Big East basketball on FoxSports

[noeynox]

I saw many Big East commercials during the World Series. And Fox NFL games. That's exposure.

Is that exposure or advertising. You could advertise about a product being on a channel, but when most people don't know where the channel is at on their dial, some don't know if they have the channel, and some that want to see the big east don't have the channel, your going to have problems.

I happen to like fs1&2, for some of their content. I'm not interested enough in big east basketball to tune into it, so I can't comment on how it looks on the networks. I do think long term fs1&2, will be a success and I think their hoping this incarnation of the big east does for them what the original did for ESPN.

 

[upstater]

At least this is one debate that can be answered factually with ratings. What are the ratings? The OP said the Big East will kick ass on FSN, do the facts support his conclusion? Let the evidence decide. I'm betting on the side that says nobody outside of fans of those schools will be watching.

Who are the star players in that league? Where are the ranked teams? Why should the casual fan care?

zls44 who has access to the numbers said that head-to-head the ESPN2 game versus the much hyped Fs1 game showed that ESPN2 was mediocre at best while FS1 were beyond abysmal. They were bottom of the barrel.

The ratings should be out in a couple days.

 

[metsfan2323]

zls44 who has access to the numbers said that head-to-head the ESPN2 game versus the much hyped Fs1 game showed that ESPN2 was mediocre at best while FS1 were beyond abysmal. They were bottom of the barrel.

The ratings should be out in a couple days.

I look forward to finding out, I'm sure Nelson will find a way to plant his victory flag into a pile of crummy results. Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin can't rebuild the new Big East. As I sit here I can't think of one star player in that league.

Here's the Big East pre-season first team. Just loaded with stars. UCONN by itself has more star power than this.

2013-14 BIG EAST Preseason All-BIG EAST First TeamMarkel Starks, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6-1, 175, Accokeek, Md.
Davante Gardner, Marquette, F, Sr., 6-8, 290, Suffolk, Va.Bryce Cotton, Providence, G, Sr., 6-1, 165, Tucson, Ariz.
D'Angelo Harrison, St. John's, G, Jr., 6-4, 204, Missouri City, Texas
Semaj Christon, Xavier, G, So., 6-3, 190, Cincinnati, Ohio

 

[SubbaBub]

You guys are missing the point re: BE/FS1. The league exposure may or may not be better than the A, but for the individual teams it's not even close.

How many ESPN games was any team not named GTown or Marquette in that league going to get? Not many, unless they were going to play UConn or one of the teams that left for the ACC.

FS1 has a regular BE game schedule they all make out better on the exposure front.

 

[Husky25]

Is that exposure or advertising. You could advertise about a product being on a channel, but when most people don't know where the channel is at on their dial, some don't know if they have the channel, and some that want to see the big east don't have the channel, your going to have problems.

I happen to like fs1&2, for some of their content. I'm not interested enough in big east basketball to tune into it, so I can't comment on how it looks on the networks. I do think long term fs1&2, will be a success and I think their hoping this incarnation of the big east does for them what the original did for ESPN.

They have an uphill battle compared to the original Big East/ESPN. College basketball wasn't the monster it is today. Fox is trying to gain a foothold into mature industries (Cable TV/Broadcast sports/live college programming, etc) that was still in its growth phase 30 years ago. Lots of forward looking folks in the 06010 back then.

 

[whaler11]

FS1 has terrible ratings for sure. Was BC Providence going to be televised on a better national network? Of course not.

That BC isn't good now doesn't much matter - it's not like anyone who doesn't just hate BC remembers or cares that it was publicized during the NFL and World Series games.

ESPN kept showing UConn and Louisville promos all week during games. Should they be embarrassed by how bad UConn is or how bad that game was?

 

[upstater]

You guys are missing the point re: BE/FS1. The league exposure may or may not be better than the A, but for the individual teams it's not even close.

How many ESPN games was any team not named GTown or Marquette in that league going to get? Not many, unless they were going to play UConn or one of the teams that left for the ACC.

FS1 has a regular BE game schedule they all make out better on the exposure front.

