Local viewers tune out Bears blowout

The Bears couldn't even stop anyone - even anyone from "The Golden Girls". (Getty Images)
The Bears couldn’t stop anyone – even “The Golden Girls”. (Getty Images)

– But game still tops evening both locally and nationally

– Also: Bulls ratings remain strong despite Rose’s injury

– The Church Of Tisch does it again

The Bears’ performance against the Philadelphia Eagles had to be the most pathetic thing to air on NBC since Do No Harm. Or Animal Practice. Or Welcome To The Family. Or Pink Lady and Jeff. Or The Waverly Wonders… Or…well, you get the drift.

But unlike those NBC box-office bombs, viewers actually tuned in for the game, which had some relevance: if the Bears won, they clinch the NFC North.

Instead, what viewers got was a Bears team that looked like it was coached by former NBC entertainment chief Jeff Zucker as they were rolled over by the Eagles 54-11 in one of the worst prime-time performances the team ever gave (and yes, there have been many.)

The game drew 16 million viewers and a 5.5 rating among adults 18-49, up 12 percent from last week’s Sunday Night Football game. These are “fast nationals”, meaning numbers will be adjusted (likely downward) when final numbers come out Tuesday (the CBS NFL overrun in the 6 p.m. CT hour drew 21 million viewers.)

In Chicago, the game averaged a 28.2/44 household rating and share – which is actually on the low end for the Bears, but was still the most-watched program in the Chicago area in a holiday period riddled with lots of repeats.

In Philadelphia, the game fared better (of course) with a 30.6/46.

Now the Bears will face arch-nemesis the Green Bay Packers this Sunday at 3:25 p.m. in a Win or Go Home scenario for the NFC North title.

And if the Bears do in fact lose on Sunday, there will be a shocking secret revealed – Bears coach Marc Trestman is really Randy Michaels in disguise and the team is run by Merlin Media.

Last month, yours truly wrote about how Bulls star Derrick Rose’s latest injury could hurt the team’s TV ratings. Well, so far those ratings have actually held up – so far. According to CSN Chicago via Sports Media Watch, the Bulls are averaging a 3.2 household rating on the regional sports network, up 16 percent from the comparable number of telecasts last year with seven of those twelve games without Rose (numbers from WGN-TV, the Bulls over-the-air partner, were not available.)

However, the Bulls have struggled without Rose, winning only four games since his Nov. 22 injury. If the Bulls continue to slide, the ratings momentum likely won’t hold.

And speaking of Rose, a column critical of the Bulls star written by CBS-owned WSCR-AM’s Dan Bernstein for CBSChicago.com received a lot of negative feedback in the comments section. So what did CBS do?

They turned off the comment section and wiped it clean. So much for an interactive forum. Is Joe Ahern still running the place?

What else you’d expect from…excuse me while I dust off an old phrase… “The Church Of Tisch”? (to see how this phrase came to be, click here.) Remember.. at The Church Of Tisch, opposing viewpoints are never allowed – unless you’re willing to send a donation to pay for WSCR management’s lunch… just be lucky you don’t get hit by the donation basket – because Reverend Bernstein is the type of assclown who would swing one at you if you don’t pay up. I suppose Mitch Rosen needs a marble shower.

I know Larry “Cheapskate” Tisch would be proud.

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