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?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Quebec's Exhibition
Not to be outdone by Winnipeg – once an opponent in the NHL and now an opponent to get back into the league – Quebec City will also be playing host to pre-season hockey in the fall. Whereas Winnipeg will see the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks take on the financially unstable Tampa Bay Lightning on September 22, Quebec City will get to see another financially unstable franchise – the New York Islanders – go up against the Montreal Canadiens on October 2. Just as I made the case that the Lightning’s pre-season journey to Winnipeg could be testing the waters for the team’s potential relocation to the Manitoba capital, the same could be speculated about the New York Islanders getting a lay of the land for a possible move to Quebec.
Since the Nordiques left town in 1995, Quebec City has been the site of two pre-season tilts. In 2002, it saw the return of its Nordiques – reincarnated as the Colorado Avalanche – battle the province’s beloved Canadiens. And last year, the Canadiens paid another visit to Quebec City, this time against the rival Boston Bruins. But there is no obvious connection with this year’s opponent – the New York Islanders – unless, of course, you throw possible relocation into the mix. Just like the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Islanders are one of the weaker sisters in the NHL when it comes to finances, and rumours of the team’s relocation have been in the works for years (albeit, usually to another U.S. location).
Look for the Quebec City matchup to be on French-language RDS, whereas the Winnipeg game may get shutout from Canadian television. After all, neither the Blackhawks nor Lightning regional broadcasts are available in the Winnipeg area – at least for now, pending relocation of course!
Since the Nordiques left town in 1995, Quebec City has been the site of two pre-season tilts. In 2002, it saw the return of its Nordiques – reincarnated as the Colorado Avalanche – battle the province’s beloved Canadiens. And last year, the Canadiens paid another visit to Quebec City, this time against the rival Boston Bruins. But there is no obvious connection with this year’s opponent – the New York Islanders – unless, of course, you throw possible relocation into the mix. Just like the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Islanders are one of the weaker sisters in the NHL when it comes to finances, and rumours of the team’s relocation have been in the works for years (albeit, usually to another U.S. location).
Look for the Quebec City matchup to be on French-language RDS, whereas the Winnipeg game may get shutout from Canadian television. After all, neither the Blackhawks nor Lightning regional broadcasts are available in the Winnipeg area – at least for now, pending relocation of course!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Final Numbers
Complete numbers, as highlighted in bold, are now available for the final round of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs:
CBC was able to draw an average of 3,135,000 for the six game series between the Flyers and Blackhawks, producing the public broadcaster’s best Audience per Household (“APH”) figure of the playoffs at 0.241. As with previous rounds, there seems to be some controversy as to the exact average, although this time the NHL is low-balling the numbers by its report that CBC only drew 3,107,000. But, the last time I checked, the six-game average of 3,164,000 (game 1), 2,775,000 (game 2), 2,960,000 (game 3), 2,439,000 (game 4), 3,396,000 (game 5), and 4,077,000 (game 6) does, in fact, calculate to 3,135,000 and not 3,107,000. Either way you look at it, the series outdrew the second round Canadiens-Penguins matchup, which had been the public broadcaster’s top draw prior to the Stanley Cup Final.
It was quite another story at RDS, where the average audience for the final round of only 656,000 gave the French-language specialty channel its worst APH figure of the playoffs at 0.219 – less than half what the channel had been earning for the previous rounds involving the Montreal Canadiens. If, as Pierre Houde indicated last week, more than 1,500,000 people watched the decisive game of the Stanley Cup Final on his network, it could have only been at the game’s peak. According to BBM Canada, the audience average for the entire game on RDS was only 970,000. For comparison purposes, that’s lower than the 1,126,000 average that watched the decisive game of the previous year’s Stanley Cup Final – and this, despite the fact that a new method for calculating viewers is supposed to yield inflated numbers when comparing to past seasons. Suffice it to say that the Canadiens third round elimination was pretty much entirely responsible for the network’s poor showing in this year’s final series.
The consolation prize for RDS is that the channel recorded the three highest APH figures in this year’s playoffs with its coverage of the Canadiens-Penguins (0.582), Canadiens-Flyers (0.556), and Canadiens-Capitals (0.446) series – all of which had better APH numbers than CBC’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now it’s time to clean the slate – and do it all again next year!
