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Have Joe Buck, Troy Aikman Taken Bite Out of ManningCast Ratings?

Also in Traina Thoughts: New ‘SI Media With Jimmy Traina’ podcast; one of Ian Eagle’s greatest calls; refs screws Giannis; and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. Pro Football Talk ran a piece Wednesday about the declining ratings for ESPN2’s ManningCast:

For the most recent three ManningCasts, the total audience has been flirting with the possibility of dipping below one million. On Monday night, 1.028 million chose the alternate telecast (featuring a visit from Arnold Schwarzenegger and his donkey). The Week 7 game (49ers-Vikings) had 1.068 million. For Week 5 (Packers-Raiders), the ManningCast attracted 1.036 million.

Now in its third year, the ratings for the ManningCast have steadily gone down since its debut in 2021, when it averaged 1.6 million viewers.

When ratings drop, it’s never for one reason. There are always several factors. Pro Football Talk opined that the Mannings may be hurt from the fact that Monday Night Football is being simulcast on ABC this season, since the network needed programming due to the writer’s strike.

Personally, I think the biggest factor in viewers’ shunning the ManningCast was ESPN’s bringing in Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to call Monday Night Football in 2022.

When Peyton and Eli Manning started the ManningCast, the MNF booth featured Steve Levy, Louis Riddick and Brian Griese. The ManningCast had more star power. It was new, it felt different and it felt like the better listen of the two broadcasts.

But with Buck and Aikman, who worked together for 20-plus year at Fox, the main ESPN booth now had star power. It had as credible as booth as you can have in the NFL. With Buck and Aikman calling the games, you didn’t have to check out the ManningCast anymore.

I don’t want to say Buck and Aikman made the ManningCast useless, because that’s way too harsh and unfair. But Buck and Aikman absolutely made the ManningCast less useful.

I’ve always said that when you have a good matchup, the traditional broadcast is much better for hardcore NFL fans than the ManningCast. But with Buck and Aikman now calling MNF, they’re worth listening to even during mediocre matchups. 

I’d bet money that the drop in ManningCast ratings would be much less if it was still Levy, Griese and Riddick calling the main broadcast on ESPN.

We do need to keep things in perspective, though. Drawing a million viewers for an alternative broadcast isn’t bad. And the ManningCast still generates significant buzz on social media and brings in solid digital views, which is an important factor these days.

Now, if the numbers keep going down and get below a million viewers, that would be concerning, especially when you factor in whatever very large amount of money the network is paying Peyton and Eli.

I don’t know how the ManningCast can stop the bleeding, but if I’m ESPN, the first thing I would do is experiment one week without having any guests. Sure, the ManningCast gets a couple of good stories out of guests each week, but I wonder whether more people would tune in just to hear Peyton and Eli do a straight broadcast.

2. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning, and it features no guest. It's an all–“Traina Thoughts” edition with weekly contributor Sal Licata from WFAN Radio and SNY TV.

This week, I detail my struggles in trying to book a guest for this week’s podcast, we reminisce about the horrible experience they had when we took pictures with Larry David and we discuss the NFL’s prime-time schedule woes and flex-scheduling changes that need to happen. We also discuss Troy Aikman’s call of Chargers-Jets on Monday Night Football, including his repeated criticism of New York quarterback Zach Wilson, and we speculate about LeBron James’s recent streaming issues with YouTubeTV.

We also address tweets regarding whether sports can be enjoyed without gambling on them, an important trait for NFL play-by-play folks, the Apple TV remote control and much more.

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

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. I've been doing a lot of complaining lately about the NFL refs in “Traina Thoughts,” so in the interest of balance, let me say, and I’m being 100% serious here, the ref who T’d up Giannis on Wednesday night, leading to ejection, should be suspended for a couple of games. This is a complete disgrace. Props, though, to Giannis for making the ejection somewhat amusing by sitting in the stands at one point.

4. The outstanding Ian Eagle, who will be on next week’s SI Media Podcast, said this call, from Wednesday night’s Clippers-Nets game on the YES Network, is one of his greatest ever.

5. My favorite thing about this is that Peyton Manning AND the Jets look bad.

The joke that Peyton and the other guy made was hacky and unfunny. However, the Jets' reposting it is comical, because the joke wasn't really about the Jets’ attendance. It was about the Jets, as a franchise, being a complete embarrassment for about 95% of its existence.

6. Two week ago, everyone was freaking out because Chris “Mad Dog” Russo said he would retire if the Diamondbacks beat the Phillies, and then he didn't retire. This week, Dog was on First Take talking about how he bet against his own son’s team. If you wanted this man to retire, and I say this will all due respect, you’re an idiot.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I saw a live taping of Conan O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, on Wednesday night, and it was great. Before the show began, they played this outstanding clip from a previous episode that featured Harrison Ford.

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Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With 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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