Typical NFL game has 11 minutes of action about 60 minutes of commercial time

[edjr 6,578]

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html

 

Football fans everywhere are preparing to settle in for the NFL's biggest and most electric weekend of the season—a four-game playoff marathon that will swallow up at least 12 hours of broadcast time over two days.

 

But here's something even dedicated students of the game may not fully appreciate: There's very little actual football in a football game.

 

According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.

 

In other words, if you tally up everything that happens between the time the ball is snapped and the play is whistled dead by the officials, there's barely enough time to prepare a hard-boiled egg. In fact, the average telecast devotes 56% more time to showing replays.

 

So what do the networks do with the other 174 minutes in a typical broadcast? Not surprisingly, commercials take up about an hour. As many as 75 minutes, or about 60% of the total air time, excluding commercials, is spent on shots of players huddling, standing at the line of scrimmage or just generally milling about between snaps. In the four broadcasts The Journal studied, injured players got six more seconds of camera time than celebrating players. While the network announcers showed up on screen for just 30 seconds, shots of the head coaches and referees took up about 7% of the average show.

 

If you think the networks are a little too fond of cheerleaders, you may be mistaken: In these broadcasts, only two networks showed cheerleaders at all. And when they did, they were only on camera for an average of three seconds. "We make it a point to get Dallas cheerleaders on, but otherwise, it's not really important," says Fred Gaudelli, NBC's Sunday Night Football producer. "If we're doing the Jets, I couldn't care less."

 

Football—at least the American version—is the rare sport where it's common for the clock to run for long periods of time while nothing is happening. After a routine play is whistled dead, the clock will continue to run, even as the players are peeling themselves off the turf and limping back to their huddles. The team on offense has a maximum of 40 seconds after one play ends to snap the ball again. A regulation NFL game consists of four quarters of 15 minutes each, but because the typical play only lasts about four seconds, the ratio of inaction to action is approximately 10 to 1. (At the end of a game, if one team has a lead and wants to prevent the other team from scoring again, standing around and letting the clock run down becomes a bona fide strategy).

 

For broadcasters, filling these idle moments is always a unique challenge. Ken Crippen, the executive director of the Professional Football Researchers Association, who has a collection of broadcasts that date back to the 1930s, says most early telecasts showed a constant feed of the field with a few shots of the scoreboard for variety. "It was basically just constant, live action," he says.

 

Things began to change in the mid-1960s, when instant replay became commonplace. By the 1970s, broadcast crews had expanded to an average of eight cameras and three production trucks, a number that has only continued to grow. Mr. Gaudelli says that by the 1990s, some football broadcasts showed about 100 replays per game.

 

In the past decade, regular-season football telecasts have evolved into major productions that can cost between $150,000 and $250,000. Networks say they have anywhere from 80 to 200 people on hand per game with dozens of cameras. (NBC says its broadcasts require seven production trucks.) Producers say all this technology has made it easier to show shots of wacky fans, demonstrative coaches on the sidelines and video segments prepared before the game.

 

The result is that broadcasters have so many options that they have to spend a lot more time planning what to show—and what not to. Lance Barrow, CBS's lead football-game producer, says his crew meets for several hours with players and coaches from the home and road teams in the two days before kickoff just to prepare material to present during dead time. In August, Bill Brown, a senior football producer for Fox, says he met with about 100 colleagues at a conference center in New York to prepare the network's game plan for the season.

 

Absolutely gross.

 

Not to worry folks. The NFL is going to review every turnover and scoring play this year. and still give the coaches 2 challenges That'll help significantly.

 

 

[RoadLizard 73]

Just awful. Glad you posted this.

 

As I said in the other thread - watching an NFL game is going be more and more "casual" like watching baseball or Nascar. People can trim the landscaping, wash the car, run to the store, whatever errands they have to now and not miss much. Just check your FF stats and watch the cool plays on Sportscenter later. Ad the fact that the NFL Network is going to be stealing more and more games and possibly placing them on weird nights and times and you have to wonder how this will shake out.

 

I realize the NFL has an in-demand product and all that. I just dont get why they have to keep focking with it. There are way too many stoppages now between time outs called, reviews, injuries, etc, etc. Extra points and every kick seem to have a 5 minute barrage of lame car ads or Budweiser nonsense. Geesh. Give us a break.

