2023 FB TV viewership by team

[Loyal Coug1]

I'm going to post this link without comment because I'm sleepy and am going to bed. Looking for comments and intelligent observations (good luck, eh?). I will post my incredibly insightful, probably witty, and no doubt profound far-seeing comments in a day or two.

Which college football programs were most-watched in 2023?

The TV viewership numbers are in for the 2023 college football season.

medium.com

 

[Wazzubrooz]

Cal & AZ may as well just give up on football… not a lot of interest.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Cal & AZ may as well just give up on football… not a lot of interest.

Not to mention Stanford. Funny how Calfurd's COMBINED viewership was almost identical to WSU's and far below OSU's. ASU and AZ COMBINED were just above WSU's. The Apple Cup's 24th most watched viewership number is pretty respectable.

Colorado's numbers are crazy for a 4-8 team, but the Deion factor explains that.

Back to CalFurd. Now why would the ACC seek to create a western pod to accommodate those teams, as well as SMU and their 201K viewership? Not to mention the MW's numbers, which are admittedly pathetic outside of CSU (who got a big boost from their rivalry game against Colorado).

 

[95coug]

Not to mention Stanford. Funny how Calfurd's COMBINED viewership was almost identical to WSU's and far below OSU's. ASU and AZ COMBINED were just above WSU's. The Apple Cup's 24th most watched viewership number is pretty respectable.

Colorado's numbers are crazy for a 4-8 team, but the Deion factor explains that.

Back to CalFurd. Now why would the ACC seek to create a western pod to accommodate those teams, as well as SMU and their 201K viewership? Not to mention the MW's numbers, which are admittedly pathetic outside of CSU (who got a big boost from their rivalry game against Colorado).

Simple. Market size and margin for growth.

Cal & Stanford have the whole Bay Area, and the networks assume that if the program is successful or gets marketed correctly, their viewership numbers will go up. SMU has the Dallas market, and the same assumption. ASU & UA have Phoenix.

WSU & OSU have no measurable prospective market, especially if you’re doing lazy math and just looking at how many people live within X miles.

History has shown that WSU and OSU pick up a lot more viewers when they have good years than Cal & Stanford do. But the network wonks don’t look very close at reality.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Simple. Market size and margin for growth.

Cal & Stanford have the whole Bay Area, and the networks assume that if the program is successful or gets marketed correctly, their viewership numbers will go up. SMU has the Dallas market, and the same assumption. ASU & UA have Phoenix.

WSU & OSU have no measurable prospective market, especially if you’re doing lazy math and just looking at how many people live within X miles.

History has shown that WSU and OSU pick up a lot more viewers when they have good years than Cal & Stanford do. But the network wonks don’t look very close at reality.

Well your points are valid. But IMHO if the networks think that, they aren't working very hard. Stanford and Cal never have drawn the viewers (or actual fans for that matter) that they should given their markets and stature. And that is playing in the Pac-12 with the SoCal and NW teams nearby. Hell Cal drew 450K and lowly San Jose State drew 312K viewers.

Let's see how home game attendance looks after Stanford plays SMU, Cal Poly, Virginia Tech, SMU, Wake Forest and Louisville. And TV eyeballs for those games and a way games Syracuse (on a Friday, haha), NC State and San Jose State. Clemson and ND should do well.

Cal? Home against UC Davis, San Diego State, Miami, NC State, Oregon State, Syracuse and Stanford. They actually have a better home schedule, interest-wise. Then at Auburn, Fl State, Pitt, Wake Forest (Friday, haha), and SMU. Auburn and FSU may do well.

And much of WSU's market is in Seattle (and Spokane), as we well know. Maybe give the networks a map of the state and take away the map of Whitman County.

 

[Coug1990]

Not to mention Stanford. Funny how Calfurd's COMBINED viewership was almost identical to WSU's and far below OSU's. ASU and AZ COMBINED were just above WSU's. The Apple Cup's 24th most watched viewership number is pretty respectable.

Colorado's numbers are crazy for a 4-8 team, but the Deion factor explains that.

Back to CalFurd. Now why would the ACC seek to create a western pod to accommodate those teams, as well as SMU and their 201K viewership? Not to mention the MW's numbers, which are admittedly pathetic outside of CSU (who got a big boost from their rivalry game against Colorado).

