The Bigger Picture On The Rams' Week 1 Television Ratings

Facts are a tricky thing, even trickier when you roll in television ratings. The St. Louis Rams pulled in much better television ratings that were reported in Dan Caesar's first glance look at the numbers, which we discussed on Thursday morning.

Caesar reported a 19.3 percent viewer ship for the St. Louis market, down from 22.5 percent in 2011. That's only part of the picture. As the game went on, more people tuned in to watch it. Rams executive vice president Kevin Demoff provided some additional numbers to TST.

"We were pleased to see that people continued to turn on the game as it progressed, with the end result of a 25.5 rating in the 4th quarter," Demoff said.

The fourth quarter number is a notable jump, and one that would have put the Rams right next to the 26 percent from the 2010 opener that Caesar pointed out in his piece in the PD. Context is key here. I'd say Caesar was being dishonest, but it read more like he's just being lazy.

The Rams also had a market share of 41 with the game being broadcast on the Fox network affiliate in St. Louis. To some extent, the Rams, as well as the Cardinals and anyone else programming local television on Sunday, had to compete with a gorgeous fall day, with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.

Ratings aside, the Rams are well aware of the task at hand to bring back ratings numbers as well as the fan base.

"We understand that we have to win fans back by playing good football," Demoff said, "but what our ratings from Sunday showed is how excited this market is about the team being competitive again."