Ratings boost gives NFL even more flex appeal

Not that one has much to do with the other, but during the NFL’s first season of flex scheduling, the league has flexed its muscle in the ratings game.

While the public relations people at the NFL’s four television partners stay up nights trying to figure out the spin to make their network’s ratings look the best, the bottom line is ratings are up across the board.

After 14 weeks, Fox’s ratings are up 5% from last year at this point, from an average of a 10.3 to a 10.8. And CBS is up from a 9.8 to a 9.9.

NBC, for its Sunday night telecasts, is averaging an 11.2, compared to an 11.1 at this juncture for the Monday night telecasts on ABC last season.

And comparing Monday nights this season with Sunday nights last season, ESPN’s ratings are up a whopping 37%, from a 6.0 to an 8.2.

“What is really amazing,” NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said, “is that in a backdrop of eroding ratings on broadcast television, that doesn’t seem to be happening with the NFL. It is rare when one entity can keep all its television partners happy, but that’s what the NFL has done.

“The NFL has been the centerpiece in the prime-time turnaround for our network.”

Ed Goren, Fox Sports president, said, “The 14.3 average for our national games make them the most-watched show in all of television. And if the 10.8 average for all our games holds up, we will have the highest NFL ratings we’ve ever had.”

Goren said the keys to the ratings success have been the competitiveness of the league.

“We’ve had attractive matchups, and then the games have held up to be good ones,” he said.

A peripheral benefit has been high ratings for the NFL studio shows as well.

“A nice surprise for us is how well our ‘OT’ postgame show has done,” Goren said. “We re-packaged it, gave it a stand-alone feel and a title, and at the end of one sweeps week, it was the No. 4-rated show in all of television.”

Goren credited Fox Chief Executive Peter Chernin with the makeover. “He knew something,” Goren said. “We put a little makeup on it and made it sing.”

Flex scheduling, while helping NBC, hasn’t had much of a negative impact on Fox or CBS.

So far, each network has lost only one game to NBC.

“We’ve been lucky this year, but with the formula now in place, there could be some real ratings damage for CBS and Fox down the road,” Goren said.

Rob Correa, CBS Sports senior vice president, echoes Goren’s fears.

“Flex scheduling hasn’t hurt us this year,” he said, “but it’s something that will have to be looked at and evaluated after the season.”

Flex scheduling enabled NBC to televise the New Orleans Saints’ 42-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday -- a game that might have transferred the title of “America’s Team” from the Cowboys to the Saints.

The game got a 12.8 national Nielsen rating and averaged 19.9 million viewers.

“I think our rating was 3 to 3 1/2 points higher than it would have been without flex scheduling,” Ebersol said.

The 12.8 compares to a 9.2 for the Monday night game during Week 14 last year between New Orleans and Atlanta, before flex scheduling. Without the ability to pick games, ABC’s last 10 December Monday night games did not match two teams that both had winning records.

In Los Angeles, for the week ending Sunday, the two highest rated shows on television were NFL games. The Saints and Cowboys on NBC got a 10.5, and the Chargers’ home game against Denver on CBS got a 10.3.

The only sport this time of year that can get close to that kind of rating in L.A. is Mexican League playoff soccer on Spanish-language Channel 34. A semifinal game between eventual champion Chivas Guadalajara and America on Dec. 3 got a 7.6. The Lakers are averaging a 5.2 on Channel 9.

NBC has another appealing game Sunday night -- Kansas City at San Diego, featuring Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and Chiefs running back Larry Johnson.

Said NBC’s John Madden: “I have gone on record saying that I think LaDainian Tomlinson is the best player -- not just the best running back -- but the best player in the NFL. I also think Larry Johnson is great. That’s going to be a heck of a matchup.

“They’re the best backs in football, but if I had to pick one, I would pick Tomlinson because of the other things he does, receiving and all those other things. But I don’t think any less of Johnson because I say those things.”

And ESPN has an attractive Monday night game -- Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

There will be no Sunday night game on Christmas Eve, so NBC has a 2 p.m. game on Christmas Day -- Philadelphia at Dallas.

On New Year’s Eve day, the final Sunday of the regular season, CBS and Fox will have doubleheaders.

Flex scheduling gives those networks first pick for that day, then NBC gets to make its pick. Normally, the flex picks are made 12 days in advance. But in this case, the three networks can wait until six days in advance. This is designed to give all three networks attractive season finales -- and more good ratings.

larry.stewart@latimes.com

* WEEKEND TV HIGHLIGHTS, D12