I remember reading why a year ago and I am terrible about explaining why. But I will try. It has 100% to do with population/market base. Ratings don't matter as much as access to a market. Now the cable companies and other outlets in Southern California will carry the Big 10 network. Now the Big 10 can tell advertisers how many households they have access. Same goes for the ACC and the Bay Area.

 

[M-I-Coug]

Cal & AZ may as well just give up on football… not a lot of interest.

We are approaching 3 weeks living in N. Scottsdale (permanently), with our first time ever outside the state of Washington. We absolutely love it here. That said, when I run into people, I ask if you're a Sun Devil or a Wildcat fan, and the vast majority don't care. In fact, I've only run into only one Sun Devil and one NAU fan.

People. Don't. Care. (regarding ASU and Arizona). 🌵

 

[Loyal Coug1]

We are approaching 3 weeks living in N. Scottsdale (permanently), with our first time ever outside the state of Washington. We absolutely love it here. That said, when I run into people, I ask if you're a Sun Devil, Wildcat, NAU, or GCU fan, and the vast majority don't care. In fact, I've run into only one Sun Devil fan.

People. Don't. Care. (regarding ASU and Arizona). 🌵

Or anything else for that matter. I've watched all the video clips from the shit show cat fight at the "oversight" committee hearings on Thursday (?) night (best is below). Mentioned it to a few people, none of them had a clue what I was talking about. I may spend too much time reading and watching about US and world events, but the complete and utter ignorance of our fellow Americans about anything is disappointing and scary. The video below is a funny watch. Sad., but funny.

 

[95coug]

Or anything else for that matter. I've watched all the video clips from the shit show cat fight at the "oversight" committee hearings on Thursday (?) night (best is below). Mentioned it to a few people, none of them had a clue what I was talking about. I may spend too much time reading and watching about US and world events, but the complete and utter ignorance of our fellow Americans about anything is disappointing and scary. The video below is a funny watch. Sad., but funny.

View embedded media

Ignorance & apathy are how MTG & AOC got elected in the first place.

 

[Coug90]

Simple. Market size and margin for growth.

Cal & Stanford have the whole Bay Area, and the networks assume that if the program is successful or gets marketed correctly, their viewership numbers will go up. SMU has the Dallas market, and the same assumption. ASU & UA have Phoenix.

WSU & OSU have no measurable prospective market, especially if you’re doing lazy math and just looking at how many people live within X miles.

History has shown that WSU and OSU pick up a lot more viewers when they have good years than Cal & Stanford do. But the network wonks don’t look very close at reality.

If this is the rationale it’s deeply flawed. First off a majority of Cougs end up in Seattle. So that’s your “market”. Second, UNLV would be a far bigger “potential” draw than Alabama. San Diego State would be a far bigger “potential draw” than Oklahoma. Why is that not true? Because Oklahoma and Alabama have rich football traditions that transcend population centers and geography. I’d argue WSU has done the same, obviously not quite on that level, but the Cougs have been an interesting program that has attracted eyeballs over the years…College Gameday, Minshew mania, the Leach era, best college logo, etc.

And no stadium size is not the issue. All of these schools reducing capacity on their stadium remodels along with schools like UNLV and Rice playing in cavernous stadiums explains that one away easily.

The true answer is politics and leadership. The P12 became a political organization when Larry Scott showed up, and the conference leadership was horrendous across the board (along with our own).

 

[mikalalas]

If this is the rationale it’s deeply flawed. First off a majority of Cougs end up in Seattle. So that’s your “market”. Second, UNLV would be a far bigger “potential” draw than Alabama. San Diego State would be a far bigger “potential draw” than Oklahoma. Why is that not true? Because Oklahoma and Alabama have rich football traditions that transcend population centers and geography. I’d argue WSU has done the same, obviously not quite on that level, but the Cougs have been an interesting program that has attracted eyeballs over the years…College Gameday, Minshew mania, the Leach era, best college logo, etc.

And no stadium size is not the issue. All of these schools reducing capacity on their stadium remodels along with schools like UNLV and Rice playing in cavernous stadiums explains that one away easily.

The true answer is politics and leadership. The P12 became a political organization when Larry Scott showed up, and the conference leadership was horrendous across the board (along with our own).

It's a combination of factors. LACK OF SALES, MARKETING, Leadership.

Politics, and ERRANT PERCEPTION, BIGGER TV markets, TV eyeballs, success on the field, tradition, competition level, attendance, etc

The media doesn't get that Majority of coug fans and MILLIONS of them, live in the greater Seattle area, and in Portland, and on Westside, and if they are not busy, if the game is not against LC ST, etc, and if WSU having a winning season, then they watch.

