The bloom is off the ManningCast rose.
The critically-acclaimed alt cast continues to lose viewership. Via Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, the latest edition from the Week 7 game between the Cowboys and Eagles attracted only 517,000 viewers.
At one point, the Peyton & Eli show routinely racked up more than a million viewers per episode. Once ESPN beefed up its primary broadcast with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, however, the tide began to slowly turn.
Now, it’s unclear where the bottom will be.
Complicating the situation is the new Next Gen Stats broadcast that Disney has added to NFL Network. For Week 7, 499,000 tuned in. That’s more than the NFLN version attracted a week earlier, when the 469,000-viewer audience for Commanders-49ers significantly outpaced the ESPN2 McAfee alt cast, at 351,000. (The next McAfee alt cast will likely see a viewership decline in Utah.)
It’s ultimately no surprise. The ESPN alt casts do not bring in viewers who would otherwise not watch the game. It simply pulls viewers away from the primary broadcast.
Most people want to just watch the game. Once the guests arrive for the ManningCast, it becomes a podcast with a football game playing in the background.
Given the ongoing trend, the ESPN2 alt casts don’t feel sustainable. Whatever they cost, it’s an expense without any real added revenue.
The best result could be to move the Next Gen Stats version to the bigger platform of ESPN2 — and then to lure Peyton (and possibly Eli) into the primary booth with Buck.
Surely, ESPN already has a post-Aikman plan in its back pocket. While some think it will result in the hiring of Greg Olsen, a merger of the ManningCast with the main broadcast could be the best way forward, for everyone.