Oklahoma City drops out of ESPN's top 10 college football markets

[Jersey Boss]

The city falls to No. 12 with a 2.8 rating

By Mel Bracht Published: December 12, 2013

"Oklahoma City, with a 2.8 average rating, dropped out of the top 10 this season in ESPN's list of college football markets, falling from No. 8 to No. 12 with an 18 percent ratings drop. Tulsa (2.5) also dropped from No. 12 to No. 14.

The top four most-viewed metered markets for ESPN's game telecasts in 2013 were the same as last year with Birmingham, Ala., finishing on top for a 13th consecutive season. Birmingham averaged 9.2, the highest ever for the market. Greenville, S.C., was second with 4.9 rating, followed by Knoxville, Tenn., 4.4, and New Orleans, 4.3."


Al. has almost as much as the next two combined. Appears that the SEC dominates ratings as well as the polls.

[Snowman]

It would not surprise me if where expectations are for OU has an effect on which cable package people subscribe to if one at all, I know my parents first got cable specifically because of a run OU was on for the title.

[BoulderSooner]

Also shows how OU centric this market really is

[ou48A]

Also shows how OU centric this market really is

YEP but apparently OU had the best TV ratings in the entire Big 12 beating out even Texas.

[Just the facts]

Let me say - well duh! ESPN shows almost nothing but SEC games so it would only make sense the SEC cities would dominate their viewership. When they aren't showing the SEC they are showing the Big 10. Not sure about OSU, but OU only played 2 games on the ESPN family this season - Tulsa (ESPN2) and Kansas (ESPN).

[LakeEffect]

Let me say - well duh! ESPN shows almost nothing but SEC games so it would only make sense the SEC cities would dominate their viewership. When they aren't showing the SEC they are showing the Big 10. Not sure about OSU, but OU only played 2 games on the ESPN family this season - Tulsa (ESPN2) and Kansas (ESPN).

They do? I thought ESPN played a lot of Big10 stuff...

[Richard at Remax]

CBS is the SEC machine when it comes to big games. ESPN2 at night usually had the SEC games

ABC is ESPN affiliate and we played on there for Texas game and maaaaybe one other. Fox Sports and FS1 for the others.

[shawnw]

:-)

See, now that we have our NFL team no one wants to watch college games

:-)

[onthestrip]

Also shows how OU centric this market really is

Given the simple information of OKC dropping out of top 10 in tv ratings, Im wondering how you came up with this?

Could it not have been other markets just had increased ratings this year? And say this does show how "OU centric" OKC is, why would ratings go down (even though its not necessarily true they went down) in a year OU goes to a BCS bowl? Did OU fans give up at the beginning of the year when they werent picked to win the Big 12?

Obviously I know OU fans make up the majority of OKC's college football fans but the fact that OKC dropped out of the top 10 tells us nothing other than that OKC dropped out of the top 10.

[HangryHippo]

Given the simple information of OKC dropping out of top 10 in tv ratings, Im wondering how you came up with this?

Could it not have been other markets just had increased ratings this year? And say this does show how "OU centric" OKC is, why would ratings go down (even though its not necessarily true they went down) in a year OU goes to a BCS bowl?[/B] Did OU fans give up at the beginning of the year when they werent picked to win the Big 12?

Obviously I know OU fans make up the majority of OKC's college football fans but the fact that OKC dropped out of the top 10 tells us nothing other than that OKC dropped out of the top 10.

Doesn't it specifically say the ratings dropped 18%?

[Just the facts]

They do? I thought ESPN played a lot of Big10 stuff...

Maybe it is their regional broadcasts. A lot of times here in Jax we get the 3:30 SEC game on ESPN and the Big 10 game goes to ABC. Maybe in OKC it is the other way around. It seems like their primetime schedule is 1/3 SEC, 1/3 Big 10, and 1/3 everyone else. If anything Big XII comes on down here it is usually on Fox1.

For example:

[Jersey Boss]

A couple of things I was wondering as they relate to these numbers. Did the mix of games suddenly change this year as far as % of games ESPN/ABC carried that were SEC/Big 10 vs. PAC 12/Big 12? If the ratings dropped 18% were there more Big 12 games last year? Another question is what were the ratings in the top 4 markets for the Big 10 games? If the networks are so two conference heavy, why no Big 10 markets in the top 4? Michigan and Ohio should be higher rated than Knoxville if it is the quality of the local teams. Even though I am an OU guy I always enjoy a SEC game. It seems every week there is a compelling SEC game and being a fan of the college game it matters not that a Big 12 team is not involved. My interest is in the quality of the game, not what conference affiliation is of the teams playing.

[BoulderSooner]

Given the simple information of OKC dropping out of top 10 in tv ratings, Im wondering how you came up with this?

Could it not have been other markets just had increased ratings this year? And say this does show how "OU centric" OKC is, why would ratings go down (even though its not necessarily true they went down) in a year OU goes to a BCS bowl? Did OU fans give up at the beginning of the year when they werent picked to win the Big 12?

