FALL 2018 NFL PRIMETIME SEASON & THE Special Sports NTI and Social Edition 13 February 2019

Now that the field has been cleared on the 2018 NFL Primetime Season -- regular, post and SUPER BOWL -- it’s time to reflect on what came to pass. Despite all the issues surrounding the NFL and a less than stellar Super Bowl performance, there were some positive points. The Fall 2018 NFL season in Network Primetime scored a touchdown, achieving 6% gains for SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL on NBC over last Fall in P2+ impressions and a 7%/12% increase from a 10.3/18 to an 11.0/21 in HH’s. Among the key adults, the narrative was much the same, flat/+12% from a 6.0/21 to a 6.0/24 in A18-49 and +4%/+14% from a 7.0/20 to a 7.3/23 in A25-54. on FOX also turned it up a notch, garnering slight increases over last Fall’s CBS and NBC average in P2+, HH’s and the key adult demos. Overall, there was a 3% gain in P2+ impressions with a 3%/5% uptick in HH rating and share, a 3%/12% gain in A18-49 and a 4%/11% increase in A25-54.

On the cable front, while the actual performance averages were lower than on the broadcast networks, ESPN’s also posted gains over Fall 2017. In P2+ impressions, ESPN’s regular season was up 9%. MNF turned in a 7%/11% increase in its HH performance (from a 6.4/12 to a 6.9/13), a 7%/19% increase in A18-49 (from a 3.7/14 to a 3.9/17) and a 9%/19% increase in A25-54 (from a 4.2/13 to a 4.6/16). On the flip side, the NFL NETWORK did not score as well as the other networks with its THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL or as well as last season. Versus Fall 2017, the NFL NETWORK’s TNF average was off 19% in P2+ impressions, was down 19%/16% in HH’s (from a 2.4/5 to a 1.9/4), down 25%/17% in A18-49 (from a 1.5/6 to a 1.1/5) and off 16%/25% in A25-54 (from a 1.7/6 to a 1.3/5).

This FLASH includes: ▪ INTRODUCTION & TAKE-AWAY HEADLINES Pages 1-2 ▪ 2018 NFL SNF REGULAR PRIMETIME SEASON on NBC Pages 2-3 ▪ 2018 NFL POST SEASON in PRIMETIME Page 3 ▪ SUPER BOWL STATS--PERFORMANCE, BREAKOUT, HALFTIME Pages 3-7 PERFORMERS, POST SB PROGRAMMING ▪ SUPER BOWL BUZZ & SOCIAL CHATTER Pages 8-9

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For the full demo picture of all charts and sections included in this FLASH, CLICK HERE for the Excel document and CLICK HERE for the Power Point Presentation.

TAKE-AWAY HEADLINES

▪ Despite all the issues surrounding the NFL, the Fall 2018 NFL season in Network Primetime scored a touchdown, achieving gains for SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL on NBC, THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL on FOX and MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL on ESPN versus year ago. The NFL NETWORK’s THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL turned in declines over Fall 2017. ▪ The #1 game of the regular season among P2+ impressions was the high-profile marquee match- up between the and the and versus . This rarely seen “must watch” competition, which ended up with a score of New England 31, Green Bay 17, touched down with 23.7 million viewers in week 9. ▪ The post-season primetime NFL stats were also impressive, boasting gains for the WILDCARD GAME, the DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS and the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME versus year ago. ▪ SUPER BOWL LIII (New England Patriots versus LA Rams) was the lowest rated game going back 10 years among P2+ impressions (98.5 million viewers for the CBS broadcast alone), but ranked the third lowest back to 2007. ▪ Opinions for SUPER BOWL LIII’s weak performance based on articles and social media chatter include: it was not an exciting match-up; the halftime show was weak; New England Patriot “fatigue”; low LA Rams fan base; the commercials were not up to SB expectations; boycott for New Orleans fans, Saints were treated unfairly; and continued boycott for political reasons. ▪ The 2010 airing of CBS’ UNDERCOVER BOSS: WASTE MANAGEMENT was the highest rated series to premiere after the SUPER BOWL (back to 2007) in HH’s and A25-54 and the 2nd highest rated in A18-49. The 2012 airing of THE VOICE on NBC was the highest rated post-SUPER BOWL series in A18-49 and the 2nd highest in HH’s and A25-54. Make note that both UNDERCOVER BOSS and THE VOICE were the earliest airing post SUBER BOWL programs, starting at 10:13PM and 10:19PM, respectively.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL FALL 2018 vs FALL 2017 WEEK-TO-WEEK REGULAR SEASON PERFORMANCE