But the Media Wonks think that Whitman county, or even just Pullman is WSU's market.

Part of that is on the media. But some of that is on WSU leadership, for not constantly educating, reminding, proving, etc, that to the media, and college football fans.

So Perception is EVERYTHING.

Tradition, winning, how important watching football is, is another factor. Example Alabama, etc.

For a college football program to be valuable to media, and for media to be interested in doing a Media TV deal with a college football program:

You either have to have the following or as much of the following as possible.

1. Have a lot of TV eyeballs semi consistently watching you.

2. Positive Perception of the program

3. Winning Tradition(Alabama)

4. The tradition of everybody watching no matter how good or bad. (Alabama)

5. Playing against good competition at a high, higher level.

6. Good leadership

7. Good educating, sales, marketing of the program.

8. No Politics

9. Being politically correct to everyone.

10. Have good attendance, good fan participation, no fan apathy.

11. Have, get a lot of donations.

12. Be in a higher, highest level, well run conference possible

13. Attendance

14. Stadium size. Bigger Stadium, IF CONSISTENTLY FILL IT, EXAMPLE OHIO ST HORSESHOE STADIUM, FILLED TO MAX CAPACITY(About 100k screaming, fanatical fans)

And the reason why all this matters, what's it all about, and the only thing that matters to media:

MAKING MORE MONEY, AND DOING WHATEVER THEY THE MEDIA THINK WILL MAKE THEM MORE MONEY

 

[ttowncoug]

If you scan the numbers, the value of current Big-12 agreement doesn't really add up.

It proves that WSU and OSU do bring TV viewers and it does give me hope that our current situation will get resolved at some point.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Cal & AZ may as well just give up on football… not a lot of interest.

Totally. There's no way they get picked up by a P5 conference to bolster the TV revenue...

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Or anything else for that matter. I've watched all the video clips from the shit show cat fight at the "oversight" committee hearings on Thursday (?) night (best is below). Mentioned it to a few people, none of them had a clue what I was talking about. I may spend too much time reading and watching about US and world events, but the complete and utter ignorance of our fellow Americans about anything is disappointing and scary. The video below is a funny watch. Sad., but funny.

View embedded media

Why should they care? What's to be done? Vote? I guarantee that half of the people that do vote believe their vote doesn't matter, and 100% of those that don't.

No one wants to discuss civics because you might offend someone or hurt their gentle feelers by having an opposing opinion, thereby outing yourself as the ultimate villain that MUST be cancelled in all aspects of society.

It used to be that people had enough sense to not spout or support ideas or opinions that they couldn't validate or at least rationalize for fear of being outed as an idiot. That certainly is not an issue any longer, since Fox and MSNBC can spoon feed everyone talking points and opinions.

 

[UberCougars]

wonder what our viewership is when you remove Colorado, UCLA, UW, OSU, Wisconsin and Utah from the totals?

 

[triscuit one]

wonder what our viewership is when you remove Colorado, UCLA, UW, OSU, Wisconsin and Utah from the totals?

It will be interesting to see what the viewership numbers are this year. My guess is they are down, but not an much as some may think.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

wonder what our viewership is when you remove Colorado, UCLA, UW, OSU, Wisconsin and Utah from the totals?

I wonder what any school's viewership is when you remove all of their major opponents? Do you really think that 1.4 million people were watching Minnesota play Illinois?

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I wonder what any school's viewership is when you remove all of their major opponents? Do you really think that 1.4 million people were watching Minnesota play Illinois?

Guess we'll find out in 2024. I agree with what you say.

 

[UberCougars]

I wonder what any school's viewership is when you remove all of their major opponents? Do you really think that 1.4 million people were watching Minnesota play Illinois?

Exactly what we’re going to see with our major opponents gone

 

[dgibbons]

Simple. Market size and margin for growth.

Cal & Stanford have the whole Bay Area, and the networks assume that if the program is successful or gets marketed correctly, their viewership numbers will go up. SMU has the Dallas market, and the same assumption. ASU & UA have Phoenix.

WSU & OSU have no measurable prospective market, especially if you’re doing lazy math and just looking at how many people live within X miles.

History has shown that WSU and OSU pick up a lot more viewers when they have good years than Cal & Stanford do. But the network wonks don’t look very close at reality.

Or that some folks will be flipping through the channels and hopefully pass out when they hit whatever network is broadcasting Cal or Furd.