CBC was able to draw an average of 3,135,000 for the six game series between the Flyers and Blackhawks, producing the public broadcaster’s best Audience per Household (“APH”) figure of the playoffs at 0.241. As with previous rounds, there seems to be some controversy as to the exact average, although this time the NHL is low-balling the numbers by its report that CBC only drew 3,107,000. But, the last time I checked, the six-game average of 3,164,000 (game 1), 2,775,000 (game 2), 2,960,000 (game 3), 2,439,000 (game 4), 3,396,000 (game 5), and 4,077,000 (game 6) does, in fact, calculate to 3,135,000 and not 3,107,000. Either way you look at it, the series outdrew the second round Canadiens-Penguins matchup, which had been the public broadcaster’s top draw prior to the Stanley Cup Final.
It was quite another story at RDS, where the average audience for the final round of only 656,000 gave the French-language specialty channel its worst APH figure of the playoffs at 0.219 – less than half what the channel had been earning for the previous rounds involving the Montreal Canadiens. If, as Pierre Houde indicated last week, more than 1,500,000 people watched the decisive game of the Stanley Cup Final on his network, it could have only been at the game’s peak. According to BBM Canada, the audience average for the entire game on RDS was only 970,000. For comparison purposes, that’s lower than the 1,126,000 average that watched the decisive game of the previous year’s Stanley Cup Final – and this, despite the fact that a new method for calculating viewers is supposed to yield inflated numbers when comparing to past seasons. Suffice it to say that the Canadiens third round elimination was pretty much entirely responsible for the network’s poor showing in this year’s final series.
The consolation prize for RDS is that the channel recorded the three highest APH figures in this year’s playoffs with its coverage of the Canadiens-Penguins (0.582), Canadiens-Flyers (0.556), and Canadiens-Capitals (0.446) series – all of which had better APH numbers than CBC’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals. Now it’s time to clean the slate – and do it all again next year!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Lightning Strikes Winnipeg
For the second straight year, NHL pre-season action is coming to Winnipeg. And, for the second straight year, the Tampa Bay Lightning are part of the equation. The announcement was made yesterday by True North Sports & Entertainment Limited – the same group led by David Thomson that has offered to purchase the ailing Phoenix Coyotes and move them back to the Manitoba capital where they were once known as the Jets. But so far, all the group has to show for its efforts is a pre-season game to be played at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre on September 22 between Tampa Bay and the Chicago Blackhawks. This, on the heels of last year’s matchup between the Lightning and Edmonton Oilers.
The involvement of the Chicago Blackhawks makes perfect sense. The team is, after all, the Stanley Cup Champions and its captain is Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, just like last year’s choice of the Oilers given their geographic proximity to Winnipeg. But the Tampa Bay Lightning? One could chalk it up to a purely random choice, if not for the fact that: (a) there is no obvious connection, geographic or otherwise, between the cities of Tampa Bay and Winnipeg; (b) the Lightning aren’t exactly the league’s most stable franchise from a financial perspective; and (c) this is the second consecutive year that the team has been chosen to travel to Winnipeg. In fact, the Lightning have played more pre-season games in Winnipeg in recent history than they have in their own city – last year saw the team play three road games and four neutral site contests. So what could all this mean?
Is it possible that David Thomson is hedging his bets? If his bid for the Phoenix Coyotes ultimately fails, does his back-up plan involve the Tampa Bay Lightning? Is he using the pre-season as a test to see how the team resonates with Winnipeg hockey fans? Or is all of this pure coincidence – the work of an over-imaginative hockey blogger running out of ideas for his site? Only time will tell. Nonetheless, the decision to have the Lightning travel to Winnipeg is just another piece of evidence pointing to the demise of professional hockey in the American sunbelt. As if we needed more evidence . . .