 

Coming next - EVERY play gets reviewed no matter what.

[TD Ryan2 316]

hey, I love the NFL on TV but we all agree, it's disgusting how much time they waste:

TD - then Commercial

XP - then Commercial

Kickoff - then Commercial

First down of Series, penalty - Commercial

Second down, incomplete pass, challenge - Commercial

Third down, incomplete pass

Fourth Down, Punt - Commercial

 

 

all told, you watched about 1minute30seconds of actual game play and you had 6 commercials.

 

 

Again, I love football, the the NHL Playoffs is every bit as entertaining - they can't stop NHL action as easily.

[Truck Jackson 0]

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html

 

 

 

Absolutely gross.

 

Not to worry folks. The NFL is going to review every turnover and scoring play this year. and still give the coaches 2 challenges That'll help significantly.

 

 

 

It's not like there isn't already a commercial break after every turnover, and every score anyway. And I didn't notice the replays on scores last year eating up any significant amount of time, except in those cases where something questionable actually took place, which is in good reason.

[MTSkiBum 1,620]

You guys need either sunday ticket or the redzone channel

[Groundhog 24]

This is ultimately going to end badly. Just not sure how long until we get there.

 

The reason the NFL is the preeminent sports vehicle for advertisers is that it is what is called 'destination programming'. What other professional sport induces viewers to plan their weekend around a game? Pretty soon there will be games on more nights than there are nights without games, and that dynamic will dry up. Then consider that you don't actually need to be watching the game to get your fantasy stats. Then consider that you can always Tivo the game and watch it later. I can Tivo a game and bang it out in an hour, late at night, after the kids are asleep.

 

There are always going to be hard-core fans that will sit through it live no matter what, but I think those are going to be fewer and fewer. Eventually, advertisers will find that actual live viewership is on the decline even as TV set usage remains high. They pay a premium for live viewership, and less so for other things, like ads in TV shows. I know that the 2014 TV package is an uptick for the NFL on TV revenues, but my guess is that this will be the high water mark.

[RoadLizard 73]

This is ultimately going to end badly. Just not sure how long until we get there.

 

The reason the NFL is the preeminent sports vehicle for advertisers is that it is what is called 'destination programming'. What other professional sport induces viewers to plan their weekend around a game? Pretty soon there will be games on more nights than there are nights without games, and that dynamic will dry up. Then consider that you don't actually need to be watching the game to get your fantasy stats. Then consider that you can always Tivo the game and watch it later. I can Tivo a game and bang it out in an hour, late at night, after the kids are asleep.

 

There are always going to be hard-core fans that will sit through it live no matter what, but I think those are going to be fewer and fewer. Eventually, advertisers will find that actual live viewership is on the decline even as TV set usage remains high. They pay a premium for live viewership, and less so for other things, like ads in TV shows. I know that the 2014 TV package is an uptick for the NFL on TV revenues, but my guess is that this will be the high water mark.

 

+ 1,000,000. This. Very astute observations. It will take some time but the TV contract monies will slowly drop . I dont think the NFL really gets it but the eventually will. There will still be plenty of viewers throughout the day but as I said, people will mix in other things while the game is on since the stoppages and focking around will force their hand. Noone wants to watch 4-5 Toyota commercials in a row or drawn out, UNfunny Budweiser ads. Then you get station identification promos and whatever the fock else. It NEVER used to be so bad. I know, I was there during the brighter times of TV coverage.

 

I also think moving games around to different times just waters it down and further ups the chances that your local coverage will NOT have any good games on Sunday. Sunday is football day. Period. The whole idea of Wednesday afternoon, Tuesday at Midnight, games played in Afghanistan between bombings is just disgusting to me. It also RUINS fantasy football which is another killer. Yeah, yeah, I know, just get DirecTV and ante up to watch all the games. Nope. Fock that. The problem still persists - then I have 14 games on with too many ads and breaks and Im channel flipping all day. Horrible way to deal with the problem. Plus, most games are worthless anyways and you hardly need the NFL package to get good matchups.

 

They'll figure it out...eventually.

 

 

Again, I love football, the the NHL Playoffs is every bit as entertaining - they can't stop NHL action as easily.

