NBC, 8.45 million.
    12. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 8.17 million.
    13. "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.1 million.
    14. "Democratic Debate," CNN, 7.4 million.
    15. "Chicago PD," NBC, 6.78 million.
    16. "This is Us," NBC, 6.73 million.
    17. "America's Got Talent Champions," NBC, 6.53 million.
    18. "FBI: Most Wanted," CBS, 6.52 million.
    19. "Mom," CBS, 6.3 million.
    20. "Democratic Debate Analysis," CNN, 5.77 million.

    Tags:NFLNielsen



    DirecTV calls off acquisition of rival Dish, possibly ending a yearslong pursuit

    Friday, November 22, 2024
    Dish Network satellite dishes are shown at an apartment complex in Palo Alto, Calif., Feb. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

    DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company.

    The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company, a swap that would have cost them about $1.6 billion, collectively.

    The retreat by DirecTV this week may end a years-long effort by the company to acquire both Dish and Sling after it announced the bid in September.

    DirecTV was looking to acquire Dish TV and Sling TV from its owner EchoStar in a debt exchange transaction that included a payment of $1, plus the assumption of approximately $9.8 billion in debt. The deal was contingent on several factors, including regulatory approvals and bondholders writing off debt related to Dish.

    "While we believed a combination of DirecTV and Dish would have benefited all stakeholders, we have terminated the transaction because the proposed exchange terms were necessary to protect DirecTV's balance sheet and our operational flexibility," DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement.

    The prospect of a DirecTV-Dish combo has long been rumored, and reported talks resurfaced over the years. And the two almost merged more than two decades ago — but the Federal Communications Commission blocked the deal valued at the time at $18.5 billion deal, citing antitrust concerns.

    The pay-for-TV market has shifted significantly since. As more and more consumers tune into online streaming platforms, demand for more traditional satellite entertainment continues to shrink.

    DirecTV says that it will continue to invest in next-generation streaming platforms and offer new packaging options while integrating content from live TV alongside direct-to-consumer... Read More

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