The involvement of the Chicago Blackhawks makes perfect sense. The team is, after all, the Stanley Cup Champions and its captain is Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, just like last year’s choice of the Oilers given their geographic proximity to Winnipeg. But the Tampa Bay Lightning? One could chalk it up to a purely random choice, if not for the fact that: (a) there is no obvious connection, geographic or otherwise, between the cities of Tampa Bay and Winnipeg; (b) the Lightning aren’t exactly the league’s most stable franchise from a financial perspective; and (c) this is the second consecutive year that the team has been chosen to travel to Winnipeg. In fact, the Lightning have played more pre-season games in Winnipeg in recent history than they have in their own city – last year saw the team play three road games and four neutral site contests. So what could all this mean?
Is it possible that David Thomson is hedging his bets? If his bid for the Phoenix Coyotes ultimately fails, does his back-up plan involve the Tampa Bay Lightning? Is he using the pre-season as a test to see how the team resonates with Winnipeg hockey fans? Or is all of this pure coincidence – the work of an over-imaginative hockey blogger running out of ideas for his site? Only time will tell. Nonetheless, the decision to have the Lightning travel to Winnipeg is just another piece of evidence pointing to the demise of professional hockey in the American sunbelt. As if we needed more evidence . . .
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Hockey's Void
It has been exactly one week since the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup and it will still be another week until the NHL hosts its annual award show in Las Vegas. The league has established way too much time between events and risks losing the attention of the throngs of casual fans who migrated to the game over the course of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their focus will have shifted to other things, if it hasn’t already. Most notably, there’s the World Cup of Soccer and game seven of the NBA Championship. Hockey, for many, has already become yesterday’s news.
With it being a struggle for even the most committed hockey fan to stay conscious until late June for the league’s annual award show, the NHL should seriously consider moving up the event. If a potential game seven of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for a Friday, as was the case this year (June 11), the award show should air no later than Monday (June 14) as opposed to two weeks Wednesday (June 23). And, while we’re at it, the league might as well reschedule the draft from the last Friday of the month (June 25) to the first Friday after game seven (June 18).
The NHL was right to congratulate itself (to a point) regarding the success of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. But while the league focuses squarely on its past achievements, it’s losing a huge opportunity to continue to make inroads with an expanded fan base.
With it being a struggle for even the most committed hockey fan to stay conscious until late June for the league’s annual award show, the NHL should seriously consider moving up the event. If a potential game seven of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for a Friday, as was the case this year (June 11), the award show should air no later than Monday (June 14) as opposed to two weeks Wednesday (June 23). And, while we’re at it, the league might as well reschedule the draft from the last Friday of the month (June 25) to the first Friday after game seven (June 18).
The NHL was right to congratulate itself (to a point) regarding the success of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. But while the league focuses squarely on its past achievements, it’s losing a huge opportunity to continue to make inroads with an expanded fan base.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Coyote Ugly
The prospect of the NHL’s return to Winnipeg has continued to gather steam in recent days, with CBC reporting last week that Jerry Reinsdorf’s group has officially withdrawn from efforts to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. Reinsdorf was quoted by the public broadcaster as saying “it was time to move on”. That leaves Ice Edge Holdings and its notoriously shaky financial backers as the only remaining bidder committed to keeping the franchise in Arizona – that is, if you don’t count the handful of home games that Ice Edge wants to see the team play in Saskatoon to compensate for the anticipated unprofitability in the dessert.
Meanwhile, David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail reported yesterday that Ice Edge has until Friday to produce a term sheet, stating how much financing the group’s bankers are prepared to lend – at least theoretically. As Shoalts rightly points out, albeit with slight exaggeration, “anyone can get a term sheet from a bank [and] the document is not binding”. Even if Ice Edge were able to get a $100 million loan – a figure outlined in a memorandum of understanding reached last week with city council – there is still the matter of finding the other $65 million to cover the anticipated $165 million sale. Where that would come from is anyone’s guess, but few believe Ice Edge has that kind of money. And if Ice Edge can’t close a deal, there’s no one left on the list who is prepared to keep the team where it is.
With next year’s schedule expected to be released exactly one week from today, it’s probably too late for Canadian hockey broadcasters to be planning a trip to Winnipeg for the 2010-2011 campaign. But if I were CBC or TSN, I’d certainly be scouting potential hotels in the Winnipeg area for the following season – if not in Saskatoon for this year.