▪ While SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL posted overall gains for the regular season (as seen above) versus year ago, the week-to-week performance varied. ▪ Though 2018 was a 17-week season, there were only 16 SNF games in 2017, so the following counts are based upon 16 weeks. Among P2+ impressions and HH rating, 11 of the 16 weeks scored above Fall 2017. In A18-49 and A25-54, nine and 10 weeks outperformed year ago, respectively. ▪ The #1 game of the regular season among P2+ impressions was the high-profile marquee match-up between the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots and quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers versus Tom Brady. This rarely seen “must watch” competition, which ended up with a score of New England 31, Green Bay 17, touched down with 23.7 million viewers in week 9. ▪ Rounding out the top 5 SNF performers was Chicago @ Green Bay with 22.2 million (week 1), Kansas City @ New England with 21.1 million (week 6), NY Giants @ Dallas with 20.7 million (week 2) and Green Bay @ Minnesota with 20.5 million (week 12).

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FALL 2018 vs FALL 2017 POST-SEASON YOY PERFORMANCE ▪ The post-season primetime NFL stats were also notable when compared to year ago. ▪ The primetime WILDCARD GAME and the DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS garnered considerable increases over year ago -- up 29% and up 25%, respectively in P2+ impressions. The same held true in HH’s and among key adults.

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▪ The AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME in primetime (New England @ Kansas City-54.2 million viewers) achieved a substantial 28% hike in P2+ over last season’s NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (Minnesota @ Philadelphia-42.3 million viewers). Increases were also evident in HH’s with a 24%/29% gain (from a 12.8/24 to a 15.9/30), a 28%/34% improvement (from a 7.0/26 to an 8.9/35) in A18-49 and a 29%/35% advantage (from an 8.4/26 to a 10.8/35) in A25-54.

SUPER BOWL STATS TREND FROM 2019 BACK TO 2007 ▪ Fact: SUPER BOWL LIII (New England Patriots versus LA Rams) was the lowest rated game going back 10 years among P2+ impressions (98.5 million viewers for the CBS broadcast alone), but ranked the third lowest back to 2007. ▪ Fact: SUPER BOWL LIII was the lowest rated performer in HH rating (41.1) back to 2007 and the fourth lowest in HH share (67). ▪ Fact: SUPER BOWL LIII was the lowest rated in A18-49 rating (31.1) and the 4th highest rated in A18-49 share (78). ▪ Fact: SUPER BOWL LIII was the lowest rated SB back to 2007 among A25-54 ratings (34.7) and fell to the middle of the pack with a 76 share. ▪ Fact: New England was a Super Bowl contender six times since 2007 (2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2012 and 2008). ▪ Suppositions for its weak performance based on articles and social media: ➢ It was not an exciting match-up. ➢ The halftime show was weak. ➢ New England Patriot “fatigue” (six Super Bowls back to 2007, the last three of which were in a row). ➢ Low LA Rams fan base. ➢ The commercials were not up to SB expectations. ➢ Boycott for New Orleans fans, Saints were treated unfairly. ➢ Continued boycott for political reasons. ▪ According to CBS (as told to Deadline Hollywood): ➢ The network now puts Sunday’s total audience at 112.7 million viewers, not the 100.7 million tally (which included CBS Television Network, CBS Interactive, NFL digital, Media mobile and

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ESPN Deportes) circulated the day after the game. “The revision stems from Nielsen’s “Out of Home” metric, a recent addition to the ratings measurement toolkit that is favored by sports broadcasters and other specialty networks. It found that 12 million more people watched the Super Bowl at other people’s parties or at bars, restaurants, hotels or other venues.” ➢ “Because Nielsen created the Out of Home rating in 2017 to better capture the rapidly multiplying of screens in the U.S., it isn’t possible to do many historical comparisons with past Super Bowls.” ➢ FYI: The Katz NTI’s are based on the broadcast only performance for the SUPER BOWL so they will not match CBS’ above tally.

