BBM Canada has released its top 30 ratings for the week ended June 27, 2010, and neither the NHL Awards Show (CBC) nor the NHL Entry Draft (TSN/RDS) made the list.
In English, the 30th most-watched show for the week was The Bachelorette on City-Tv with an audience of 906,000. That means that both the NHL Awards Show and NHL Entry Draft drew less than 906,000 on their respective English-language networks. In French, RDS' coverage of the NHL Entry Draft was unable to beat 30th-ranked Un gars, une fille (a Radio-Canada repeat, from well over a decade ago) and its audience of 478,000.
None of this is really surprising. Too much time had elapsed since Chicago's Stanley Cup win and interest for hockey in late June - even in Canada - is not at the top of the charts. And so, it being now July, this blog will go on hiatus for the summer and will return in September in preparation for the start of the 2010-2011 NHL Season. Until then, enjoy the summer!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Free Agent Festival
The NHL's free agency period gets underway tomorrow at noon and Canada's sports networks will all get a piece of the action, even though they'll have to work around tennis, baseball, football, and/or soccer to get there.
TSN will provide the most coverage - six hours of live material - with both TSN2 and TSN.ca delivering the bulk of the content. Given TSN is televising the Wimbledon Tennis Semi-Finals, the network's hockey coverage (a.k.a. "Free Agent Frenzy") will begin on TSN2 at noon and continue through five o'clock, at which time the talking heads will shift to TSN until six o'clock. Live streaming of the entire six hour production will be provided on TSN.ca. And if TSN weren't airing a CFL doubleheader, hockey coverage would have probably continued well into the night.
Over at Sportsnet, a free agent special will air at 3 o'clock - immediately following Blue Jays Baseball. After a break for Toronto FC Soccer, SportsNet will resume hockey coverage at 9 o'clock with a one hour primetime special. In French, RDS will air a 90-minute free agent special at 5:30 p.m. before switching gears to the Montreal Alouettes CFL game. And should the Canadiens make any free agent splashes, you can be sure that RDS will interrupt regular scheduled programming to bring viewers all the goods.
Between the three networks, hockey fans will have their hands full on Canada's birthday. But is there anything more Canadian than hockey, even if it is July 1?
TSN will provide the most coverage - six hours of live material - with both TSN2 and TSN.ca delivering the bulk of the content. Given TSN is televising the Wimbledon Tennis Semi-Finals, the network's hockey coverage (a.k.a. "Free Agent Frenzy") will begin on TSN2 at noon and continue through five o'clock, at which time the talking heads will shift to TSN until six o'clock. Live streaming of the entire six hour production will be provided on TSN.ca. And if TSN weren't airing a CFL doubleheader, hockey coverage would have probably continued well into the night.
Over at Sportsnet, a free agent special will air at 3 o'clock - immediately following Blue Jays Baseball. After a break for Toronto FC Soccer, SportsNet will resume hockey coverage at 9 o'clock with a one hour primetime special. In French, RDS will air a 90-minute free agent special at 5:30 p.m. before switching gears to the Montreal Alouettes CFL game. And should the Canadiens make any free agent splashes, you can be sure that RDS will interrupt regular scheduled programming to bring viewers all the goods.
Between the three networks, hockey fans will have their hands full on Canada's birthday. But is there anything more Canadian than hockey, even if it is July 1?
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Preseason Index
Unlike the regular season schedule, which is released in one piece by the NHL itself, each team's preseason schedule is released by the individual team in question at different dates. And, unlike the regular season, there is no uniformity as per the "format" of each team's preseason schedule. For example, last year had the Carolina Hurricanes playing only four preseason games while the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, and Florida Panthers each played nine. In short, each team is responsible for arranging its own preseason schedule and the outcomes can differ wildly.
With the preseason schedule for the upcoming season only partially released, I decided to look at last year's preseason slate, hoping to unearth any patterns displayed by the league's 30 teams. More specifically, I tried to assess the health of each franchise by awarding one point for each preseason home game, each preseason home game that was sold out, and each preseason home game that was televised on a widely-available network in the home market (i.e. CBC, TSN, RDS, etc.). To be fair, I also awarded half points for games that weren't sold out but reached at least the 90% mark as well as half points for games that were televised via less traditional means (i.e. TSN2, LEAFS TV, internet streams, etc.). The results were quite predictable (note that teams with an * travelled to Europe during the preseason):
All five of the top spots were taken by Canadian franchises: The Montreal Canadiens came in first place, with a total of 13 points. They were followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs (12 points), Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames (10 points each), and Edmonton Oilers (8 points). The only Canadian team not to make the top five was the Ottawa Senators (6.5 points), which was good enough for a seventh place tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. Also not surprising were the results at the bottom, with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning all tied for last place with only one point each.