Meanwhile, David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail reported yesterday that Ice Edge has until Friday to produce a term sheet, stating how much financing the group’s bankers are prepared to lend – at least theoretically. As Shoalts rightly points out, albeit with slight exaggeration, “anyone can get a term sheet from a bank [and] the document is not binding”. Even if Ice Edge were able to get a $100 million loan – a figure outlined in a memorandum of understanding reached last week with city council – there is still the matter of finding the other $65 million to cover the anticipated $165 million sale. Where that would come from is anyone’s guess, but few believe Ice Edge has that kind of money. And if Ice Edge can’t close a deal, there’s no one left on the list who is prepared to keep the team where it is.
With next year’s schedule expected to be released exactly one week from today, it’s probably too late for Canadian hockey broadcasters to be planning a trip to Winnipeg for the 2010-2011 campaign. But if I were CBC or TSN, I’d certainly be scouting potential hotels in the Winnipeg area for the following season – if not in Saskatoon for this year.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Soccer Boots U.S. Hockey
Conventional wisdom has always dictated that hockey ranks pretty low on the pecking order when it comes to the other team sports that compete for audience interest in the United States – certainly after football, baseball, and basketball. But soccer? Surely hockey can do better than soccer? Can’t it?
Well, no – at least not according to television ratings. Saturday afternoon’s World Cup of Soccer telecast between England and the United States drew 16,800,000 viewers to ABC and Spanish-language Univision, more than double the 8,280,000 who watched last week’s decisive game of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC – the “most watched and highest-rated NHL game in 36 years”. And this was just a preliminary round soccer game.
Can you imagine what the audience would be if the U.S. were to make it to the World Cup Final? Would it be more than the 27,600,000 Americans who watched their country lose to Canada in the Gold Medal Hockey Game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? It would certainly be more than the 17,100,000 Americans who watched their country lose to Canada in the Gold Medal Hockey Game of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. After all, the most recent World Cup Final in 2006 – in which the U.S. was not a participant – drew 17,002,000. Can you see a hockey game drawing those kinds of numbers in the U.S. without American content?
I can’t – at least not in the next 36 years.
Well, no – at least not according to television ratings. Saturday afternoon’s World Cup of Soccer telecast between England and the United States drew 16,800,000 viewers to ABC and Spanish-language Univision, more than double the 8,280,000 who watched last week’s decisive game of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC – the “most watched and highest-rated NHL game in 36 years”. And this was just a preliminary round soccer game.
Can you imagine what the audience would be if the U.S. were to make it to the World Cup Final? Would it be more than the 27,600,000 Americans who watched their country lose to Canada in the Gold Medal Hockey Game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics? It would certainly be more than the 17,100,000 Americans who watched their country lose to Canada in the Gold Medal Hockey Game of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. After all, the most recent World Cup Final in 2006 – in which the U.S. was not a participant – drew 17,002,000. Can you see a hockey game drawing those kinds of numbers in the U.S. without American content?
I can’t – at least not in the next 36 years.
Friday, June 11, 2010
36 Years and One Month
According to the league, NBC’s coverage of Wednesday’s Stanley Cup clinching game “was the most-watched and highest-rated NHL game in 36 years”. Granted, the feat doesn’t sound quite as impressive when you consider that U.S. conventional television didn’t broadcast the Stanley Cup Final for 15 of those 36 years (cable only from 1981 through 1994; season cancelled in 2005). And let’s also not forget that the two teams involved in this year’s final, Chicago and Philadelphia, represent the third and sixth largest populations in the United States. So, in many ways, it would have been unsettling had the game not produced such high ratings. Nonetheless, the average audience of 8,280,000 that watched Wednesday’s contest on NBC is still excellent news for the NHL. Here's hoping the league can take advantage of this momentum going into next year.
In Canada, the final game drew 4,077,000 on CBC. Not only does this not go back 36 seasons, it doesn’t even rank as the top audience this year: Game 7 of the second round Canadiens-Penguins matchup, played less than a month ago, drew 4,239,000 to the public broadcaster. Over at RDS, play-by-play man Pierre Houde seemed to indicate yesterday that his network attracted about 1,500,000 for the final game (still to be confirmed) – significantly up from the average of 593,000 who tuned in for the first five games of the series, but a drop in the bucket compared to the 2,417,000 who watched the decisive game of the Canadiens-Penguins affair on the French specialty channel.
