The Hollywood Reporter announces that the broadcast of the 2013 Nathan's finals on ESPN2 attracted 1.15 million viewers and a 0.7 rating, a decline from the 0.8 rating the tape-delayed broadcast received in 2012 (# of 2012 viewers not specified). The last live coverage on ESPN in 2011 attracted 1.949 million viewers.

July 8, 2013 at 8:36 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:2013 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, ESPN | Permalink * Comments (30)

30 Comments »

  1. Erik the Red said (Registered January 9, 2006)

    July 9, 2013 @ 12:04 am

    Why the negative spin OJ? The article was very positive about the Nathan’s broadcast viewership. Why not report this quote from the article instead: “In the targeted adults 18-49 demographic, the broadcast topped all of cable for the hour with a 0.6 rating”. Most popular show on cable during the time it aired is smashing.

  2. How dare said

    July 9, 2013 @ 2:05 am

    Erik you dare to question the great OJ on his site with his band of five(im being generous) no life loyal followers (including himself) that will immediately come to his defense in their usual cowardly fashion by not posting their true identities

  3. anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 6:45 am

    If you don’t let it Erik then start your own blog. OJ posted the main fact of interest in the article and it is our job to read and analyze the rest ourselves. Not very difficult to do.

  4. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 7:51 am

    Erik posted something thoughtful, making for a real conversation here. I personally appreciate it greatly. Respectful disagreement. What is with the start your own blog? Are we all expected to only talk to ourselves? No. We come here for reading and sharing. Keep writing Erik Denmark.

  5. ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)

    July 9, 2013 @ 8:22 am

    When the facts and commentary are inconsistent, I try to focus on the facts.

  6. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 8:47 am

    Oj has a good point. He is about statistics. He goes with one “fact”, there was a decline. Perhaps Erik is interpreting, and I think correctly, that OJ does have an opinion about many things including MLE and his facts are chosen to highlight his beliefs about it and many other things. He is not the full neutral journalist but a man of statistics and opinions. But statistics can lie for good or ill and are always open to interpretation. It seems that OJ does have very firmly held opinions and is unlikely to be swayed from them. But if we did not have an Eric Denmark and others commenting in thoughtful ways, this whole site would not be what it is. Watching eatfeats over the years, I think OJ, whoever he is, has changed or if not, he is certainly letting his opinions show here. I am still wondering about his motivation and who is behind eatfeats. I also think that is never going to be known. He seems to be a whistle blower as well. And when his statistics are not actually quantifiable, he still makes them see so. Such is the case with his charts. Competitive eating and contests are simply not consistent. Yes, there are wins and losses, if you take those only you will get a certain picture. But they are not absolute. He seems like an absolutely rigid kind of person.,

  7. SuperPaulBBBBMBBSTBarlow said

    July 9, 2013 @ 9:18 am

    Frankly, despite Joey setting the record, I thought the show is becoming too much the same – and I bet the viewing public feels the same as I do. No doubt, we need someone to rise up and really challenge Joey. Matt Stonie….are you the one?

  8. anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 9:23 am

    847 it is truly sad that someone with your intelligence decided to venture into this nonsense. I simply refer to it as wasted talent. At one point in you life many years ago you might have majored in English or English lit but for some bizarre reason unknown to mankind you decided to abandon your studies and put all your eggs into competitive eating and this blog. You have posted here on many occasions getting your digs in on Seiken without resorting to foul language In your mind , the use of fancy words and constructive criticism is a great way of scoring points with the handful of uneducated moron that focus all their hate on one individual. Whether or not you come across as Thomas Aquinas or Dale Boone, your’e personal hatred towards Seiken comes across loud and clear . Typical of some people that couldnt put their good skills to use in the outside world , so instead they flaunt their vast wealth of knowledge on others that were not so fortunate. Its obvious who you are but why post the name ? Its been posted many times in the past but you still don’t get the message.

  9. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 9, 2013 @ 11:44 am

    I very much agree with you Paul. And, regarding Matt, though I think he’s the second-best eater in MLE, he will never, ever eat (even) 60 HDBs, let alone challenge Joey or his record.

    To make the men’s division interesting again, either Joey has to retire or Koby has to come back to challenge Joey. However, I can say with near certainty, that in the case of the former, with Bertoletti gone, Stonie would not be challenged; Tim is no match for him. Matt is improving and Tim peaked in his CE prowess over a year ago.

  10. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 1:49 pm

    Tim Janus peaked? Whatever. There are good years and bad years. Look at Koby and Joey and Pat and Tim. Their Nathan’s #s bounce around. It’s life. Don’t read much into 50, as if it were such a terrible number anyway.

  11. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 1:59 pm

    Rhonda is the Woman! I do not know about Matt or why she says he will never eat 60 though or challenge Joey’s record. And while she may think that Tim peaked, maybe like Sonya, he doesn’t practice much. If given a run, he could improve way beyond.

  12. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 9, 2013 @ 2:18 pm

    It’s not just HDBs, 1:49 and 1:59, I’m looking at Tim’s performances thus far this year, in terms of wins and head-to-head competition with other top-five eaters.

    Also, I was so impressed with Stonie at the HDB Finals. He started out eating as fast as I’ve ever seen Koby or Joey eat. The man was a machine! Then, when Tim caught and passed him with a couple of minutes to go, I thought Tim would pull further ahead. Yet, Stonie put it in another gear and kicked ass! That, coupled with his win over Joey earlier this year, made me a believer in the Megatoad!