We're looking at it solely for our perspective, because I'm sure we don't much care about it from their perspective. I congratulated FriarJ for what looked to me like a very good deal for PC. That doesn't change the fact that UConn would have absolutely been shortchanged by the same deal.

 

[upstater]

I look forward to finding out, I'm sure Nelson will find a way to plant his victory flag into a pile of crummy results. Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin can't rebuild the new Big East. As I sit here I can't think of one star player in that league.

Here's the Big East pre-season first team. Just loaded with stars. UCONN by itself has more star power than this.

2013-14 BIG EAST Preseason All-BIG EAST First TeamMarkel Starks, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6-1, 175, Accokeek, Md.
Davante Gardner, Marquette, F, Sr., 6-8, 290, Suffolk, Va.Bryce Cotton, Providence, G, Sr., 6-1, 165, Tucson, Ariz.
D'Angelo Harrison, St. John's, G, Jr., 6-4, 204, Missouri City, Texas
Semaj Christon, Xavier, G, So., 6-3, 190, Cincinnati, Ohio

Gardner is a very good player but not a star.

The only guy who appeals to me there is Cotton.

BUT, where the heck is Doug McDermott?

 

[tzznandrew]

In incredible news, the Oxford Style Guide today dropped use of the Oxford comma.

Finally, they agree with me. I put in a lot of hard work getting them to do that. I had some help along the way. I owe everything to my parents, George Clinton and Angela Lansbury.

I will continue to use and teach the Oxford comma, in large part because it helps to clear up ambiguity:

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I will continue to use and teach the Oxford comma, in large part because it helps to clear up ambiguity:

Amen

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I believe the lack of ESPN exposure will slowly be a detriment to the Big East. It's an appealing league, got a good tv contact money wise and will be the featured product on a new network. They had to split, they had to take the Fox deal and they've put themselves in the best position to succeed long term.

I'm just not sure Fox Sports will be enough of a national player for the league to truly flourish.

UConn and the AAC current deal sucks, but the exposure on ESPN (sometimes) and ESPNU (a lot) and the short term nature of the deal are the only redeeming qualities.

UConn can stay afloat with buyout money and this awful tv deal in my opinion until the end of the contract. If we're not in a new league and/or the tv deal remains as low monetarily, football is screwed, but basketball probably has some clout to remain top notch for some time.

So, both leagues have issues exposure wise and dollar wise. Asa basketball fan though, to say you'd rather watch AAC hoops over Big East hoops to me, is crazy given the teams. Then again, I've stopped following college sports aside from UConn since realignment.

 

[upstater]

UConn and the AAC current deal sucks, but the exposure on ESPN (sometimes) and ESPNU (a lot) and the short term nature of the deal are the only redeeming qualities.

UConn games on CBS Network: 1
UConn games on ESPN/ESPN2 = 15
UConn games on ESPNU = 7

Anyway you cut it, 16 is more than 7.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

UConn games on CBS Network: 1
UConn games on ESPN/ESPN2 = 15
UConn games on ESPNU = 7

Anyway you cut it, 16 is more than 7.

I know that is for this season and I know going forward without Louisville there'll be more ESPN spots to fill, but honestly I'll believe it when I see it.

I know you'll cite contract language, and that's fine, but until I see a schedule3 years from now in the AAC, I'll be skeptical.

 

[Durks07]

I'm just relieved that Nelson is trumping Fox Sports 1.

 

[upstater]

I know that is for this season and I know going forward without Louisville there'll be more ESPN spots to fill, but honestly I'll believe it when I see it.

I know you'll cite contract language, and that's fine, but until I see a schedule3 years from now in the AAC, I'll be skeptical.

Maybe there's no thing as a GOR either.

 

[zls44]

zls44 who has access to the numbers said that head-to-head the ESPN2 game versus the much hyped Fs1 game showed that ESPN2 was mediocre at best while FS1 were beyond abysmal. They were bottom of the barrel.

I never said I saw the FS rating for that day. But I have no reason to believe it isn't low based on every CBB rating for everyone the last 5 years.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Maybe there's no thing as a GOR either.

