Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 27, 2009 at 13:38:28:
In Reply to: Buffone, OB provide outlet for Bears anger posted by Bud on October 27, 2009 at 08:25:41:
Most Bears fans didn't bail on Sunday
Posted by Ed S.
at 10/27/2009 3:09 AM CDT on Chicago Business
Bears fans must enjoy punishment. How else to explain why so many fans didn't click off their televisions during Sunday's disaster.
Overall, the Bears game did a 25.9 rating on WFLD-Ch. 32; 1 local ratings point is worth more than 35,000 homes. In the no-surprise department, it was the lowest-rated game of the year. If the game had been, well, a game, the rating would have exceeded 30, especially with the late afternoon start.
However, here's the stunner: There wasn't a big viewer drop-off from the first half (27.1 rating) to the second half (24.9). That means nearly 900,000 area households stuck with the game during the meaningless final 30 minutes.
Perhaps they wanted to see if the Bears actually would stop the Bengals on a drive. Or maybe they wanted to see the beginning of the Caleb Hanie era at quarterback.
League and network executives best hope Sunday's game was just a blip. The Bears still have three prime-time games remaining: a Thursday-night game Nov. 12 against San Francisco; a Sunday-night game against Philadelphia Nov. 22; and a Monday night game against Minnesota Dec. 28.
If the Bears pull another "Cincinnati" in those games, you could be sure there will major tune out from the national audience.