 

Cant wait for the NHL playoffs! Probably the best postseason of ANY major sport with fluid action and very little dicking around. bring it ON!

[Portis26 0]

You guys need either sunday ticket or the redzone channel

 

I agree but 4 o'clock games sometimes aregod awful slow with only 4 or so games going on. But rezone channel is what I think heaven is like !!

[Joey Gladstone 33]

And to top it off, advertisers air their most obnoxious, retarded ads during football. And they replay the same ###### commercials every break. I swear to god I'll never set foot near a Burger King ever again. I hope they all burn down.

[Raider 84 29]

Sounds about right. Id like to see what the average salary is for those 11 minutes. Actually half if you divided offense and defense.

[Vikings4ever 538]

The typical NFL game is 3 hours (maybe a little more), 1 hour of which is commericals.

 

The typical hour long TV show is about 40 minutes of show, 20 minutes of commercials.

 

So, while the NFL takes more commercial breaks than the average show, their content to comercial ratio is about the same.

[RoadLizard 73]

The typical NFL game is 3 hours (maybe a little more), 1 hour of which is commericals.

 

The typical hour long TV show is about 40 minutes of show, 20 minutes of commercials.

 

So, while the NFL takes more commercial breaks than the average show, their content to comercial ratio is about the same.

 

Thats not quite accurate - an "hour" long show is closer to 46-48 minutes of show time and 14-12 minutes of ads. You are right though that the ratio isnt far off. I guess with football its more of a a flow thing. NFL games are best when there are sustained drives, good play on both sides of the ball, and all that good stuff. The game becomes tedious and almost unwatchable when there are lots of injuries, reviews, time outs, punts, etc, etc. Then, sprinkle in ads at EVERY opportunity and it further ruins it.

 

Also - TV shows have set ad times. They arent based on whats happening in the show. The same amount are shown at the same time. You start adding MORE breaks to NFL games and they'll just pile on more ads. Different situation.

[Truck Jackson 0]

Thats not quite accurate - an "hour" long show is closer to 46-48 minutes of show time and 14-12 minutes of ads. You are right though that the ratio isnt far off.

 

Also - TV shows have set ad times. They arent based on whats happening in the show. The same amount are shown at the same time. You start adding MORE breaks to NFL games and they'll just pile on more ads. Different situation.

 

Check the run times of every 1 hour program on hulu, 43 is highest I see in last 2 days, with 42 being more common.

[RoadLizard 73]

Check the run times of every 1 hour program on hulu, 43 is highest I see in last 2 days, with 42 being more common.

 

Fair enough - either way, as I pointed out its a fixed amount and the breaks occur about the same time. Much different than football where ads can run rampant and they are always looking for new ways to insert more ads. Apples to Oranges.

[IGotWorms 4,057]

Gregg Easterbrook, the fella who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback for ESPN.com, has been saying for years that the NFL acts like its popularity will always be a given and that they are wrong on that. Dilute the product too much in the name of short-term profits and the league will lose its allure.

 

I have a feeling this warning will come to fruition by the end of thia decade.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Gregg Easterbrook, the fella who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback for ESPN.com, has been saying for years that the NFL acts like its popularity will always be a given and that they are wrong on that. Dilute the product too much in the name of short-term profits and the league will lose its allure.

 

I have a feeling this warning will come to fruition by the end of thia decade.

 

The thing is, the NFL isn't just going to fall off the top of the mountain. Something else is going to have to climb up there and replace them.

 

What could that be? Baseball and basketball? Nope. Nascar? Hell no. Soccer? Not likely anytime in the forseeable future. Hockey? No. MMA? nope.

 

The only thing that has a shot is college football. If those assclowns ever got their act together, figured out a system that made some sort of sense, quit scheduling a bunch of b.s. mismatch games and whatnot, they might could pull it off.

 

The thing that takes football in general and the NFL in particular into the stratosphere is the non sports fan watcher. Most people here probably watch a bunch of different sports, whatever happens to be on. But the NFL has your wife watching. It has the 65 year old cat lady in payroll wearing a jersey on Monday.

 

It has transcended a sport to become a cultural phenomenon. People who don't even LIKE sports watch, just to be a part of things.

[RoadLizard 73]

Gregg Easterbrook, the fella who writes Tuesday Morning Quarterback for ESPN.com, has been saying for years that the NFL acts like its popularity will always be a given and that they are wrong on that. Dilute the product too much in the name of short-term profits and the league will lose its allure.