Just answer this, has any contractual decision/ agreement gone in the AAC or UConn's favor in the past few years?

I'm being irrational, I'll admit it, but the idea that AAC hoops will be featured on ESPN and ESPN2 is just something I can't believe until I see.

Upstater, you win this argument on contract details and facts. I admit that. Just saying how I feel.

Though I am interested in seeing how you argue a debate that's already been conceded

 

[upstater]

Here are the top college basketball ratings for the week that ended Sunday midnight:

1. ESPN: 8 pm Friday: Georgetown v. Oregon, .5 rating, 679,000 viewers
2. ESPN2: 6:30 pm Friday: UConn v. Maryland, .4 rating, 584,000 viewers
3. ESPNU: 8 pm Friday: Duke v. Davidson, .2 rating, 264,000 viewers

....

?. FS1: 6 pm Friday: PC v. BC, .1 rating, 182,000 viewers.

There were four more Big East games on Fox Sports this week. This is how they did:

GAME 2: 8 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 39,000 viewers
GAME 3: 6 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 15,000 viewers
GAME 4: 8 pm Friday: .0 rating, 14,000 viewers
GAME 5: 4 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 6,000 viewers

At this point, Ackerman, the BE commissioner, screamed, No Mas.

Basically, twice as many people watched the UConn game as watched the first 5 Big East games ever shown on Fox. COMBINED.

The UConn game on ESPN2, by the way, was the 7th highest ranked show on the channel this week.

The big Baylor-Oklahoma football game was the highest rated show for Fox in eons, and it did a 1.23, with 2,113,000 viewers. The next highest rated show was UFC Fight Night with a .5 and 722,000 viewers. But the 2nd highest rated show on Fox was lower than NBCSN's Premier league game with 803,000 viewers.

 

[upstater]

Just answer this, has any contractual decision/ agreement gone in the AAC or UConn's favor in the past few years?

I'm being irrational, I'll admit it, but the idea that AAC hoops will be featured on ESPN and ESPN2 is just something I can't believe until I see.

Upstater, you win this argument on contract details and facts. I admit that. Just saying how I feel.

Though I am interested in seeing how you argue a debate that's already been conceded

By the contract, they can end up on ESPNU. Aresco was absolute that the number of games promised would not end up on ESPN3. So, actually, the pessimistic viewpoint that most games will be on ESPNU does not go against the contract.

Nonetheless, UConn is playing the former CUSA teams on ESPN2 this year, and I imagine once the two 5-star players end up at SMU, ESPN will feature those kids, at least twice against UConn. You have to weigh this against whatever teams in the ACC not named Duke and UNC are getting. NC State, for instance, is getting 4 games. You also have to weigh it against the teeny audiences for BE basketball on Fox.

 

[upstater]

I never said I saw the FS rating for that day. But I have no reason to believe it isn't low based on every CBB rating for everyone the last 5 years.

I posted the ratings below.

 

[zls44]

I posted the ratings below.

The BC-PC number is higher than I thought it'd be, but if that's the high-water mark until PC-UK, it's a major problem.

Do you have which games are which? I'm curious how many of the FS1 games had more people in the stands than viewers at home.

If you're curious, those are comparative to the worst numbers on ESPNU. The worst. This proves the known truth that big name programs draw viewers. Despite its conference train-wreck-ness, UConn is a big name audience program. Nobody in the Big East is. Nobody. Not even Georgetown or Butler.

Small schools, small fanbases. Their intense loyalty and devotion doesn't change the reality that they're very, very small. As a hoops junkie, I wish I got FS2, even if it was just in SD. But there's probably not going to be any sort of immediate change on Comcast's end if the games are drawing between 10-20k viewers.

 

[upstater]

The BC-PC number is higher than I thought it'd be, but if that's the high-water mark until PC-UK, it's a major problem.

Do you have which games are which? I'm curious how many of the FS1 games had more people in the stands than viewers at home.

If you're curious, those are comparative to the worst numbers on ESPNU. The worst. This proves the known truth that big name programs draw viewers. Despite its conference train-wreck-ness, UConn is a big name audience program. Nobody in the Big East is. Nobody. Not even Georgetown or Butler.

