By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Boy, this is a great time of the year. No more obligatory parties to attend, and I can curl up with my bottled water and watch the NFL playoffs. Too bad the TV networks aren't as joyful. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
I have to admit, my first love is the NBA playoffs. But what a season it's been for the NFL. Oh sure, it would have been nicer if the Cowboys could have honored Emmitt's triumph by winning a few more games. And, thank goodness, there's about 250 miles separating Dallas from Houston. Still, a record 25 games were decided in overtime and up until a couple of weeks ago, a record 19 teams were in playoff contention. So, according to the Wall Street Journal, overall ratings for the NFL rose 5.5% this season. That includes News Corp.'s Fox, Viacom's CBS and Walt Disney's ABC and ESPN.
Maybe the stations can make a little money now. Don't think so. Fox had to take a $386 million charge against its 2002 earnings to pay for the NFL. No wonder they let John Madden go. A Fox executive told the Journal, "Instead of two guys for $10 million, it's three guys for half that." And it's estimated ABC is losing more than a $100 million a year on "Monday Night Football."
Since the current contract with the networks began in 1998, TV ratings are down 10%, even with the current season upswing. And just how much do the networks have to pay the NFL for the privilege of airing these games? An average of $500 million to $600 million annually.
Obviously, no one would be complaining if they were making money. And putting it into a little bit more perspective, the audience for broadcast television is shrinking so fast, that as big a loss as "Monday Night Football" is for ABC, it's still their Number 1 program. The Journal reports Fox and ABC are actually studying whether it's worth their while to keep airing the NFL games. Ummmmmm... For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.