Actually 1620 bosses would prefer mayhem... I know that because the program director flat out told me that when I worked there for a couple years. He wasnt a Husker fan and he said them losing equaled a ton more callers/more anger and more people listening in to hear why they sucked.
While there's certainly truth to this, there is a point of diminishing returns. Routine losses and bad seasons will eventually shift the ballast from fan engagement towards fan apathy. Apathy is a program dagger and ultimately hurts radio, TV and online content producer pageviews/ratings.I think this is 100% spot on. Just listen to "Big Red Over-Reaction" after a terrible loss or when a season is going really badly. The lines are full with people wanting vent their frustrations. Same for their weekday shows.
At the moment, the ballast has absolutely shifted towards the latter based on the pockets of Nebraska sports media I still have a pulse on. Reader/fan engagement has not been what it was in comparison to the first couple Frost seasons. I've heard rumblings of similar things from people knowledgeable of the local TV/radio ratings, as well.
Eventually, people will stop caring if you suck long enough.