Full ratings for the entire series will be available next week on a network-by-network basis, complete with tables, charts, and my trademark APH rating scale. Until then, enjoy the weekend!
In Canada, the final game drew 4,077,000 on CBC. Not only does this not go back 36 seasons, it doesn’t even rank as the top audience this year: Game 7 of the second round Canadiens-Penguins matchup, played less than a month ago, drew 4,239,000 to the public broadcaster. Over at RDS, play-by-play man Pierre Houde seemed to indicate yesterday that his network attracted about 1,500,000 for the final game (still to be confirmed) – significantly up from the average of 593,000 who tuned in for the first five games of the series, but a drop in the bucket compared to the 2,417,000 who watched the decisive game of the Canadiens-Penguins affair on the French specialty channel.
Full ratings for the entire series will be available next week on a network-by-network basis, complete with tables, charts, and my trademark APH rating scale. Until then, enjoy the weekend!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
29 Hours of Goodbyes
In a 29-hour span of time that began yesterday at 6:30 p.m. and will end tonight at 11:30 p.m., three hockey institutions have said, or will be saying, goodbye. Most famous, of course, was the 2009-2010 NHL Season, which concluded last night with an overtime goal by Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks in game six of the Stanley Cup Final. And although his Stanley Cup clinching goal will never be confused with Bobby Orr’s flying heroics in 1970 – indeed, last night’s broadcasting transition from “where’s the puck?” to “the Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup” was awkward to say the least – the fact remains that Kane’s effort closed the books on one of the most exciting – and most watched – hockey playoffs in years.
But the Blackhawks and Flyers weren’t the only ones saying goodbye last night. Prior to its 8 o’clock hockey broadcast, French-language RDS held a 90-minute televised gala to honour Jacques Demers, former Canadiens head coach and subsequent network commentator, who worked his last game on May 24 when Montreal was eliminated by the Flyers. Demers, 65, is retiring his hockey microphone to join the Canadian Senate on a full-time basis. The fact that the gala took place on the eventual clinching game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final was purely coincidental – the date, June 9, was chosen to correspond with the 17th anniversary of the last Stanley Cup won by the Canadiens in 1993, of which Demers was the winning head coach. Guests on hand included his former players Patrick Roy, Vincent Damphousse, Eric Desjardins, and Patrice Brisebois, as well as satellite appearances by hockey personalities Kirk Muller, Marcel Aubut, Ron MacLean, and Don Cherry. The most interesting contribution was by Barry Melrose, whom Demers first met when the two were with the Cincinnati Stingers of the now defunct World Hockey Association. Melrose, of course, is better known for his days with the Los Angeles Kings, where he was the losing head coach in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final against Demers’ Canadiens. It came out during last night’s gala that Melrose refused to speak with Demers for years after the series – still fuming about Demers’ decision to request a measurement of Marty McSorley’s stick in game two – and that it took a chance meeting in an airport well over a decade later for the two to resolve their differences.
Demers’ departure from RDS will leave the network with some pretty big shoes to fill next year, but it won’t be the only French-language broadcaster to lose a piece of its hockey arsenal. As reported a few weeks ago, Radio-Canada will be without its hockey debating show La Zone with Michel Villeneuve, which will air its final 30-minute broadcast tonight at 11 o’clock. Like its former competitor L’Attaque à 5 (better known as 110%), La Zone is being taken off the air because it can’t compete with the leverage that RDS is able to exercise as the sole French-language television rights holder of the Montreal Canadiens. You can be sure that one of the topics up for discussion tonight on La Zone will be a retrospective of the decisive game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final – providing a way for the show to go out in style and for us to end our 29 hours of goodbyes.
