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Have Viewers Gotten Tired of the ManningCast?

Also in Traina Thoughts: a new ‘SI Media Podcast’; Jeff Saturday defends himself; Nikola Vucevic shows unhappiness with call and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. The ManningCast is a success. The ManningCast, which airs on ESPN2 for select Monday Night Football games, is an alternate telecast that draws more viewers than most shows on television these days thanks to Peyton and Eli Manning’s personalities. Plus, clips from the broadcast get shared all over social media, and blogs love to post recaps of each ManningCast.

Having said that, it does seem like the ManningCast has peaked, and the buzz just doesn’t seem to be there anymore.

Last year the show averaged 1.6 million viewers. Viewership peaked at 1.96 million for Giants-Chiefs in Week 8.

This season the most-viewed ManningCast came in Week 4 for Rams-Niners with 1.63 million viewers. And it’s been downhill ever since. Here’s how the ManningCast has fared this season:

Week 1, Denver at Seattle: 1.5 million viewers
Week 3: Dallas at New York Giants 1.4 million
Week 4: Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco: 1.6 million
Week 7: Chicago at New England: 1.5 million
Week 8: Cincinnati at Cleveland: 1.29 million
Week 9: Baltimore at New Orleans: 1.17 million

Obviously, when ratings dip, it’s usually because of several factors. The presence of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the main ESPN telecast has given fans less of a reason to tune into the alternative telecast. I’ve said on the SI Media Podcast many times that last year I watched every ManningCast and this year I’ve watched none because I’ve been locked into Buck and Aikman.

Also, the Monday Night Football schedule hasn’t been great. The last three ManningCast games have seen the Bears beat the Patriots 33–14, the Browns beat the Bengals 32–13 and the Ravens beat the Saints 27–13.

When you don’t have competitive games, fans tune out. However, that’s the fascinating twist with the ManningCast. I would think that when a game isn’t close, that would be the perfect time to check in with Peyton and Eli. That’s when you’d assume hijinks and hilarity would be at an optimal level because the fellas don’t have to waste their time breaking down the game.

However, the lesson here seems to be that when a game isn’t close, viewers are checking out altogether.

I thought it was smart that Peyton and Eli were limited to just 10 games the past two seasons because it made the ManningCast feel like an event. I wonder whether ESPN should go to even fewer ManningCasts to make it feel more special. The network would never do that because the ratings are still decent enough to warrant the 10 telecasts.

2. A brand new SI Media Podcast dropped today, and it features a conversation with The Ringer’s Kevin Clark.

Clark weighs in on the Colts’ hiring Jeff Saturday as interim head coach and whether the angry reaction from across the board was over the top. Clark also shares his thoughts on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football telecast, the problem with NFL pregame shows, what’s going on with Aaron Rodgers right now, whether the NFL should push back the trade deadline, why he feels passionate about hot chocolate and much more.

Following Clark, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins Jimmy for their weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week, the guys talk about the anarchy on Twitter thanks to the new verification system. They read recent SI Media Podcast reviews, give out their weekly NFL "best bets" and more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

3. A big topic on this week’s SI Media Podcast with Kevin Clark was the Colts’ hiring Jeff Saturday. I talked about the overreaction to it, so I was happy to see Saturday come on Wednesday and defend himself and push back on some of the over-the-top coverage.

4. The NBA has cracked down on players using naughty language this year, so the Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic took matters into his own hands Wednesday night.

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5. I sent out this tweet on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I saw this tweet:

I’m not gonna be immature and take back my endorsement of Jason Kelce’s podcast, because it is a great podcast, but his disrespect for delicious and delectable McDonald's french fries is disappointing. 

6. I was sad to see the news Wednesday night of Fred Hickman’s death at just 66 years old. I’m old enough to remember when SportsCenter wasn't the only place to get sports highlights. There were many nights as a kid I watched Hickman and Nick Charles do their thing on CNN. 

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Since Twitter is getting so much attention these days, this seems like a good time to remember Ricky Gervais summing up why the social media service is horrible.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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