    I can see Stonie winning several contests over Joey in the coming months. I cannot Tim doing that, unless Joey’s severely hungover or sick. But, in HDB’s, Joey’s only peer is Koby.

  13. anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 2:25 pm

    Who the hell cares about his performances? How many HDB can you eat ?

  14. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 9, 2013 @ 2:42 pm

    You sound a bit sensitive, 2:25. As a “sports” fan, I care. If there were no fans there would be no money for the eaters to make.

    I can eat no more than 8 HDBs (without dunking) in 10 minutes, but I don’t claim to be a competitive eater, so that does not matter one iota.

  15. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 9, 2013 @ 2:45 pm

    Matt’s body type and size is not conducive to him eating 60 HDBs–same with Tim, plus, Tim looks to be gaining weight.

    If you noticed, Koby lost 30+ lbs, so that he could eat 65+.

  16. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 3:27 pm

    Rhonda is the ultimate fan, looking, reading, thinking and telling us her opinions and why. She may or may not be right but is anyone really? There is nothing precise about competitive eating so everyone’s opinions could be valid, just some are more credible than others.

  17. Ummm... said

    July 9, 2013 @ 3:52 pm

    Erik every time they showed you the ratings spiked. You are so beautiful to me. And the world. Oh wait, you weren’t shown after the intros. I love you. The world loves you. Is your ego stroked for the rest of the year?

  18. anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 7:37 pm

    Rhonda can you eat 11 hot dogs and buns?

  19. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 8:14 pm

    She said eight.

  20. Anonymous said

    July 9, 2013 @ 9:45 pm

    Are these 8 nathans natural casing HDB or some lower quality generic brand.

  21. Anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 2:24 am

    Rhonda, your analysis is DEAD WRONG. Tim did not pull ahead of Stonie in the last few minutes. ESPN’s chiron operator made a mistake and put Tim at 47 long before he had eaten 47, which is why his number stayed at 47 for so long. (Watch the video. You’ll see Tim’s number staying at 47 even though Tim is eating several hot dogs during that time.) Stonie didn’t “put it into another gear.” After Stonie established an initial lead, Tim began catching him and was catching him the whole time. He whittled the lead to 1 before time ran out.

  22. Anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 7:08 am

    Tim said in the interview that he is a long distance eater and does not like that times have been shortened as they do not fully show eater’s abilities. He has a point for sure, Rich LeFevre used to say something similar. IN that case it was a bit different though. In Tim’s case he is referring to the ten minutes versus 12. I am guessing these things are done or were done for television purposes.

  23. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 10, 2013 @ 8:38 am

    You awakened at 2:24 to tell me THAT? Go back to bed. You need the rest.

  24. anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 8:43 am

    short contest eaters are not real eaters . Marathon eaters show someone true ability to consume large amts of food. What does it prove if you can out eat someone in 2 or 3 minutes? Some of those ape guys think they are something special but when a contest goes past 6 minutes most of them fall flat on their face

  25. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 10, 2013 @ 9:53 am

    I’ll go out on a limb and say that Tim just about the best long-distance eater going today. If Nathan’s were 15 minutes, he might even give Joey a run.

    However, due to health issues and wasted food, I’m actually glad to see the shorter contests. Watching competitive eating, for most people, is boring enough, as highlighted by MLE emcees having given out sports scores and discussing news during various events.

    As such, and as a fan, I’d actually like to see all contests reduced to 6 minutes or less, especially Nathan’s, which, given all the dunking, is one of the grossest-looking spectacles I occasionally watch. Take the dunking away, and it becomes 10-fold more appealing from this viewer’s perspective.

    And I doubt I’m a pioneer in this assertion!

  26. Anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 10:19 am

    If MCs are giving out sports scores during contests, that’s their own failure. They’re uninspired and they’ve quit.

  27. Anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 10:38 am

    Rhonda, regarding your comment at 8:38, is this how you respond to new information that proves you wrong, by attempting to insult the person delivering it? Your analysis was wrong. That’s a fact. Be big about it, and admit you were wrong.

  28. Anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 10:41 am

    There are super short contests and really long all you can eat for hours but most fall in between. I agree that a pace for two minutes has little to do with a pace for six and beyond. The longer the contest, the more true the ability of the eater, imo. That being said, Nathans is gross and too long just as Rhonda says. If they would only get rid of dunking. Who started the dunking? What is the history. Obviously you need liquid to wash down bread, it would be dangerous otherwise. But really that dunking just makes for more huge mess and difficulty counting and leads to smoosh and disappointment on the part of many eaters because smoosh is not countable. But, in the end, the call of the refs is it. No solutions but that dunking should go.

  29. Anonymous said

    July 10, 2013 @ 10:49 am

    It’s only wasted food if it would have been eaten by somebody else, which it wouldn’t have. It’s actually economic stimulus. The longer the contest, the more food purchased, the more work needed to produce, package and prepare it, the more commerce created. On a very micro level, longer contests are good for the economy. Rhonda, are rooting against the American economy? Pinko.

  30. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    July 10, 2013 @ 11:18 am

    That may be true, 10:19. The instances that I was referring to have not happened recently. As you say, if they, themselves, were that damn bored, they didn’t need to be associated w/ CE in the first place.

RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI

Leave a Comment

Log in | Register | Comments by users who have not logged in will be held for approval