Monday night’s game between the Commanders and 49ers started off as a blast. The road team ultimately turned a 23-3 deficit into a 23-17 score.
The final result, for grading purposes, resulted in 17.9 million viewers to the various networks controlled by Disney: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.
ESPN’s release did not include any viewership information for Pat McAfee’s alternate casting debut or the Next Gen Stats broadcast on NFL Network. (Last week, ESPN revealed that 1.1 million people watched the ESPN2 ManningCast and NFL Network Next Gen Stats presentation, without specifying either network’s audience.)
André Marchand Athletics reports that McAfee’s alternate casting attracted a only 351,000 viewerswhich equates to 1.96 percent of the total audience. It is much less than the ManningCast attracts, even as Peyton and Eli’s show continues to fall apart.
Which brings us back to the overarching question of all alternative casts: why? With the exception of shows aimed at getting kids to watch by turning the game into a collection of cartoon or video game characters, there’s no reason to siphon off viewers from the main broadcast.
People who watch adult-oriented alternate castings will watch the main show, in the absence of the alternate casting. It’s ultimately a pointless exercise that only wastes time and money.
Gn sports
