http://www.tomahawknation.com/2014/10/9/...-that-look

Don't worry, they will get better when Clemson and Florida State join that league.

(10-09-2014 10:30 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  Don't worry, they will get better when Clemson and Florida State join that league.

(10-09-2014 10:30 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote:  Don't worry, they will get better when Clemson and Florida State join that league.

From the link:



"The terribly low FOX ratings could also affect the B1G’s leverage in their upcoming negotiations. It’s hard to imagine that the B1G can realistically consider moving 100% of content to FOX, given the viewership. It would be death to pull all programming off ESPN. That’s one negotiating weapon they’re not going to be able to wield anymore, which may keep the B1G’s impending payouts slightly less astronomical than many were predicting a couple years ago."




What happens after the B1G sees the ACC basketball ratings this year?

If the Big XII were smart what they would do is pry Pitt away from the ACC. With eight national titles from before WWII they are certain to be a big draw with the nursing home demographic, so that would be a chance to lock that one down. The added bonus is obviously Pitt's fans have figured out it is better to stay home, watch the game on TV and drive up the ratings than to waste your time sitting in a stuffy old stadium.

(10-10-2014 04:45 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  If the Big XII were smart what they would do is pry Pitt away from the ACC. With eight national titles from before WWII they are certain to be a big draw with the nursing home demographic, so that would be a chance to lock that one down. The added bonus is obviously Pitt's fans have figured out it is better to stay home, watch the game on TV and drive up the ratings than to waste your time sitting in a stuffy old stadium.

Even though you're being snarky the Big XII did want Pitt in 2011 real bad...Pitt choose the ACC instead....

(10-10-2014 04:45 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  If the Big XII were smart what they would do is pry Pitt away from the ACC. With eight national titles from before WWII they are certain to be a big draw with the nursing home demographic, so that would be a chance to lock that one down. The added bonus is obviously Pitt's fans have figured out it is better to stay home, watch the game on TV and drive up the ratings than to waste your time sitting in a stuffy old stadium.

(10-10-2014 04:45 AM)Kaplony Wrote:  If the Big XII were smart what they would do is pry Pitt away from the ACC. With eight national titles from before WWII they are certain to be a big draw with the nursing home demographic, so that would be a chance to lock that one down. The added bonus is obviously Pitt's fans have figured out it is better to stay home, watch the game on TV and drive up the ratings than to waste your time sitting in a stuffy old stadium.

From the article:

Quote:week 6 featured the biggest game in the Big 12 to date, #4 Oklahoma vs. #25 TCU. A close and exciting game throughout, it rated a 1.3 rating. The fact that it was beaten by Alabama-Ole Miss (CBS, 3.9) and Notre Dame-Stanford (NBC, 2.7) might be disappointing, but certainly not surprising. But what must have been disturbing for FOX (and the Big 12) is that the rating was thrashed by ABC, which scored a 2.3 with regional coverage of Baylor-Texas and FSU-Wake Forest. And to add insult to injury, 60% of the ABC viewing area was watching FSU-Wake Forest, and it still solidly topped OU-TCU.

The solution is obvious - the Big XII should poach Wake Forest!

Actually they should add VMI and the Citadel!

I expect the Big 12 to do much better this weekend, with the RRR and Baylor-TCU on ABC.

Not sure how Fox turns it around...the PAC and B12 are not helping them find an audience, and they probably diminish the ability of the PAC and B12 to do so with each season of low ratings.

It seems like Fox NEEDS the B1G at this point. But already having to serve the BTN, if my supposition is correct that the B1G cannot afford to pull out of the ESPN universe entirely, that's only so much content Fox will be able to come up with.

And it's no longer about Fox needing the B1G not purely to establish FS1 any more, you're talking now about them needing to prop up big Fox numbers. I don't see a scenario where Fox can win enough B1G content to put say Ohio State - Michigan State on Fox, and Michigan-Minnesota on FS1. They're just not going to have enough content. I don't think they're going to be able to "train" people to look for FS1 by playing Iowa-Maryland, any more than they've been able to by playing TCU-Kansas.

I just don't think the future looks bright for Fox college football. And while that is somewhat satisfying for those that believe that the ACC and Big 12 are locked in a duel to the death, its probably a pretty bad thing overall for ESPN to not have a competitor.

