Hard Knocks' ratings tumble: Is live sports competition to blame?

Awful Announcing

Although streaming numbers aren't in, the Season 15 premiere of of the HBO NFL Films reality show focusing on the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers attracted only 273,000 viewers on Tuesday night. That's less than half of the 705,000 who watched the premiere Hard Knocks with the Cleveland Browns two years ago. One reason for the ratings drop might be the overabundance of sports options due to the coronavirus delay, such as the NBA and NHL playoff games, that weren't available a year ago. "Hard Knocks always filled a spot in the sports calendar where people were more starved for non-baseball sports programming," says Jay Rigdon.