Dave Portnoy is officially a television man.
As Barstool’s new FS1 show, Wake Up Barstool, continues to struggle to develop a consistent following, Portnoy became the latest in a very long line of people to question or challenge the Nielsen measurement system. Portnoy initially acknowledged the opening viewership numbers were “awful,” yet as the show finds a foothold on YouTube, its television ratings remain low.
In the show’s second week, fewer than 10,000 people watched live on three of the five days. While Portnoy has found some magic bringing on Jon Gruden and Fox’s Greg Olsen each Monday, other days of the week lack a recognizable Barstool star.
Discussing the challenges with Wake Up Barstool on Friday during The Unnamed Show, a podcast in which he gives updates on the company, Portnoy questioned whether the Nielsen gauge was getting an accurate reading, precisely because the numbers are so small to begin with.
“The numbers are so minuscule, they could be just wildly inaccurate, because they’re so small,” he said.
Portnoy believes that, as many live sports events are now being estimated on the high end, Nielsen could be undercounting a low metric.
“I’m not saying that’s not what was reported, but it’s so minuscule they’re not accurate,” he added. “Because how many people have the tracking device in their houses?”
Nielsen uses a device planted in certain households to measure how people spend time across broadcast television, cable and streaming services.
Still, Portnoy did not deny the need for improvement. On YouTube and social media, the show is growing and getting more attention.
But the Barstool head honcho acknowledged that the lack of consistency day to day makes it a hard sell for audiences, particularly when he or Dan “Big Cat” Katz are not on the show.
“I think you have a bigger issue if … it had huge numbers and then you go down the road and it’s got nobody,” Portnoy explained. “We started, really, with nothing. There was nothing at the beginning, and hopefully it will slowly build. But it is different formats, different people every day. But the YouTube numbers are exactly what you would expect with the numbers of people watching.”
Portnoy also said he is primarily focused on the Monday edition of Wake Up Barstool, which he personally hosts. It sounds as if each day’s crew is fending for itself to make the show a success.
While this certainly fits the Barstool model and has led to big hits for Portnoy, it is harder for a daily live show, where audiences often choose to spend time with familiar, recognizable content creators.