It was said that this particular rendition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” would be among one of the most popular in the show’s history, given all the Covid-19 issues baked into it.
And anyone who initially bought into that theory couldn’t have been more wrong.
We tuned in to the first three episodes of this year’s “Hard Knocks,” and frankly, the content in it was awful. It was boring, mundane and just seemed like the same type of on-field stuff regurgitated over and over. It’s clear that NFL teams have pushed back a bit over the past few years, and all that “behind the scenes” type of stuff that once made the show great has disappeared, despite the level of access the film crew is awarded.
And the numbers are backing that up. Episode 3 of “Hard Knocks” set a record low, with only 179,000 viewers.
Well, it appears it wasn’t just that particular episode, and was the show itself. The season averaged only 243,000 viewers — a 63 percent decrease from 2019, according to Sports Media Watch.
The numbers don’t lie; the show has run its course.