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SUPER BOWL LIII – HALF-HOUR BREAKOUT ▪ Breaking SUPER BOWL LIII out by half-hour, we can see that there was an increase each half-hour among P2+ impressions up until halftime (which occurred from 8-8:30PM according to CBS). Then there was a slight dip in performance and an increase for the next two half-hours until 9:30-10PM where viewers dropped off. ▪ Among A18-49 and A25-54, there was an increase each half-hour of the game, through halftime, up and until 9:30-10PM when viewership started to slip as the game was wrapping up. ▪ Once we have a historical timing of the halftime show, we can start looking at a trend. For now, we have the halftime show for SUPER BOWL LIII running from 8-8:30PM. We’ll see going forward.

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Note: For a look at the full day of SUPER BOWLSUNDAY PROGRAMMING, refer to the excel file from the link at the top of Page 2.

POST SUPER BOWL PROGRAMMING TREND ▪ The 2010 airing of CBS’ UNDERCOVER BOSS: WASTE MANAGEMENT was the highest rated series to premiere after the SUPER BOWL in HH’s (19.1/32) and A25-54 (16.6/37) and the 2nd highest rated in A18- 49 (16.2/38). ▪ The 2012 airing of THE VOICE on NBC was the highest rated post SUPER BOWL series in A18-49 (16.3/37) and the 2nd highest in HH’s (18.4/31) and A25-54 (16.4/35). ▪ Make note that both UNDERCOVER BOSS and THE VOICE were the earliest airings of post SUBER BOWL programs, starting at 10:13PM and 10:19PM, respectively.

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SUPER BOWL LIII BUZZ and SOCIAL CHATTER SUPER BOWL LIII was hit with a ton of criticism nationwide due to its low scoring/less than exciting game and a halftime show that was tepid at best. Social Media let all parties involved have it from bashing the game to bashing the performers and even knocking the commercials.

THE GAME Social media users expressed their frustration for the far from remarkable game with a touchdown not occurring until the end of the third quarter. It also didn’t help that New Orleans staged a huge protest after a bad call that possibly cost them a spot in the game. ▪ New Orleans staged a protest during Super Bowl Sunday as thousands of fans decided NOT to watch the game and instead party on the streets of the city. New Orleans took matters into their own hands as fans in the thousands as well as hundreds of bars in the area decided to not watch at all. ➢ #BoycottBowl #Saints #NewOrleans and #WhoDat were seen trending during the game ➢ @JeffDuncan_ tweeted “#NOLA has spoken. Super Bowl LIII earned a 26.1 metered rating in New Orleans, the lowest of any market and the lowest ever in New Orleans” ➢ For reference in that market, last year it earned a 53.0 metered market rating. ▪ New Orleans wasn’t the only market using social media to publicly protest the big game. Kansas City held a smaller protest as they felt they too were cheated in the AFC Championship Game. Their market ratings were down 11% according to the NY Times.

