An estimated 103.4 million people watched the Super Bowl on NBC
http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jk-scott-jersey , a 7 percent drop from last year that indicates that television’s biggest event may have peaked in popularity.
The Nielsen company said it’s the smallest Super Bowl audience on television since 2009 despite the underdog Philadelphia Eagles beating the New England Patriots in a thrilling game that was close from start to finish.
Last year’s Patriots-Falcons game reached 111.3 million viewers. The all-time Super Bowl record – and record for any television event in the United States – was the 114.4 million who watched the Patriots against the Seahawks in 2015.
The NFL’s viewership has been down this year, with experts citing factors like increased injuries, some confusing rules changes and anger at players protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Similarly, fewer people have cable than they did a few years ago, with streaming onto hand-held devices becoming more popular.
The dip was also telegraphed by a poll conducted last week by Seton Hall University, which found that 54 percent of Americans were preparing to watch the game. That’s down from the 68 percent that said the same thing two years ago, according to the poll, which wasn’t done in 2017. The poll has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
Despite that prediction Robbie Grossman Minnesota Twins Jersey , the poll’s director said he thought the game’s quality would lift the numbers beyond what was actually seen.
”If you turned the game on at any time to say, `I wonder what’s going on,’ or a friend texted you to say you should watch this, you’re going to watch and get hooked,” said Rick Gentile, director of the poll, also sponsored by the Sharkey Institute.
NBC said that if you add in people who followed the game online, viewership increased to 106 million. And Nielsen said it has not yet counted the number of people who watched the game outside of homes – in a bar http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-leighton-vander-esch-jersey , for instance. Some perspective: despite the decrease, Sunday’s game ranked as the 10th most-watched television even in U.S. history.
Soothing any hurt for NBC was Kantar Media’s estimate that $414 million was spent on advertising for the Super Bowl telecast. That’s second only to the $419 million spent last year, a figure that Kantar said exceeded 2018 only because last year’s game went into overtime, meaning there was more time to sell ads.
The network was able to remind millions of people that the Winter Olympics, which will also be televised by NBC, begin on Thursday.
Justin Timberlake’s halftime show, despite tepid reviews, drew an audience of 106.6 million people Will Dissly Color Rush Jersey , Nielsen said.
NBC’s post-game telecast of ”This is Us” was a winning choice. Nielsen said 27 million people stayed for the drama, the most-watched post-game entertainment show in six years and sharply above the 17.6 million people who watched the premiere of ”24: Legacy” on Fox last year.
And extra kibble is being handed out over at Animal Planet. The cable network’s annual ”Puppy Bowl” of cute animals, shown opposite NBC’s pregame show, reached 3.05 million people. That was the show’s biggest audience in its 14 years of existence.
Ian Kennedy was penciled in to start for the Royals on Wednesday night in the series finale against the Cleveland Indians in Kansas City.
The operative word was “penciled.”
“Not in ink,” Kennedy said before playing catch in advance of Tuesday night’s game.
Kennedy won’t be making that start. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to June 30 with a strained left oblique.
Manager Ned Yost said Kennedy felt a little something while playing catch, so the Royals opted not to have him start.
“It doesn’t make any sense to push him,” Yost said. “We’ll bang him one start. We don’t want to jeopardize it and then he could be out six to eight weeks.”
Yost said Kennedy would probably miss just one start before being plugged back into the rotation.
Kennedy agreed the cautious way was the better way.
“I’ve learned from the past of pitching through things,” he said. “And I’ve learned my lesson that compensating is not always the best thing. It leads to more and more soreness and stuff going on later in the season when you’re trying to compensate and do things. So I’m going to be smart.”
Yost did not reveal who would take Kennedy’s rotation spot Tracy Walker Color Rush Jersey , but the Royals will probably recall right-hander Trevor Oaks from Triple-A Omaha to start. Oaks has not pitched since Friday, so Wednesday would be his normal day to pitch.
Oaks has put up some remarkable numbers with the Royals’ Pacific Coast League affiliate recently. He is 3-0 with a 0.64 ERA in his last seven starts with the Storm Chasers, allowing three earned runs and 29 hits over 42 innings in that span. He has walked 11 and struck out 27.
Oaks, 25, was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team trade on Jan. 4, which sent Joakim Soria to the Chicago White Sox. Oaks was up briefly for the Royals earlier this season, going 0-1 with a 7.45 ERA in three appearances, including one start.
His lone start came on April 28 against the Chicago White Sox as the 26th man on the roster in the second game of a doubleheader. He allowed five earned runs on 12 hits over five innings http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-taven-bryan-jersey , while walking one and striking out four.
The Indians used another grand slam, this one by Yan Gomes, to beat the Royals 6-4 on Tuesday night in the middle game of the series. Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the Monday victory. The Indians top the American League with eight grand slams this season.
Right-hander Trevor Bauer, who is 7-6 with a 2.45 ERA, will start the series finale for the Indians. This will be his 18th start this season and his 150th career appearance.
Bauer lost his prior start, a 3-1 decision in Oakland. He allowed two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings.
This will be Bauer’s third start this season against the Royals with the first two at Progressive Field. He is 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA in the two starts.
For his career, Bauer is 2-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts against the Royals. He is 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA in six starts at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals have lost five straight and 17 of 20. They have dropped to 35 games below .500 for the first time since ending the 2006 season at 62-100. They have scored four or fewer runs in 24 of their past 25 games.
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