Start Times Matter in Sport when it comes to the championship viewer. World series, NBA finals, Stanley Cup, NCAA Men’s Basketball Title Game and College Football National Championship Game to name several mega-cities, all start in the main time (on the east coast). Super Bowl is awarded a little earlier (about 18:30 ET), but closes in the middle of the main time. There is a reason why television programmers have done this historically, followed by the same adage that Willie Sutton used when someone asked him why he robbed banks.
Because there are spectators.
Before arriving at AthleticI have covered the women’s university basketball for Sports Illustrated for more than ten years, including the women’s final every year. The role gave me a sports window and I saw the potential for an economic missile missile because the players were more qualified and athletic and the programs have deepened. The last three years have shown that all the points of the darts up:
- In the BCC era (before Caitlin Clark), the title game 2022 attracted 4.85 million viewers between South Carolina and Uconn and reached 5.91 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN, most viewers in almost two decades.
- In 2023 the championship moved from ESPN Networks to ABC. The vote of titles between LSU and Clark more than doubled 2022, which on average 9.9 million viewers.
- Last year, the title game in South Carolina-Iiwa attracted a stunning 18.9 million viewers on ABC and reached a peak of 24.1 million. Since 2019 it has been the most popular basketball game (male or female, college or for).
The last two title games moved away at 15:00 ET and it should be strongly argued that IS with their still huge television ratings, all of them left even more attention to the audience by broadcasting at 15:00, rather than Primetime, if more people look.
During my years of writing about women’s basketball, I watched ESPN to cover it, since broadcasting highly profiled regular games in better programming windows to improve their studio coverage with devoted female basketball experts. In 2021, the company decided to broadcast all 63 NCAA games at national level and placed both semifinal games on Big ESPN. Now the title game is broadcast on ABC. ESPN acknowledged that it had a product with increasing mass attraction and acted accordingly.
The agreement that ESPN signed with NCAA last year-dark-year-old Media Rights agreement of $ 920 million, which contained 40 championships that joined (including women’s basketball) by 2032-contractual provisions that the title game will be broadcast on ABC. That’s a great thing.
But it was time. Rather than the usual time of the beginning of 15:00 – as with this Sunday championship game – the title game should broadcast on ABC V main time From next year and ESPN and NCAA executives should defend themselves hard.
The ABC schedule includes new episodes “The most fun American home videos” (19:00 ET), “American Idol” (20:00 ET) and “Pyramid $ 100,000” (22:00 ET and Celebrities include Rob Riggle, Luenell, Fortune Feimster and Rachel Dratch). This is not exactly NBC on Thursday evening at the age of 90.
Walt Disney Co. in the long run, it would benefit much more of the exposure of one of its important sports qualities to a larger audience, because female basketball will be played on ESPN/ABC much longer than “idol” and “pyramid” will take place on this network. The American Idol pulled 4.66 million viewers last Sunday, while the pyramid attracted 2.29 million viewers. The game of the female title would be smoked in the main time.
Everyone wants to protect their own fiefdom in Disney and there are legitimate challenges. Idol may have built into his contract that it could not be preceded. As far as NFL programming is concerned, IDOL also generates more than $ 100,000 to a 30 -second location that is robust in 2025 for a broadcast show. So you would need many executives from several sister partners to do this, but this is good long -term companies for the parent company. Willow Bay, Dean of the USC school Annenberg for communication and journalism, and her husband Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Company, knows the power of women’s sports well. Last year, the couple bought a control stake in Angel City FC National Football League. Iger can do it very easily if it wants.
The National Championship game last season attracted more spectators for basketball play than since 2019. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
Undoubtedly, the afternoon window has created large viewers for the title game in the last two years and the Sunday tip 3:00 (ET) has advantages, given that time is accessible for younger fans. (Criminal prosecution has no objection here, your honor.) But the main time for ABC on Sunday or Tuesday will do better.
ESPN did not question the programming manager when asked about this topic, most likely because they try to be good corporate partners. But last year, when I asked Nick Dawson, senior vice president for programming and acquisition, he said:
“The Conversions HAVE HAPPENED WITH REGARD TO The Time Slot of the Championship Game As Well As Network Considerations for the National Semifinals. It’s An Eight-Year Deal, SO WHERE WE START MAY NOT BE WHERE WE FIN. AS OF RIGHT NOW DID-The Championship Game On ABC in that Kind of Late Afternoon Sunday Slot, Which From and Potential Viewership Perspective Oour Research Team Profes
Although this decision would have to happen at levels above it, I asked Meg Arnonwitz, senior vice president of ESPN production and a point person for a women’s tournament who thought of this idea. “What I would definitely support conversations about how we continue to put this sport into the best light to increase, and gives it the exhibition it deserves,” she said. “We should never avoid these interviews.”
Added Rebecca Lobo, the main analyst of the female tournament: “Moving the ESPN to ABC championship in 2023 proved to be a brilliant decision that took advantage of the newly found popularity of female college.
The game of female universities is in a great place. The elite eight rounded averaged 2.9 million viewers, the second most watched eight in the AO record 34 percent since 2023. The next step is the final time. When you have momentum, you ride it.
(Upper photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