As the 2010 Preseason Schedule continues to be released over the coming days, it will be interesting to see if last year's scheduling trends continue into next season. Considering that the stability (or lack thereof) of the league's 30 franchises is pretty much where it was at this point last year, there's every reason to believe that the Panthers, Islanders, and Lightning of this world will once again find themselves at the bottom of the pile.
With the preseason schedule for the upcoming season only partially released, I decided to look at last year's preseason slate, hoping to unearth any patterns displayed by the league's 30 teams. More specifically, I tried to assess the health of each franchise by awarding one point for each preseason home game, each preseason home game that was sold out, and each preseason home game that was televised on a widely-available network in the home market (i.e. CBC, TSN, RDS, etc.). To be fair, I also awarded half points for games that weren't sold out but reached at least the 90% mark as well as half points for games that were televised via less traditional means (i.e. TSN2, LEAFS TV, internet streams, etc.). The results were quite predictable (note that teams with an * travelled to Europe during the preseason):
All five of the top spots were taken by Canadian franchises: The Montreal Canadiens came in first place, with a total of 13 points. They were followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs (12 points), Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames (10 points each), and Edmonton Oilers (8 points). The only Canadian team not to make the top five was the Ottawa Senators (6.5 points), which was good enough for a seventh place tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. Also not surprising were the results at the bottom, with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning all tied for last place with only one point each.
As the 2010 Preseason Schedule continues to be released over the coming days, it will be interesting to see if last year's scheduling trends continue into next season. Considering that the stability (or lack thereof) of the league's 30 franchises is pretty much where it was at this point last year, there's every reason to believe that the Panthers, Islanders, and Lightning of this world will once again find themselves at the bottom of the pile.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Draft Decisions
General Managers weren’t the only ones making interesting decisions at this year’s NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles. Broadcasters of the event, TSN and RDS, both incorporated some changes into their coverage when compared to how things were handled in years past.
TSN made the choice not to interview every player taken in the first round. In fact, only a handful of the 30 first round choices sat down for an interview with host James Duthie. Instead, the specialty channel chose to air a double dose of analysis from hockey gurus Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire. At times, this provided for insightful commentary, but the duo ended-up sounding like a broken record on many occasions – particularly as it became evident that defencemen Brandon Gormley and Cam Fowler were not going to be taken anywhere near the fourth and fifth spots that McKenzie had originally predicted. McKenzie’s exclamation of “But oh my goodness”, punctuated each and every time he contemplated another team passing on the defencemen to go with someone else, probably aired more often than the show’s theme music. It was with great relief to viewers at home that the blueliners were finally taken 12th and 13th so that McKenzie could finally shift to another topic. In all fairness to TSN, interviewing 30 players in a row can be just as repetitive, so kudos to the specialty channel for at least trying to find the right balance. I just hope TSN realizes that the search for that balance should still continue.
Over at RDS, the French-language network opted not to send their full contingent to Los Angeles, no doubt trying to save on costs in the same way the network picks-up feeds from other broadcasters during the regular season for non-Canadiens games and then dubs over French commentary from the Montreal studios. Let’s just say that this doesn’t make for entertaining television and the network really does a disservice to its viewers by not airing its own production. Interestingly, unlike TSN, RDS placed more emphasis on player interviews, with Stéphane Leroux making the journey out to L.A. to speak with many of the draft selections, most notably Canadiens top pick Jarred Tinordi. Whereas TSN uses NHL analysts to cover the draft, RDS provides a different perspective with Leroux, a junior hockey specialist covering the QMJHL. But with Leroux one of the only RDS members to actually fly to L.A., it must have made for some pretty lonely mornings around the breakfast table.
TSN made the choice not to interview every player taken in the first round. In fact, only a handful of the 30 first round choices sat down for an interview with host James Duthie. Instead, the specialty channel chose to air a double dose of analysis from hockey gurus Bob McKenzie and Pierre McGuire. At times, this provided for insightful commentary, but the duo ended-up sounding like a broken record on many occasions – particularly as it became evident that defencemen Brandon Gormley and Cam Fowler were not going to be taken anywhere near the fourth and fifth spots that McKenzie had originally predicted. McKenzie’s exclamation of “But oh my goodness”, punctuated each and every time he contemplated another team passing on the defencemen to go with someone else, probably aired more often than the show’s theme music. It was with great relief to viewers at home that the blueliners were finally taken 12th and 13th so that McKenzie could finally shift to another topic. In all fairness to TSN, interviewing 30 players in a row can be just as repetitive, so kudos to the specialty channel for at least trying to find the right balance. I just hope TSN realizes that the search for that balance should still continue.
