The buzz about TV ratings

A decline in the NFL’s television ratings was a big topic of conversation around the league for much of the season. The issue also has come up during Super Bowl week.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank, during a media tour in New York on Wednesday, said he was encouraged ratings rebounded after the presidential election.

“What happened was that through Week 10 of the season, our ratings were down by 14 percent. After Week 10 on through Week 17, the ratings were actually only down by 1 percent,” Blank said on Fox Business Network. “So clearly it was affected by the race and by the election.

“I think the league is in a fairly good position when you normalize for the election process.”

Still, he said the league is looking at all aspects of how TV viewership habits are evolving.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suggested in Houston some changes will be made in the flow of the games.

“What we’re trying to do is make our product as exciting and our games as action-packed as possible,” Goodell said. “We have not dismissed any theories about how we can continue to engage our fans more extensively either on television or in the stadium.”

He said the competition committee, chaired by Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay, will focus on several issues during the offseason, including speeding up instant-replay decisions and eliminating “unnecessary delays” between extra points and ensuing kickoffs.

“We think we can shorten the management of the game, focus less on stoppages of the game and more on action,” Goodell said.

He also expressed interest in reducing the number of commercial breaks from five to four per quarter, which the league has tested. “We think less is more in this area,” Goodell said.