have a 26 share for the season, which is a hit for any show, especially if you get as many men (viewers) as they get…CBS’ success in picking up AFC games for $550 million a year could be the big turn-around the network has been looking for, luring in younger male viewers who don’t now tune in for CBS’ old-skewing entertainment programs” (Starr 1; Cuprisin 1).
Other strengths are that all sports have shown an increase in audience viewership over the past five years. While there are examples of weakness in this genre of programming, like the much touted disasters of CBS’ $4 billion price to purchase the rights to broadcast Major League Baseball (MLB) and the contract Ted Turner signed to broadcast the Goodwill Games. However, even the Goodwill Games have been attracting more viewers than in the past, “Prime-time ratings for TBS Superstation’s Goodwill Games increased 14 percent over the network’s coverage of the 1994 games. For its 15 night prime-time coverage, TBS averaged a 1.6 rating in its cable universe, representing 1.2 million households” (EM 1). With the large amount of share enjoyed by Monday Night Football, Friday Night Football will represent a similar prime-time advertising showcase to networks and advertisers. Monday Night Football is usually fifth out of a line-up of 100 different prime-time telecasts and it is able to command $360,000 for a 30 second commercial from advertisers (Starr 2).
On the heels of the loss of Seinfeld, the threat that ER might be acquired by another network, the wavering on behalf of Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser and the loss of NFL football after more than three decades of coverage, NBC may be in a prime position to consider Friday Night Football coverage an attractive option. Further, Turner Broadcasting System balked at continuing sharing coverage of Sunday night games with ESPN, especially when the price more than doubled to $295 million to keep the rights (C...