Over at RDS, the French-language network opted not to send their full contingent to Los Angeles, no doubt trying to save on costs in the same way the network picks-up feeds from other broadcasters during the regular season for non-Canadiens games and then dubs over French commentary from the Montreal studios. Let’s just say that this doesn’t make for entertaining television and the network really does a disservice to its viewers by not airing its own production. Interestingly, unlike TSN, RDS placed more emphasis on player interviews, with Stéphane Leroux making the journey out to L.A. to speak with many of the draft selections, most notably Canadiens top pick Jarred Tinordi. Whereas TSN uses NHL analysts to cover the draft, RDS provides a different perspective with Leroux, a junior hockey specialist covering the QMJHL. But with Leroux one of the only RDS members to actually fly to L.A., it must have made for some pretty lonely mornings around the breakfast table.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Draft Day
After hockey fans were pushed to their limits on Wednesday with the annual NHL Awards Show, the game returns to being about . . . well . . . the game, with tonight’s NHL Entry Draft.
Don’t get me wrong, Wednesday night had its moments. The skit about Anaheim Ducks teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan having trouble reconciling after being on different ends of the ice for the historic Canada-U.S. Gold Medal Game was pretty funny:
So too was Dave Tippet’s remark, when he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year with the Phoenix Coyotes, that he’d like to thank the team’s owners but doesn’t know all 29 of them (i.e. the other 29 franchises that own the Coyotes because they still don’t have a real owner). But the evening on a whole had little to do with hockey and was far too caught up with Holywood celebrities, most of whom probably haven’t been to a hockey game in their lives. I didn’t see too many shots of Snoop Dog in the crowd during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but come the NHL Awards Show I guess we’re all supposed to believe that he’s one of the game’s biggest fans:
Well, the time for make-believe is over and the time for real hockey stuff is back. The NHL Entry Draft is everything that the NHL Awards Show isn’t. When TSN and RDS sign on the air tonight at 7 o’clock with their draft coverage, it will all be about strategy instead of entertainment. Without being crude, if the NHL Awards Show is like a striptease (albeit with second and third rate strippers), then the NHL Entry Draft is like jury selection. Who will be the first pick? Who will move away from one of the “safe choices” to choose someone off the radar screen? Who will crack and make a deal to get a better spot? The actual trial – next season’s slate of games – is still months away. But a key variable in determining the trial’s outcome will be revealed tonight. I wonder if Snoop Dog will be watching.
Don’t get me wrong, Wednesday night had its moments. The skit about Anaheim Ducks teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan having trouble reconciling after being on different ends of the ice for the historic Canada-U.S. Gold Medal Game was pretty funny:
So too was Dave Tippet’s remark, when he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year with the Phoenix Coyotes, that he’d like to thank the team’s owners but doesn’t know all 29 of them (i.e. the other 29 franchises that own the Coyotes because they still don’t have a real owner). But the evening on a whole had little to do with hockey and was far too caught up with Holywood celebrities, most of whom probably haven’t been to a hockey game in their lives. I didn’t see too many shots of Snoop Dog in the crowd during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but come the NHL Awards Show I guess we’re all supposed to believe that he’s one of the game’s biggest fans:
Well, the time for make-believe is over and the time for real hockey stuff is back. The NHL Entry Draft is everything that the NHL Awards Show isn’t. When TSN and RDS sign on the air tonight at 7 o’clock with their draft coverage, it will all be about strategy instead of entertainment. Without being crude, if the NHL Awards Show is like a striptease (albeit with second and third rate strippers), then the NHL Entry Draft is like jury selection. Who will be the first pick? Who will move away from one of the “safe choices” to choose someone off the radar screen? Who will crack and make a deal to get a better spot? The actual trial – next season’s slate of games – is still months away. But a key variable in determining the trial’s outcome will be revealed tonight. I wonder if Snoop Dog will be watching.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Award Day
CBC will broadcast tonight’s NHL Award Show from Las Vegas beginning at 8:30 p.m. There once was a time when the annual gathering was held at the Convention Centre in Toronto but, seeing as the Ontario capital looks more like a war zone these days as it prepares to host the G20 Summit later this week, it’s probably a good idea that the NHL has selected an alternative site for this year’s festivities.
Now Las Vegas isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of hockey superstars. Throw in names like Snoop Dog, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Mark Wahlberg – all of whom will be part of tonight’s “action” in some capacity – and one develops a firm understanding that the ceremony has little, if anything, to do with hockey. Even for the hockey diehards among us, the NHL Awards Show can be difficult to watch. Nonetheless, for the athletes who have worked hard all season long, there are some pretty impressive trophies waiting in the wings. Once all the hoopla has been cut away, it will be interesting to see who wins what. It will also be interesting to see who is watching and in what numbers.
Thankfully for those of us in Quebec (including me and, by extension, this blog), tomorrow’s St-Jean Baptiste Day means a day of vacation. Odds are, we’ll need it to recover from tonight’s “spectacle” in Vegas. The blog returns on Friday.