 

I have a feeling this warning will come to fruition by the end of thia decade.

 

100% correct. Kodak could never go under. Oops. Neither could GM. Oops. Enron. Rut Roe.

 

History is loaded with "never gonna happen" cases. The NFL has a great sport and game. The CAN ruin it with the presentation though. Just chill a bit with the BS and stop changing things that dont need changing. Goodell just cant keep his mitts off. If he was running Apple, their stock would be down to like $20 a share because hed be focking with the products for no good reason and trying to impose his will. The owners arent always helping either but its his job to sell the sport and make it desireable.

 

Careful.

[gocolts 300]

The NFL is going to review every turnover

I don't like all the breaks either, but it is about focking time.

[RoadLizard 73]

The thing is, the NFL isn't just going to fall off the top of the mountain. Something else is going to have to climb up there and replace them.

 

What could that be? Baseball and basketball? Nope. Nascar? Hell no. Soccer? Not likely anytime in the forseeable future. Hockey? No. MMA? nope.

 

The only thing that has a shot is college football. If those assclowns ever got their act together, figured out a system that made some sort of sense, quit scheduling a bunch of b.s. mismatch games and whatnot, they might could pull it off.

 

The thing that takes football in general and the NFL in particular into the stratosphere is the non sports fan watcher. Most people here probably watch a bunch of different sports, whatever happens to be on. But the NFL has your wife watching. It has the 65 year old cat lady in payroll wearing a jersey on Monday.

 

It has transcended a sport to become a cultural phenomenon. People who don't even LIKE sports watch, just to be a part of things.

 

I agree that the NFL easily has the most non-fans tuning in or at least partially caring. People schedule parties around NFL games. Its a reason to get together. However, if they keep mucking with game times and spreading games out then that will hurt that. Sunday is for football. It should be played in the USA on Sunday. ONE game Monday night is OK, provided its a good matchup which very often it isnt. That sums that up. The other sports have failed to capture this "non-fan" base and they might never be able to do it. Unless those sports change the way they are marketed and add real superstars.

 

Most sports have WAY too long of a regular season. Every game matters in the NFL, it seems. The other sports are a joke in this regard. Who cares about game #35 of the NBA or NHL season? Or game #97 of MLB? Soccer? Soccer is a kids game in the USA and a place for yuppies to take their kids to hopefully tire them out so they'll go to bed on time. Thats all it is. At a pro level, soccer is about as significant as badminton....maybe even less so. A worthless pro-level game. Soccer will never make it here. Ever.

 

The NHL has a great playoffs and lots of non-stop action but like baseball, they lack true well-known stars. People cant get into rooting for nomn-speaking Russian guys. Nor can they get behind the next Dominican blue-chip rookie. Just doesnt market well.

 

College football? The biggest joke in history. How the hell do people care about a college team that they never attended the college for is beyond me. Even if you did attend the college....who cares? Colleg football has so many problems its unbelievable to me how popular it actually is. Lets review:

 

1) Exactly 14,566,459 teams. A vast sea of nothingness

2) Of those, about 20 of them are actually any good

3) Its all money based & driven. More currupt than most Govt unions.

4) Monster teams play against special-ed schools to pad their stats

5) Einsten and Stephen Hawking together cant figure out the BCS algorithms

6) There are about 600 bowl games named after various non-related products. Like the Tostitos bowl. Focking kidding me?

7) Just no reason whatsoever to give a crap at all for most people in this country.

 

Oh well - we shall see how this shakes out. If it gets annoying enough, the ratings will drop slightly and they'll have to deal with it. Ill be watching carefully this year to see what happens.

[Skurzilla 0]

As long as they don't start advertising on the Jersey's, I think I will be okay with the current commercial time..

[LunaTick 30]

Put into context.

 

Soccer has no commercial time outs. Adds time to the end to make up for down time (from penalty/injuries, etc.)

 

One sport the rules seem to prevent scoring, the other tries give scoring a reasonable chance.

 

Which sport would your rather watch.

 

That stated, SB is ridiculous. The delays are detrimental to the game, imo.