(10-10-2014 08:30 AM)Lou_C Wrote:  I expect the Big 12 to do much better this weekend, with the RRR and Baylor-TCU on ABC.

Not sure how Fox turns it around...the PAC and B12 are not helping them find an audience, and they probably diminish the ability of the PAC and B12 to do so with each season of low ratings.

It seems like Fox NEEDS the B1G at this point. But already having to serve the BTN, if my supposition is correct that the B1G cannot afford to pull out of the ESPN universe entirely, that's only so much content Fox will be able to come up with.

And it's no longer about Fox needing the B1G not purely to establish FS1 any more, you're talking now about them needing to prop up big Fox numbers. I don't see a scenario where Fox can win enough B1G content to put say Ohio State - Michigan State on Fox, and Michigan-Minnesota on FS1. They're just not going to have enough content. I don't think they're going to be able to "train" people to look for FS1 by playing Iowa-Maryland, any more than they've been able to by playing TCU-Kansas.

I just don't think the future looks bright for Fox college football. And while that is somewhat satisfying for those that believe that the ACC and Big 12 are locked in a duel to the death, its probably a pretty bad thing overall for ESPN to not have a competitor.

FOX has got to be willing to play the long game on this one. You don't become a near peer to ESPN overnight. I think the first thing they need to do is leverage those inter sectional games. I don't know what the broadcast arrangements are for the SEC-B12 scheduling agreement, but the 3 contests between the two conferences have all been on ESPN/ABC, even tough they were all B12 territory. I agree with regarding FOX and the terrible job they do promoting the fact they actually broadcast CFB games.

Props to Swofford, it was a gutsy call.

(10-10-2014 08:20 AM)Wilkie01 Wrote:  Actually they should add VMI and the Citadel!

The BX12 should add Cincinnati and solve all of their football TV ratings issues?

They should simply add Texas A&M, Arkansas, MIZZOU, and Nebraska. If that doesn't work, then they should explore adding LSU, Alabama, Auburn, and Notre Dame.

B1G has demonstrated that they go where the $ is so I don't expect Fox ratings to matter. The time slots they give up on ESPN have to be filled. It could benefit the ACC.

Part of Fox's problems lie within the fact that the Big 12 and Pac-12 footprints just don't have a massive number of people in them. College football fans east of the Mississippi aren't going to watch a Big 12 matchup (unless its two top 10 teams) over a matchup of teams in their school's conference or one of the conferences they're familiar with. Fox actually badly needs the Big Ten to end up with a split deal between ESPN/ABC and Fox to help support their investment in FS1 and college sports. (If the SEC and/or ACC were up for negotiation they could really use them as well.)

(10-10-2014 12:01 PM)Dasville Wrote:  B1G has demonstrated that they go where the $ is so I don't expect Fox ratings to matter. The time slots they give up on ESPN have to be filled. It could benefit the ACC.

Yeah, that's what I'm interested to see. I just don't see them having the balls to do it, but I think the B1G has been vulnerable to hubris for some time.

I have no doubt they'll give a piece to Fox, but unless they give all non BTN content to Fox, I don't know if it will be enough to turn Fox around.

But if they do give it all to Fox, they are murdering their ratings. I mean, Ohio State - Penn State is going to draw a lot of eyeballs anywhere it shows, but Iowa-Minnesota might draw .6 on ESPN, but it's going to pull a .1 on FS1. When you consider that a bunch of content is already on the BTN and out of sight, that's tough reality to shove down the throats of most of your schools. All the money in the world isn't going to do a whole lot for Illinois if they're for all intents and purposes never seen on TV.

And when you're talking about a bunch of schools with a dearth of local talent that need to pull kids nationally (Nebraska, Iowa, etc) that's got to be a bitter pill.

I don't think they can do it. I think they end up with a PAC type deal, but I'll be interested to see if I'm right. In a way, I hope the B1G does pull totally out of ESPN. That will make the ACC that much more important for ESPN to protect, and probably be enough to keep Fox as a competitor.

Plus, since the BTN revenue is going to swamp the ACC's revenue anyway, I'd rather they be handicapped by lower ratings and trying to overcome the ESPN machine.

(10-10-2014 09:11 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(10-10-2014 08:30 AM)Lou_C Wrote:  I expect the Big 12 to do much better this weekend, with the RRR and Baylor-TCU on ABC.

Not sure how Fox turns it around...the PAC and B12 are not helping them find an audience, and they probably diminish the ability of the PAC and B12 to do so with each season of low ratings.