Obviously I know OU fans make up the majority of OKC's college football fans but the fact that OKC dropped out of the top 10 tells us nothing other than that OKC dropped out of the top 10.

When OU is not in the national championship hunt the interest in cfb goes down in this state

[onthestrip]

When OU is not in the national championship hunt the interest in cfb goes down in this state

Oh, I figured it was the early loss of OSU to West Virginia... I kid.

But dang, sounds like a bunch of bandwagon fans to not even watch OU on tv

[Just the facts]

I was a die-hard OU fans for years and years. As a kid I used to cry when OU lost. As an adult an OU loss would bum me out until the next game. When the Thunder arrived OU football took a big back seat in my emotional rollercoaster. I suspect a lot of OU fans are starting to feel the same way. Of course, it sucks that OSU just starts to get good as people are caring less.

[Jersey Boss]

Different sports, different seasons and frequently very little overlap of games. Knoxville has pro hockey, pro football, and pro basketball in the same state. Why are they unique?

[BlackmoreRulz]

I was a die-hard OU fans for years and years. As a kid I used to cry when OU lost. As an adult an OU loss would bum me out until the next game. When the Thunder arrived OU football took a big back seat in my emotional rollercoaster.

I am the same way, I can't remember a more unexciting CFB season than this one and I have been an OU fan since the Bobby Warmack and Ron Shotts era.

[Snowman]

I was a die-hard OU fans for years and years. As a kid I used to cry when OU lost. As an adult an OU loss would bum me out until the next game. When the Thunder arrived OU football took a big back seat in my emotional rollercoaster. I suspect a lot of OU fans are starting to feel the same way. Of course, it sucks that OSU just starts to get good as people are caring less.

Reminds me of a analysis on how pro teams operate. Most people assume that their biggest rival is played on the feild, but often to the owners it is the other teams in their market competing for fan's money.

[bluedogok]

Let me say - well duh! ESPN shows almost nothing but SEC games so it would only make sense the SEC cities would dominate their viewership. When they aren't showing the SEC they are showing the Big 10. Not sure about OSU, but OU only played 2 games on the ESPN family this season - Tulsa (ESPN2) and Kansas (ESPN).

That is the case, OU had 4 games and OSU had 5 games on ABC/ESPN including the OU/OSU game on ABC. The day games also have a lot of competition for viewers and many of those on ABC are regional broadcasts.

PPV - UL-Monroe at Oklahoma - 6:00 PM
ABC - Mississippi St. vs. Oklahoma St. - 2:30 PM

Fox - West Virginia at Oklahoma - 6:00 PM
FS1 - Oklahoma St. at UTSA - 11:00 AM

ESPN2 - Tulsa at Oklahoma - 11:00 AM
FSN-SW - Lamar at Oklahoma St. - 6:30 PM

NBC - Oklahoma at Notre Dame - 2:30 PM
ESPN - Oklahoma St. at West Virginia - 11:00 AM

Fox - TCU at Oklahoma - 6:00 PM
ABC - Kansas St. at Oklahoma St. - 2:30 PM

ABC - Oklahoma vs. Texas- 11:00 AM

ESPN - Oklahoma at Kansas - 2:30 PM
Fox - TCU at Oklahoma St. - 11:00 AM

Fox - Texas Tech at Oklahoma - 2:30 PM
FSN-SW - Oklahoma St. at Iowa St. - 11:00 AM

Fox - Oklahoma St. at Texas Tech - 6:00 PM

FS1 - Oklahoma at Baylor - 6:30 PM
FS1 - Kansas at Oklahoma St. - 2:30 PM

FS1 - Iowa St. at Oklahoma - 11:00 AM
Fox - Oklahoma St. at Texas - 2:30 PM

FS1 - Oklahoma at Kansas St. - 11:00 AM
ABC - Baylor at Oklahoma St. - 7:00 PM

ABC - Oklahoma at Oklahoma St. - 11:00 AM

[BoulderSooner]

Oh, I figured it was the early loss of OSU to West Virginia... I kid.

But dang, sounds like a bunch of bandwagon fans to not even watch OU on tv

It doesn't have anything to do with just watching OU it is about watching college football

[ou48A]

It looks like those bandwagon OU fans still gave the OU Sooner first place the the Big 12 TV ratings this season and it was done in less than a vintage Sooner season..... It's why OU can support it's extensive TV deal with FOX that nobody else has except for UT.
I have been told by Sooner sport personnel that Fox has been so pleased with the quality of OU produced content and its ratings that they are showing some of it around most of the nation on their basic cable packages.

In future years SOONER SPORTS TV will pay dividends in attracting new recruits and even new fans well beyond our states boarders.

[ou48A]

This is interesting data on college-football TV ratings...
Where team rank on this over a long period of time along with filling big stadiums goes a long way in determining the desirability of a university to other conferences....

Sports Media Watch ? College Football TV Ratings