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cents for ABC
But dollar story for NFL games is another issue
By Carl Bialik
Dennis Miller may be a funny man, but when ABC signed the comic two years ago to comment on "Monday Night Football," there was a lot of head-scratching and not much laughter, at least of the sort ABC wanted to hear.
With the signing of John Madden to call the games with Al Michaels, announced last week, analysts think the network has finally found the cure for "MNF's" sagging ratings.
And it was something of a no-brainer, they say, considering Madden's popularity with viewers over his eight years on Fox's lead NFL broadcasting team.
"Madden has a built-in following among loyal NFL fans, and I think he's going to bring a whole trainload of them with him to ABC," says Don Hinchey, director of creative services at the Bonham Group, a sports and entertainment marketing company.
"Madden can definitely help 'Monday Night Football.' I don’t think it requires salvation at this stage."
Last year the show's ratings dropped 9 percent.
The one question is whether the Madden-Michaels team will lose younger viewers. Madden is 65 and Michaels 54.
The one benefit Miller brought to the show was in raising viewership in the 18-34 male demographic, bringing it up from fourth place in primetime to second in 2000, where it has remained.
ABC is betting younger viewers will stick around, believing that Madden's appeal spreads across all age groups of football fans.
"When I told my 16-year-old that Madden was coming over, he was thrilled. He couldn't have been more excited," said Howard Katz, president of ABC Sports, at a news conference.
"There is only one John Madden. When he becomes available, you have to get him."
Analysts agree that Madden's appeal is no less among younger viewers.
Part of Madden's appeal to younger viewers stems from the popularity of the "Madden NFL" video game, which millions of teenagers and young adults have played and play while listening to Madden's voiceovers.
Then there are those unique aspects of Madden's charm that cut across demographics.
"There's something about a broadcaster where you have the intuition he just swallowed a big bite of hamburger that has a certain appeal to it," says Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.
Madden's role will likely extend beyond the Monday night broadcasts. His contract calls for him to appear on news and information shows such as "Sunday NFL Countdown" on ESPN, ABC's sports cable affiliate.
Madden's jump to ABC leaves Fox in a considerably weaker position, having lost not just Madden but Pat Summerall, who is retiring.
"It'll be hard for Fox to come up with a replacement who’s got the following that Madden does," says Lynn Kahle, professor of sports marketing at the University of Oregon.
Joe Buck and Chris Collinsworth are the most likely replacements.
But while the probable new team has talent and youth it also has a lot to prove.
"Those guys are going to have to find a following, just as Summerall and Madden did," Hinchey says.
Beyond Fox's vulnerability, the Madden shuffle reveals an underlying weakness of the NFL as a free TV sports property.
While the NFL is considered the best-positioned of American TV sports, it is a hugely expensive property and a money-loser for the networks that carry its games.
Fox's parent, News Corp., recently wrote off $387 million on its NFL deal. ABC parent Disney is reportedly losing millions each year on its $1.2 billion annual NFL contract.
And those losses played no small role in Madden's move.
Madden agreed to jump to ABC when he learned that his salary with Fox next year would be trimmed from $8 million to $5 million, what ABC was offering. By going to ABC he stood to gain primetime exposure, moreover.
"I think Fox wanted to get out of its contract with Madden," Kahle says. "They were paying him a lot and not making as much money as they were hoping. Madden wanted long-term job security."
The issue now is whether Madden's popularity with viewers will boost ratings sufficiently to ease ABC's losses on the NFL.
March 4, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Carl Bialik is a New York writer and a contributor to Media Life.
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