NFL Draft Offers Proven, Reliable Reality TV

It was the first and it remains the best. In the world of sports, as in the world of reality television, the NFL Draft holds an unrivaled position.

From Thursday through Saturday, with start-to-finish coverage on two networks (ESPN, NFL Network), the draft will attract viewership that dwarfs just about every other sporting event on TV -- except for NFL games themselves.

The draft is a near-perfect, made-for-TV event, with established stars from college football up for grabs, a reliable schedule, with predetermined time periods between selections, and a rooting interest for dozens of different fan bases. It works as something a hard-core fan could watch from beginning to end, and it works as background noise -- providing regular news and easy-to-find entry points for viewers to get information whenever they want.

Both ESPN and NFL Network will provide on-screen tickers of players selected by team as well as by position. With viewers used to on-screen information now more than ever, they'll be able to see who was just picked, who picks next, and who remains as the best available talent, according to the networks' respective experts.

In addition, thanks to cooperation from the broadcast partners and the NFL, viewers even get a play-along, top-down approach to the selection process. Never mind breaking any news, neither ESPN nor the NFL Network plans to have its reporters reveal picks before they're announced by the commissioner during the first round Thursday or the second round Friday.

After that, though, news might come without having to originate from the mouth of a league official first.

Still, most viewers (87 percent, according to a poll by Sports Business Daily) like the approach. It might  be ceding control to the league, but fans appreciate and trust the TV approach that has been crafted and protected by the NFL and its partners in regard to the draft.

They should, too, because the NFL does the draft well.

Great Guide
No one who writes about the draft and what to expect on TV does it as completely, or as well, as Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated. His preview of what to expect, and some strong opinions about who to watch and why, follows.
LINK: Media Circus