Igwell Predicts...: 02/01/2012

Goodbye, Network Tuesday

Network ratings are melting faster than the Arctic ice shelf.

NBC Thursday Sitcoms Average 1.7

One year ago, "The Office" was at 3.3. But that's an unfair comparison because people like Steve Carrell.

NBC's Wednesday sitcoms "Whitney" and "Chelsea" averaged 1.55 this week.

Al Sharpton's Ratings

I can't not watch Politics Nation and I'm glad to see it does well in the demo, usually placing second.

Monday the 13th

The days are getting longer and the ratings are falling further.

I watched the Sharks vs Capitals.

And you can't blame the NHL.

The NHL All-Star Game's ratings held steady year-to-year, and PTM says: "After 54 regular season games, viewership of the NHL on NBCSN is up seven percent compared to the same period last year (335,000 vs. 314,000)."

NBC Sports has been buying the rights to more college games, because it has to know that more talk isn't the way forward.

Last Name "Butz"

My Network TV's mascot CMore, much like Izzy, could only be liked by four year olds.

Cancel the FOX Business Network

FBN canceled its 8-11pm shows and replaced them with reruns of the 5-8pm shows.

I can think of 15 channels that NewsCorp could relaunch this channel as and get much better ratings.

1. FOX Cartoon Channel
2. FOX Comedy Network
3. FOX Sports Channel
4. FOX Music
5. FOX Asia
6. FOX Religion Channel
7. The Gordon Ramsay Network
8. Nat Geo Domesticated
9. Ghost TV
10. FOX Country
11. The Mom Channel
12. Game Show Classics
13. Sky America
14. FOX Soccer 2
15. FOX U

10 Things I Watched Instead of the Super Bowl

- The CBS Evening News
- ABC World News
- BBC Newsnight
- Moyers & Company
- Bob's Burgers
- Five episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents

The Super Bowl is long.

NFL Expansion

In lieu of writing about the two most boring teams in the NFL playing in the Super Bowl tomorrow, I'd rather discuss a hypothetical expansion of the NFL to take place roughly ten years from now.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said if L.A. were to get a team, it would be a new franchise, and that a second franchise would also be created at the same time, and that this would happen later rather than sooner.

What cities might be considered for that 34th NFL team?

Oklahoma City -- Loves football, and would give the Cowboys a local rivalry.

San Antonio -- Would give the highly-populated state of Texas a third team, and would give Mexico a team to cheer for, just like Toronto cheers for Buffalo.

Salt Lake City -- Has hosted the the Winter Olympics and would give Denver a local rival.

Other potential contenders include Portland, Omaha, Louisville, and Albuquerque.

San Antonio has my vote. The Houston Texans should be a healthy franchise by 2020.

Whatever the choice, the important thing is that L.A., the second-largest market in the U.S., will have a team after 25 years of not paying $250 for an upper deck seat and $10 for a cup of beer.

. . .

Oh, and Goodell also announced that there will be 13 Thursday night games on NFL Network starting next season, presumably until every major cable company picks up the channel.

. . .

Addendum: Sunday, February 5

And finally, I think several factors will prevent another record-setting Super Bowl.

- NBC's days-long pre-game coverage has annoyed some people.
- Madonna.
- The Giants and Patriots are the two most boring teams in the league.
- Cris Collinsworth in the booth.
- Moderate temperatures and a lack of snow in much of the U.S. mean less people will be stuck at home watching TV.
- Stiffer competition from the Puppy Bowl.

. . .

Update: 11:35 P.M. Eastern

Tim Goodman says it was a boring game:

"... an otherwise lackluster football game devoid of any memorable plays ended up being midly exciting only because the score was close and there was a Hail Mary pass at the end of it. Otherwise? Wow, dullsville. ... This wasn't so much a Super Bowl as it was a forgettable Thursday night game on the NFL Network."

Who would've guessed?

Groundhog Day

This morning, I happened to be watching "CBS This Morning" on WTAJ. I saw a man interview a groundhog. Time to reassess what I watch.

I can do without the following programs.

Up All Night - I feel like I'm doing it a favor by watching it. I like Maya Rudolph, but this isn't even a show.

New Girl - I can't look at Schmidt's face anymore. Or listen to his voice.

Archer - It's like the same damn thing every episode.

Napoleon Dynamite - Grandma is drawn like "Life with Louie."

Suburbia - I didn't mind the whole Sam & Diane thing as much as others did, but the Tessa vs Suburbia angle has been buried. Why would the audience give a fuck about Chris Parnell's character's gambling problem?

NOVA - The narrator is annoying.

Nature - "Planet Earth" explored caves, the deep ocean, or forests in less time than it takes "Nature" to cover a few tigers, elephants, or wolverines. There's a lot of padding.