HALFTIME SHOW Many Super Bowl viewers described the halftime show as dull and said Maroon 5 and those involved were “playing it safe”. They had been receiving backlash from the get-go about performing in general, and the results that came back after the performance were mostly negative. Twitter had the loudest voice when it came to criticism. ➢ “This is the Fyre Festival of halftime shows” – Twitter user @kavithadavidson received 12,000k interactions (retweets, likes, replies) ➢ Popular Satirical Publication “The Onion” tweeted “Super Bowl Halftime Show Marred by Functioning Sound System”, which had over 32,000 interactions/impressions. ➢ Yahoo blasted the show with the headline “They won’t be loved; Maroon 5 play it safe with the dullest halftime show of all time” ▪ There was a lot of chatter about halftime shows today compared to those that aired 20+ years ago and how the level of excitement has rapidly dropped. Those watching were also talking about how Pepsi has gone downhill with producing the performances. ➢ User @ktpurry tweeted “They don’t produce halftime shows like they used to. #SuperBowl” ➢ @matt_mahon tweeted “Just finished watching the Super Bowl…game was ok, halftime show was Questionable #SuperBowl” ➢ It’s hard to find anyone who genuinely thought there was anything positive about the halftime show and commercials. ▪ USA Today claimed that there were already very low expectations of Maroon 5 for the “most controversial halftime yet” and that there was a specific reason why they were the band that was chosen. “They delivered a dialed-in performance with zero surprises and nothing that could add to the headache the league has already endured.” They are exclaiming that the performance didn’t get too much flack because of how non- controversial it was, saving it from being labeled the worst performance ever.

COMMERCIALS Viewers usually can’t wait to tune in for the entertaining Super Bowl commercials, but it seemed like this year there wasn’t much fanfare for those either. Along with the best and worst, there were various commercials that were deemed “least essential”, which begs the question as to why they existed in the first place. Many claimed that they were out of place and that some companies had wasted their advertising dollars for 15-30 seconds of basically irrelevant content. This year, the gears also switched from previous serious topics to more humorous ones, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they hit the nail on the head with viewers. ▪ Yahoo! Sports writes “it was a pretty lackluster slate this year. It doesn’t seem like any ad from this year’s Super Bowl is worthy…of being considered one of the best Super Bowl commercials”. The NFL, , and Doritos were some of the highest ranked commercials this year, whereas Mint Mobile, Pepsi, and Stella Artois we listed as some of the worst.

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➢ User @pdizzzllle tweeted “Bad commercials and…they thought everyone wanted to hear throwbacks for the Halftime show. Terrible experience.” ➢ @SecretGardenGrl tweeted “2019 worst yet. At least last year we had commercials to look forward to. Now they’re grasping at straws because the entire game from beginning to end was awful.” ▪ One ad that had a ton of fans buzzing was the Bud Light and Game of Thrones crossover. It’s being helmed as the best ad of the night. ➢ According to Salesforce, Bud Light was the most mentioned brand with 22,500 mentions on social media. ▪ Pepsi and Doritos went with a more typical approach nabbing “A List” celebrities in hopes to get buzz that way. ➢ Pepsi and their Steve Carrell, Lil Jon and Cardi B ad was the 2nd most mentioned with 17,800 mentions on social media. ➢ Doritos received 10,000 mentions thanks to their Chance The Rapper and Backstreet Boys assisted ad.

OTHER FACTORS ▪ Colin Kaepernick continues to be a thorn in the NFL’s side after being blackballed by the league in 2016. Celebrities such as Ana DuVernay, Common, Nick Cannon and others publicly vowed not to watch the game due to his treatment. “A List” performers such as Rihanna and Cardi B not only joined in on this non- watch protest, but even declined to perform at the halftime show, a show seen as a pinnacle of a musician’s career. ▪ For those who saw the halftime show, there was a cameo appearance from sponge extraordinaire SpongeBob SquarePants who appeared during Maroon 5’s set. After the passing of SpongeBob Creator Stephen Hillenburg this past November, there was a huge online campaign to get the song “Sweet Victory” from a popular episode of the cartoon to be played in his honor. Over 1 million signatures on a petition must have worked as we got to see the cartoon for a few seconds. Fans were excited when it was confirmed a few days prior, but were left with a sour taste in their mouth after he only appeared for about 10 seconds.

KTG Content Strategy / Katz Television Group Fall 2018 NFL Primetime Season & the Super Bowl / Special Sports NTI and Social Edition 13 February 2019

Editor/Author: Lisa Hollaender Social Media Contributors: Kevin Camilo and Jessica Kelly

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