I went back and added all the football TV viewers for several G5 schools over the last 3 years at SportsMediaWatch.com. Here is the cumulative total:

1. Navy = 41M
2. UCF = 31M
3. Houston = 25M
4. Cincy = 22M
5. East Carolina = 21M & Temple = 21M
7. UConn = 20M
8. Memphis = 14M
9. USF = 13M & SMU = 13M
11. Tulsa = 12M
12. Tulane = 5M

Based on this year's TV schedule with Houston playing OU on ABC in addition to three Thursday ESPN games, Houston should overtake UCF for 2nd.

Bottom line: Navy coming into the TV package negates, for example, the hypothetical loss of say: Cincy and UConn.

Other schools of note above 10M:

Boise = 39M
BYU = 39M
Army = 23M
Northern Ill = 21M
Fresno = 19M
Utah St = 17M
Bowling Green = 16M
Air Force = 14M
San Diego St = 14M
Marshall = 11M
Toledo = 10M

Did you include bowls or is that just regular season?

Including bowls. And nonconference road games. Basically everything -- to get a sense of the value of the various brands.

BTW - looking at these numbers, ESPN will not be in any rush to push Cincy and UConn on the ACC (where ESPN would have to foot the entire bill) rather than the Big 12 (where ESPN would share the bill with Fox).

(07-20-2016 07:19 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  Including bowls. And nonconference road games. Basically everything -- to get a sense of the value of the various brands.

So, just to be clear 20% of Houston's viewers when including ALL games were from a Bowl Game with a state flagship institution in the third largest (by population) state in the Union and the Army-Navy game contributed to half (19M) of Navy's viewers and nearly all of Army's over the past three years.

Pretty easy to see through this data. Good effort though.

Three years is a pretty limited view. There are all kinds of variables that come in place that skew the number-- scheduling, a bad class, coaching changes, TV networks the games are shown on and what games they are opposing, etc. I think at least 7-10 years is a more accurate indicator.

(07-20-2016 08:21 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Three years is a pretty limited view. There are all kinds of variables that come in place that skew the number-- scheduling, a bad class, coaching changes, TV networks the games are shown on and what games they are opposing, etc. I think at least 7-10 years is a more accurate indicator.

Yes that would be better, but then Houston would have to dip into their CUSA years and the data would not look as good for them.

In reality, the only way to get an apples to apples ratings comparison is if you look at two games which are on the same network against the same team at the same timeslot.

(07-20-2016 08:21 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Three years is a pretty limited view. There are all kinds of variables that come in place that skew the number-- scheduling, a bad class, coaching changes, TV networks the games are shown on and what games they are opposing, etc. I think at least 7-10 years is a more accurate indicator.

Surprised Tulsa wasn't last with three losing seasons (2, 3, and 6 wins) in the last three years despite a bowl game last year.

(07-20-2016 07:57 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 07:19 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  Including bowls. And nonconference road games. Basically everything -- to get a sense of the value of the various brands.

So, just to be clear 20% of Houston's viewers when including ALL games were from a Bowl Game with a state flagship institution in the third largest (by population) state in the Union and the Army-Navy game contributed to half (19M) of Navy's viewers and nearly all of Army's over the past three years.

Don't forget Navy and Notre Dame. Take Army and Notre Dame off the schedule and the viewership is next to nothing.

(07-20-2016 08:42 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 07:57 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 07:19 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  Including bowls. And nonconference road games. Basically everything -- to get a sense of the value of the various brands.

So, just to be clear 20% of Houston's viewers when including ALL games were from a Bowl Game with a state flagship institution in the third largest (by population) state in the Union and the Army-Navy game contributed to half (19M) of Navy's viewers and nearly all of Army's over the past three years.

Don't forget Navy and Notre Dame. Take Army and Notre Dame off the schedule and the viewership is next to nothing.

Okay...ND currently scheduled through 2026 and won't come off the schedule after that. Army will obviously ALWAYS be on the schedule. The Navy number is unassailable.

(07-20-2016 08:21 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Three years is a pretty limited view. There are all kinds of variables that come in place that skew the number-- scheduling, a bad class, coaching changes, TV networks the games are shown on and what games they are opposing, etc. I think at least 7-10 years is a more accurate indicator.

I would agree. But SportsMediaWatch only started tracking all the games in 2013.

So deal with it, or take it up with them.

(07-20-2016 07:57 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 07:19 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  Including bowls. And nonconference road games. Basically everything -- to get a sense of the value of the various brands.

So, just to be clear 20% of Houston's viewers when including ALL games were from a Bowl Game

Yes - 5M watched Houston beat Florida State. You don't think that's meaningful for Houston's brand?

Your point would have made better sense if Florida State had won the game.

In fact, I may go back and only count the ratings for games won. The gap between Houston vs Cincy and UConn should widen, and the gap between Houston and Navy should narrow.

(07-20-2016 09:33 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 07:57 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 07:19 AM)CougarRed Wrote:  Including bowls. And nonconference road games. Basically everything -- to get a sense of the value of the various brands.

So, just to be clear 20% of Houston's viewers when including ALL games were from a Bowl Game

Yes - 5M watched Houston beat Florida State. You don't think that's meaningful for Houston's brand?

Your point would have made better sense if Florida State had won the game.

In fact, I may go back and only count the ratings for games won. The gap between Houston vs Cincy and UConn should widen, and the gap between Houston and Navy should narrow.

I would just go back and eliminate bowls. Having a marquee matchup will definitely help some teams, and on the flip side, the 12 noon game on 12/22 won't have much viewership at all. One game a season shouldn't sway the data so much.

(07-20-2016 09:39 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  I would just go back and eliminate bowls. Having a marquee matchup will definitely help some teams, and on the flip side, the 12 noon game on 12/22 won't have much viewership at all. One game a season shouldn't sway the data so much.

Then you'd have to eliminate high profile non conference games too.

If you start excluding games for one reason or another, then you are left with counting conference games only.

Lets eliminate the bowls and re-do the numbers so everyone is on a level playing field.

Like I've always said, NIU's value comes from the TV side of things and the football quality. Right up there with the rest of the AAC in terms of TV numbers.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Not really understanding how it isn't fair to include bowl games? Teams who played well and have a good fan base earned the bowl games and opponents they did. Sure Houston benefited from playing FSU in a great bowl but why would that not be included in the numbers? They earned it, that is part of their total package to offer. In the same breath the Army-Navy game is part of the package, it's played every year and people tune in every year. To many college football fans it is a bucket list game to attend. Temple played Notre Dame, you don't think that skewed the numbers? Why don't you take that game out as well. The best way is to display the data as he did originally.

(07-20-2016 10:00 AM)NBPirate Wrote:  

(07-20-2016 09:58 AM)DownEastPirate Wrote:  Not really understanding how it isn't fair to include bowl games? Teams who played well and have a good fan base earned the bowl games and opponents they did. Sure Houston benefited from playing FSU in a great bowl but why would that not be included in the numbers? They earned it, that is part of their total package to offer. In the same breath the Army-Navy game is part of the package, it's played every year and people tune in every year. To many college football fans it is a bucket list game to attend. Temple played Notre Dame, you don't think that skewed the numbers? Why don't you take that game out as well. The best way is to display the data as he did originally.

It's a one-year snapshot, similar to a balance sheet, a particular moment in time. We need these numbers for a 3 year average or at least 2 years.

The numbers the original poster listed were a 3 year average. He stated that in the first sentence of the post.....

Actually, a 3-year cumulative total.