Now Las Vegas isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of hockey superstars. Throw in names like Snoop Dog, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Mark Wahlberg – all of whom will be part of tonight’s “action” in some capacity – and one develops a firm understanding that the ceremony has little, if anything, to do with hockey. Even for the hockey diehards among us, the NHL Awards Show can be difficult to watch. Nonetheless, for the athletes who have worked hard all season long, there are some pretty impressive trophies waiting in the wings. Once all the hoopla has been cut away, it will be interesting to see who wins what. It will also be interesting to see who is watching and in what numbers.
Thankfully for those of us in Quebec (including me and, by extension, this blog), tomorrow’s St-Jean Baptiste Day means a day of vacation. Odds are, we’ll need it to recover from tonight’s “spectacle” in Vegas. The blog returns on Friday.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Schedule Day
The NHL released its 2010-2011 schedule earlier today. Although the league should be commended for moving ahead the release day of this important document by almost one month compared to past seasons, it was nonetheless disappointing to see that the document did not contain broadcast information for the national networks. I guess it would be too much to ask to have our cake and eat it too.
A broadcast schedule will follow at some point over the summer, but all we can do for now is speculate as per what it will look like. Although TSN’s plans are too difficult to determine because the network airs games at different times and at different days throughout the week, CBC is a pretty predictable creature with its Saturday night doubleheaders. And so, after a special Thursday night broadcast to open the season on October 7 (the previously announced Canadiens-Leafs followed by the Flames-Oilers), look for the Saturday telecasts to begin in earnest on October 9 with regional action of the Senators-Leafs and Canadiens-Penguins followed by the Kings-Canucks.
One interesting quirk is CBC’s contractual obligation to not show the Leafs on three Saturdays throughout the year. From what I see on the schedule, the public broadcaster might have found a cute loophole in that the Leafs are only absent from Saturday nights on two hockey dates – October 16 and January 8. There is technically a third “non-Leaf” Saturday – Christmas – when there aren’t any hockey games at all.
Some other observations about CBC’s theoretical schedule for the upcoming year include a pair of rare Saturday afternoon game for the Canadiens on December 4 against the Sharks and March 12 against the Penguins (to go along with the traditional Super Bowl Weekend afternoon games on February 5 and 6 against the Rangers and Devils respectively), as well as a special Sunday telecast at six o’clock for the outdoor game on February 20 between the Canadiens-Flames.
Over at RDS, of course, the French-language specialty channel will once again provide coverage of all 82 Canadiens games, together with periodic Senators contests and other games from around the league. One interesting date to note is October 29 when a Canadiens game will coincide with a Montreal Alouettes contest in the Canadian Football League. RDS, which covers both teams, will have to move the Alouettes game to digital sister station RIS.
Look for subtle revisions of the schedule to made between now and the start of the regular season. Here’s hoping we get confirmations of the broadcast schedules well before then!
A broadcast schedule will follow at some point over the summer, but all we can do for now is speculate as per what it will look like. Although TSN’s plans are too difficult to determine because the network airs games at different times and at different days throughout the week, CBC is a pretty predictable creature with its Saturday night doubleheaders. And so, after a special Thursday night broadcast to open the season on October 7 (the previously announced Canadiens-Leafs followed by the Flames-Oilers), look for the Saturday telecasts to begin in earnest on October 9 with regional action of the Senators-Leafs and Canadiens-Penguins followed by the Kings-Canucks.
One interesting quirk is CBC’s contractual obligation to not show the Leafs on three Saturdays throughout the year. From what I see on the schedule, the public broadcaster might have found a cute loophole in that the Leafs are only absent from Saturday nights on two hockey dates – October 16 and January 8. There is technically a third “non-Leaf” Saturday – Christmas – when there aren’t any hockey games at all.
Some other observations about CBC’s theoretical schedule for the upcoming year include a pair of rare Saturday afternoon game for the Canadiens on December 4 against the Sharks and March 12 against the Penguins (to go along with the traditional Super Bowl Weekend afternoon games on February 5 and 6 against the Rangers and Devils respectively), as well as a special Sunday telecast at six o’clock for the outdoor game on February 20 between the Canadiens-Flames.
Over at RDS, of course, the French-language specialty channel will once again provide coverage of all 82 Canadiens games, together with periodic Senators contests and other games from around the league. One interesting date to note is October 29 when a Canadiens game will coincide with a Montreal Alouettes contest in the Canadian Football League. RDS, which covers both teams, will have to move the Alouettes game to digital sister station RIS.
Look for subtle revisions of the schedule to made between now and the start of the regular season. Here’s hoping we get confirmations of the broadcast schedules well before then!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)