(10-17-2013 03:10 PM)RUScarlets Wrote: Ony thing is, it's not working... ratings are down compared to even Mondays. I get that the NFLN is new and people are just getting it, but it's still terrible ratings for NFL games. They want to dominate, and adding more horrible games is not going to do them any favors. They need to get higher quality games or give teams more rest by placing their bye week before that.
That won't happen. The reason the NFL was able to get away with just adding in the Thursday game and not losing money from their media partners was that the idea was that Thursday games are meant to be C or D games, the type that would normally be buried as regional coverage in the 1:00 window, moved to primetime to monetize. Even when they went to a full slate, and renegotiated their deals, Fox, and CBS won't put up with them taking their marquee games way and expecting them to still play the same price.
Typically, the first two weeks are frontloaded with big matchups to get the season started, and you will find big matchups in all five windows (and a cheap west coast MNF game). But from about week 3-week on, you can sort of gauge the NFL schedule in this order
1) Sunday Night Football*
2) 4:25 Afternoon National TV game (alternates CBS/Fox)*
3) Marquee afternoon 1:00 game*
4) Monday Night Football
5) Marquee afternoon 1:00 game
6) afternoon 1:00 game
7) Thursday Night Football
8-16) Regional coverage
* From Week 10 on these can be affected by Sunday Night Football Flex scheduling
Now this is based on how the previous year ended, obviously, and sometimes 4/5 alternate as do 6/7, but that is generally how it is done. You also have to account for the Giants/Jet rule, and the Raiders/49ers rule, which puts these teams in prime time a minimum of 3 games per year regardless of how good they are (to avoid having them play at the same time). If the NFL starts moving games in the 1-5 range to Thursday, they will have some 'splainin to do with NBC, CBS, and Fox. Because the game they show is an "eh" game is exactly why they get away with it. However it doesn't mean they don't still think that everything they offer up, you should eat. Because they do, but they don't have a lot of wiggle room to claim too many marquee Thursday games, especially since each team is only allowed one Thursday game (no less, no more), and 8 of the spots are taken up by the kickoff game and Thanksgiving, which will be at least six marquee teams, plus Detroit, plus the "other" team in the late Thanksgiving game.