It seems like Fox NEEDS the B1G at this point. But already having to serve the BTN, if my supposition is correct that the B1G cannot afford to pull out of the ESPN universe entirely, that's only so much content Fox will be able to come up with.

And it's no longer about Fox needing the B1G not purely to establish FS1 any more, you're talking now about them needing to prop up big Fox numbers. I don't see a scenario where Fox can win enough B1G content to put say Ohio State - Michigan State on Fox, and Michigan-Minnesota on FS1. They're just not going to have enough content. I don't think they're going to be able to "train" people to look for FS1 by playing Iowa-Maryland, any more than they've been able to by playing TCU-Kansas.

I just don't think the future looks bright for Fox college football. And while that is somewhat satisfying for those that believe that the ACC and Big 12 are locked in a duel to the death, its probably a pretty bad thing overall for ESPN to not have a competitor.

FOX has got to be willing to play the long game on this one. You don't become a near peer to ESPN overnight. I think the first thing they need to do is leverage those inter sectional games. I don't know what the broadcast arrangements are for the SEC-B12 scheduling agreement, but the 3 contests between the two conferences have all been on ESPN/ABC, even tough they were all B12 territory. I agree with regarding FOX and the terrible job they do promoting the fact they actually broadcast CFB games.

What SEC-Big 12 scheduling agreement?

(10-10-2014 12:45 PM)ChrisLords Wrote:  

(10-10-2014 09:11 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(10-10-2014 08:30 AM)Lou_C Wrote:  I expect the Big 12 to do much better this weekend, with the RRR and Baylor-TCU on ABC.

Not sure how Fox turns it around...the PAC and B12 are not helping them find an audience, and they probably diminish the ability of the PAC and B12 to do so with each season of low ratings.

It seems like Fox NEEDS the B1G at this point. But already having to serve the BTN, if my supposition is correct that the B1G cannot afford to pull out of the ESPN universe entirely, that's only so much content Fox will be able to come up with.

And it's no longer about Fox needing the B1G not purely to establish FS1 any more, you're talking now about them needing to prop up big Fox numbers. I don't see a scenario where Fox can win enough B1G content to put say Ohio State - Michigan State on Fox, and Michigan-Minnesota on FS1. They're just not going to have enough content. I don't think they're going to be able to "train" people to look for FS1 by playing Iowa-Maryland, any more than they've been able to by playing TCU-Kansas.

I just don't think the future looks bright for Fox college football. And while that is somewhat satisfying for those that believe that the ACC and Big 12 are locked in a duel to the death, its probably a pretty bad thing overall for ESPN to not have a competitor.

FOX has got to be willing to play the long game on this one. You don't become a near peer to ESPN overnight. I think the first thing they need to do is leverage those inter sectional games. I don't know what the broadcast arrangements are for the SEC-B12 scheduling agreement, but the 3 contests between the two conferences have all been on ESPN/ABC, even tough they were all B12 territory. I agree with regarding FOX and the terrible job they do promoting the fact they actually broadcast CFB games.

What SEC-Big 12 scheduling agreement?

I can't find any reference to a formal agreement beyond their bowl tie-ins. I did come across an interesting proposal, which I don't believe would ever come to pass.

It was suggested that the 10 SEC teams that don't already have a rivalry game with an ACC team match up with a Big 12 team, either on a more or less permanent basis or like a challenge where the matchups are determined by expected order of finish in each league. I would modify that proposal to exclude Iowa State which already has an annual P5 rivalry game with Iowa, dropping the Big 12 to 9 available teams. Then I would suggest excluding Vanderbilt by pairing them with Duke and Wake Forest on a rotating basis, bringing them down to nine teams as well.

There are some obvious candidates for an annual rivalry game. Texas vs A&M, for one, and Kansas vs Mizzou come to mind. West Virginia and Tennessee less so, but it makes the most geographic sense for both these teams.

The suggestion included a caveat that the Big 12 drop its full round robin and go to an 8 game league schedule to provide an opening for the SEC matchups. That could be a deal breaker, but I think the bigger deal breaker would be the reduced likelihood that either league would produce an undefeated champion, and the increased probability that either or both would wind up with a 2 loss champ. Unless the CFP selection committee establishes a track record for being forgiving about OOC losses to highly ranked teams, I don't see either taking such a risk.