[LunaTick 30]

Most sports have WAY too long of a regular season. Every game matters in the NFL, it seems. The other sports are a joke in this regard. Who cares about game #35 of the NBA or NHL season? Or game #97 of MLB? Soccer? Soccer is a kids game in the USA and a place for yuppies to take their kids to hopefully tire them out so they'll go to bed on time. Thats all it is. At a pro level, soccer is about as significant as badminton....maybe even less so. A worthless pro-level game. Soccer will never make it here. Ever.

 

Soccer I think has a chance. Somewhere, those yuppies kids at sometime will make it significant. At one time, who would have thunk baseball would become eclipsed by football.

 

I concur on the length of seasons. Problem is it dilutes the regular season games quality, etc. Thinking specifically in terms of NBA.

 

But what is worst about NHL and NBA is their playoffs begin too late into the year and end in the summer. By then most people no longer want to be indoors nor pay attention to a team they are not fans of. Shorten the regular season. Shorten the playoffs. First round series doesn't need to be best of 7, go back to best of 3 or 5. NBA was king when this was the case. IMO NBA went to 7 not so much for more tickets sales, but to rig the playoffs to stronger higher ranked games. Like most things that tend to taint NBA, the rigging of outcomes is the biggest. Draft lottery is a joke. Who cares, all it does it attempt to covertly rig the drafts. I doubt it is random selection, is too coincidental who seems to be there to get the blue chippers.

 

NHL fights have become too WWE or Slapshot. Is making it less credible and a bit of a joke.

 

Both NHL and NBA have too many teams in the playoffs.

Both need to figure a way to become more ____________ (relevant, competitive, marketable, credible, ___________.

 

NBA, tell Stern and any of his crownies to get the eff out. His stay has been too long.

[LunaTick 30]

As long as they don't start advertising on the Jersey's, I think I will be okay with the current commercial time..

 

Do Banner Ads and PIP. NASCAR is doing it, why not.

[Phurfur 70]

Extra point

 

Commercial

Commercial

Commercial

 

Kick off

Touchback

 

Commercial

Commercial

Commercial

 

 

[RoadLizard 73]

Soccer I think has a chance. Somewhere, those yuppies kids at sometime will make it significant. At one time, who would have thunk baseball would become eclipsed by football.

 

I concur on the length of seasons. Problem is it dilutes the regular season games quality, etc. Thinking specifically in terms of NBA.

 

But what is worst about NHL and NBA is their playoffs begin too late into the year and end in the summer. By then most people no longer want to be indoors nor pay attention to a team they are not fans of. Shorten the regular season. Shorten the playoffs. First round series doesn't need to be best of 7, go back to best of 3 or 5. NBA was king when this was the case. IMO NBA went to 7 not so much for more tickets sales, but to rig the playoffs to stronger higher ranked games. Like most things that tend to taint NBA, the rigging of outcomes is the biggest. Draft lottery is a joke. Who cares, all it does it attempt to covertly rig the drafts. I doubt it is random selection, is too coincidental who seems to be there to get the blue chippers.

 

NHL fights have become too WWE or Slapshot. Is making it less credible and a bit of a joke.

 

Both NHL and NBA have too many teams in the playoffs.

Both need to figure a way to become more ____________ (relevant, competitive, marketable, credible, ___________.

 

NBA, tell Stern and any of his crownies to get the eff out. His stay has been too long.

 

I agree with the NBA and NHL playoffs running too long into the summer months. Hockey in June? Ugh. The NBA playoff playoff games are also scheduled too far apart. At least the NHL plays every other night. The NBA can take 2 weeks or more to complete a 6-7 game series. Just freegin play! Each sport has too long of a regular season, its as simple as that. Knock a month off and things change for the better. Its too bad because both sports have a LOT to offer in terms of exciting play, close finishes, tension, etc, etc. Football at times doesnt have those things.

 

As for soccer - I dunno, the game at a pro level just doesnt work here. There isnt enough scoring and thats a killer. Americans like goals, touchdowns, home runs, etc, etc. The rules of soccer prevent scoring. Get rid of the ridiculous offsides rule and allow the game to played more like hockey and things loosen up a lot. as long as the bal enters the offensive zone first, let the offense charge ahead and setup plays. There are also too many players on the field at once clogging things up. Nothing much happens. Thats why almost every game ends 1-0.