 

[dgibbons]

Or anything else for that matter. I've watched all the video clips from the shit show cat fight at the "oversight" committee hearings on Thursday (?) night (best is below). Mentioned it to a few people, none of them had a clue what I was talking about. I may spend too much time reading and watching about US and world events, but the complete and utter ignorance of our fellow Americans about anything is disappointing and scary. The video below is a funny watch. Sad., but funny.

View embedded media

Way to stay on topic....

 

[Loyal Coug1]

Way to stay on topic....

You are welcome. And thanks for bringing nothing to the topic as usual.

On topic, it will be a journey as WSU meanders through this season. There is a site or 2 that tracks TV viewership by week, I'll have to find that and follow it. Our home attendance (and away game attendance w/the MW) will also be interesting to watch.

 

[CougEd]

Why should they care? What's to be done? Vote? I guarantee that half of the people that do vote believe their vote doesn't matter, and 100% of those that don't.

No one wants to discuss civics because you might offend someone or hurt their gentle feelers by having an opposing opinion, thereby outing yourself as the ultimate villain that MUST be cancelled in all aspects of society.

It used to be that people had enough sense to not spout or support ideas or opinions that they couldn't validate or at least rationalize for fear of being outed as an idiot. That certainly is not an issue any longer, since Fox and MSNBC can spoon feed everyone talking points and opinions.

I do have to ask...you or your friends or family, what have you been villainized for and canceled for? What is it you want to say that you can't? What are you missing?

I am not sure I see cancel culture as you do. I see Laura Ingraham, Hannity, Tucker and the whole host of people able to continue to say what they want to say. Tucker was canceled, by Fox. Bill O'Reily was canceled-by Fox. Not by Gavin Newsom or Josh Shapiro.

Bill Maher, Dave Chappelle both have said woke has gone too far. I think most people agree. In their line of biz, yeah they lose money. But I think woke for most is inconvenience. I don't know anyone who lost a job, unable to vote, banned from going places, banned from their job.

Now, like with most things, it is all about how you "say it". When the federal government gives out money to poor people, it is a "hand out.". Freeloaders. When the fed gives out TARP, PPP and other socialized losses, it has a fancy name like bail out. It isn't a hand out. It is "stimulus". They aren't freeloaders, they are investment partners.

And for some reason, the pay back on that money is different than handing out money to payoff student loans. It is like an accounting hole that we really don't pay back if it was given to Sterling Bank.

Now, a book on Roberto Clemente was pulled off the shelf for a week. Other books have been banned/canceled.

Budweiser was "boycotted, as was Disney. Why? And Disney was "boycotted" by the governor of Florida.

Colin Kapernak was blackballed from the NFL, for kneeling. Alito hangs his flag upside down and nothing.

So maybe it is just me, but I probably would prefer to be the villain or bad guy of an argument then actually have something happen to me that costs me my job, family and friends. I think our problems pale in comparison to what others have to deal with...but that is just me....

 

[Loyal Coug1]

I do have to ask...you or your friends or family, what have you been villainized for and canceled for? What is it you want to say that you can't? What are you missing?

I am not sure I see cancel culture as you do. I see Laura Ingraham, Hannity, Tucker and the whole host of people able to continue to say what they want to say. Tucker was canceled, by Fox. Bill O'Reily was canceled-by Fox. Not by Gavin Newsom or Josh Shapiro.

Bill Maher, Dave Chappelle both have said woke has gone too far. I think most people agree. In their line of biz, yeah they lose money. But I think woke for most is inconvenience. I don't know anyone who lost a job, unable to vote, banned from going places, banned from their job.

Now, like with most things, it is all about how you "say it". When the federal government gives out money to poor people, it is a "hand out.". Freeloaders. When the fed gives out TARP, PPP and other socialized losses, it has a fancy name like bail out. It isn't a hand out. It is "stimulus". They aren't freeloaders, they are investment partners.

And for some reason, the pay back on that money is different than handing out money to payoff student loans. It is like an accounting hole that we really don't pay back if it was given to Sterling Bank.

Now, a book on Roberto Clemente was pulled off the shelf for a week. Other books have been banned/canceled.

Budweiser was "boycotted, as was Disney. Why? And Disney was "boycotted" by the governor of Florida.

Colin Kapernak was blackballed from the NFL, for kneeling. Alito hangs his flag upside down and nothing.