Small schools, small fanbases. Their intense loyalty and devotion doesn't change the reality that they're very, very small. As a hoops junkie, I wish I got FS2, even if it was just in SD. But there's probably not going to be any sort of immediate change on Comcast's end if the games are drawing between 10-20k viewers.

I didn't bother looking up the BE teams. I'm sure someone who can synch up the game times with the ratings I gave can figure out the teams.

 

[zls44]

GAME 2: 8 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 39,000 viewers Lamar vs. Butler
GAME 3: 6 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 15,000 viewers Niagara vs. Seton Hall
GAME 4: 8 pm Friday: .0 rating, 14,000 viewers Lehigh vs. Villanova
GAME 5: 4 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 6,000 viewers Grambling vs. DePaul

 

[noeynox]

GAME 2: 8 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 39,000 viewers Lamar vs. Butler
GAME 3: 6 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 15,000 viewers Niagara vs. Seton Hall
GAME 4: 8 pm Friday: .0 rating, 14,000 viewers Lehigh vs. Villanova
GAME 5: 4 pm Saturday: .0 rating, 6,000 viewers Grambling vs. DePaul

Wow, those numbers don't even seem believable. Not exactly kicking ass.

 

[zls44]

https://twitter.com/stevelepore/status/401418035849736192

@stevelepore
Minnesota-Notre Dame hockey on NBCSN drew the same number of viewers (182,000) as FS1s debut Big East basketball broadcast of Providence-BC.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Would Depaul/Grambling have been a national TV game without Foxsports?

This is the most ridiculous argument in board history. DEPAUL IS MAKING MORE MONEY OFF ITS TV DEAL THAN UCONN DOES FOR BOTH SPORTS!!!!!!!

They win, we lose. ESPN has destroyed our athletic program, is paying us peanuts, and will eventually stop broadcasting those stellar midseason matchups against Tulane and ECU. The AAC is getting drowned in the bathtub by ESPN.

 

[metsfan2323]

Would Depaul/Grambling have been a national TV game without Foxsports?

This is the most ridiculous argument in board history. DEPAUL IS MAKING MORE MONEY OFF ITS TV DEAL THAN UCONN DOES FOR BOTH SPORTS!!!!!!!

They win, we lose. ESPN has destroyed our athletic program, is paying us peanuts, and will eventually stop broadcasting those stellar midseason matchups against Tulane and ECU. The AAC is getting drowned in the bathtub by ESPN.

There you go changing your argument. Your original assertion was that the Big East would kick ass on Fox, now you are just touting the money which is a different argument. Sure they get more money but they are getting fewer eyeballs. Isn't sports supposed to be about marketing the school? and what will the long term effects of the lower ratings be? Will they continue to get top recruits or do they risk becoming the Atlantic 10?

BTW we are doing just fine living off of the exit fees for now, which the C7 would have shared in.

The C7 are now on par with college hockey. Good for them.

 

[noeynox]

Would Depaul/Grambling have been a national TV game without Foxsports?

This is the most ridiculous argument in board history. DEPAUL IS MAKING MORE MONEY OFF ITS TV DEAL THAN UCONN DOES FOR BOTH SPORTS!!!!!!!

They win, we lose. ESPN has destroyed our athletic program, is paying us peanuts, and will eventually stop broadcasting those stellar midseason matchups against Tulane and ECU. The AAC is getting drowned in the bathtub by ESPN.

Does it matter if no one is watching? Yes, they're making more money. How long is the contract? I know the numbers will get a lot better in terms of viewers, but Fox will not continue to pay a premium in the future if the numbers don't get dramatically better. I mean those are atrocious.

 

[billybud]

I will continue to use and teach the Oxford comma, in large part because it helps to clear up ambiguity:

Commas save lives.

"Let's eat, grandma."

Let's eat grandma."

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Almost every single Big East intra conference game will be on national TV, with the mid week games in prime time. And by national, I mean on a television and not online. Yeah, that would suck.