So maybe it is just me, but I probably would prefer to be the villain or bad guy of an argument then actually have something happen to me that costs me my job, family and friends. I think our problems pale in comparison to what others have to deal with...but that is just me....

Well you are the villain in this. I make one idle comment, and show a funny as hell clip of our elected officials in action. Now you get involved and this whole originally wonderful thread is going to go to hell and balloon into a big mess. And everyone will scroll back to place blame and it will be assigned to the almost-perfect Loyal one.

 

[95coug]

Well you are the villain in this. I make one idle comment, and show a funny as hell clip of our elected officials in action. Now you get involved and this whole originally wonderful thread is going to go to hell and balloon into a big mess. And everyone will scroll back to place blame and it will be assigned to the almost-perfect Loyal one.

I just have to correct one thing - there's nothing funny about our elected officials.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

Well you are the villain in this. I make one idle comment, and show a funny as hell clip of our elected officials in action. Now you get involved and this whole originally wonderful thread is going to go to hell and balloon into a big mess. And everyone will scroll back to place blame and it will be assigned to the almost-perfect Loyal one.

You're a troll, own it.

You wanted to elicit a reaction; you got one. Even got one from me too, which you chose to ignore as you do most of my posts.

I mean, at least you're a likeable troll most of the time. Or in dgib's case, perhaps tolerable. But I shouldn't speak for him, so I digress.

 

[Loyal Coug1]

You're a troll, own it.

You wanted to elicit a reaction; you got one. Even got one from me too, which you chose to ignore as you do most of my posts.

I mean, at least you're a likeable troll most of the time. Or in dgib's case, perhaps tolerable. But I shouldn't speak for him, so I digress.

Me? A troll? Ok, fine. I'm a troll. Better a troll than droll. And thanks - I am quite likeable, just ask me!

Sorry (not really) for slipping that political clip in. Couldn't resist. In my unimpeachable defense, I bring a lot of Coug-centric conversation to this Board, seasoned with a liberal dose of my incredible humor, and the occasional OT blurt. As opposed to the one-liner insults and smart-assed shit that some others bring, along with -0- salient conversation.

I've been hanging out on the UNLV and Mountain West boards lately. That MW board is a shitshow, but fun. And both boards love and embrace my wit and wisdom, almost to the point of worship.

Peace.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

I'll apologize for being on topic with a comment; forgive me.

Loyal, thanks for starting this thread. The viewership numbers are one of the most relevant topics in the current college sports world, and I appreciate your having tracked down the numbers. In a later post on the thread you expressed an intent to try to track them next season as they happen; I'd be grateful if you do. Maybe start a thread after the first game with viewership numbers and just update it as they happen throughout the season? Or given our propensity to move off topic, maybe just start a new thread after each game with a numerical recap of the previous game's viewership for comparison. In any event, thanks for starting this one with a bit of research.

And for the record, I consider myself to be a bit right of center but laughed pretty hard at that poor excuse for a human, MTG, opening her mouth with one of her usual d*mb*ss statements and having the person she was insulting come back with something so appropriate it has become a meme. I usually think of the good comeback an hour later, not in the heat of the moment. Kudos for that reply.

 

[PeteTheChop]

We are approaching 3 weeks living in N. Scottsdale (permanently), with our first time ever outside the state of Washington. We absolutely love it here. That said, when I run into people, I ask if you're a Sun Devil or a Wildcat fan, and the vast majority don't care. In fact, I've only run into only one Sun Devil and one NAU fan.

People. Don't. Care. (regarding ASU and Arizona). 🌵

Congrats on your successful move M.I. Sounds like you and your wife picked a great place to relocate!

I wonder if you haven't encountered too many ASU/UA fans because greater Scottsdale has a lot of transplants?

From what I've heard, much of the PHX area has quite a few "snowbirds"

 

[PeteTheChop]

I've been hanging out on the UNLV and Mountain West boards lately. That MW board is a shitshow, but fun. And both boards love and embrace my wit and wisdom, almost to the point of worship

 

[CougEd]

Well you are the villain in this. I make one idle comment, and show a funny as hell clip of our elected officials in action. Now you get involved and this whole originally wonderful thread is going to go to hell and balloon into a big mess. And everyone will scroll back to place blame and it will be assigned to the almost-perfect Loyal one.

Villain... well I am in great company with my cartoon buddies "The Joker", The Riddler, Mr Freeze. I get to hang out with the cat woman... meanwhile Batman is with Robin .

So being the villain on a pretend board is fine by me.