NHL CALENDAR:
Tuesday, June 22
Release of 2010-2011 NHL Schedule
Wednesday, June 23
NHL Awards at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m. (CBC)
Friday, June 25
NHL Entry Draft at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
But the Blackhawks and Flyers weren’t the only ones saying goodbye last night. Prior to its 8 o’clock hockey broadcast, French-language RDS held a 90-minute televised gala to honour Jacques Demers, former Canadiens head coach and subsequent network commentator, who worked his last game on May 24 when Montreal was eliminated by the Flyers. Demers, 65, is retiring his hockey microphone to join the Canadian Senate on a full-time basis. The fact that the gala took place on the eventual clinching game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final was purely coincidental – the date, June 9, was chosen to correspond with the 17th anniversary of the last Stanley Cup won by the Canadiens in 1993, of which Demers was the winning head coach. Guests on hand included his former players Patrick Roy, Vincent Damphousse, Eric Desjardins, and Patrice Brisebois, as well as satellite appearances by hockey personalities Kirk Muller, Marcel Aubut, Ron MacLean, and Don Cherry. The most interesting contribution was by Barry Melrose, whom Demers first met when the two were with the Cincinnati Stingers of the now defunct World Hockey Association. Melrose, of course, is better known for his days with the Los Angeles Kings, where he was the losing head coach in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final against Demers’ Canadiens. It came out during last night’s gala that Melrose refused to speak with Demers for years after the series – still fuming about Demers’ decision to request a measurement of Marty McSorley’s stick in game two – and that it took a chance meeting in an airport well over a decade later for the two to resolve their differences.
Demers’ departure from RDS will leave the network with some pretty big shoes to fill next year, but it won’t be the only French-language broadcaster to lose a piece of its hockey arsenal. As reported a few weeks ago, Radio-Canada will be without its hockey debating show La Zone with Michel Villeneuve, which will air its final 30-minute broadcast tonight at 11 o’clock. Like its former competitor L’Attaque à 5 (better known as 110%), La Zone is being taken off the air because it can’t compete with the leverage that RDS is able to exercise as the sole French-language television rights holder of the Montreal Canadiens. You can be sure that one of the topics up for discussion tonight on La Zone will be a retrospective of the decisive game of this year’s Stanley Cup Final – providing a way for the show to go out in style and for us to end our 29 hours of goodbyes.
NHL CALENDAR:
Tuesday, June 22
Release of 2010-2011 NHL Schedule
Wednesday, June 23
NHL Awards at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m. (CBC)
Friday, June 25
NHL Entry Draft at Los Angeles, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Is Tonight The Night?
Nearly two months have gone by since the start of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, and tonight could play host to their final game. The Chicago Blackhawks have the chance to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961 – that is, provided they can beat a Philadelphia Flyers team that has only lost once on home ice in these playoffs. If the Flyers continue their home dominance, there will be a decisive game seven on Friday in Chicago. Whenever the Stanley Cup is ultimately presented, U.S. viewers will get to watch the ceremony on NBC, while those of us in Canada can choose between CBC and French-language RDS.
For NBC, these are the playoffs that started with a whimper and promise to end with a bang. It’s no secret that the U.S. broadcaster was pretty unhappy with the available matchups in the first three rounds: In the East, superstars Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby never got a chance to play an American team (let alone each other) before their premature ouster by the Montreal Canadiens and, in the West, ratings magnets Detroit and Chicago (which also managed to avoid each other) played against small market franchises like Phoenix and Nashville. The Stanley Cup Final, however, has represented a complete change in fortune for NBC, with two of the largest U.S. hockey markets going head-to-head for the NHL’s most coveted prize. Indeed, NBC is averaging 5,390,000 viewers for the series so far, which represents the best numbers on the southern side of the border since 2002.
For RDS, it was exactly the opposite: The first three rounds got better and better for the French-language broadcaster, with its beloved Canadiens stunning the hockey world with back-to-back upsets against the Capitals and Penguins, before finally bowing out in the third round against the Flyers. But without the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, RDS can’t hope to come close to attracting the number of eyeballs that were glued to their televisions during the first three rounds. Whereas the average RDS audience grew from 1,338,000 to 1,746,000 during the rounds with the Canadiens involved (which is amazing, considering the channel is only available in 3,000,000 households), it was only able to attract a fraction of that – 610,000 – for the first game of the Stanley Cup Final.
That leaves CBC, which has experienced a less volatile ratings rollercoaster than the league’s other broadcasting partners. Although the public broadcaster did benefit from Canadian content throughout the first three rounds, the network made the mistake of not picking the Canadiens-Capitals series in the first round and, consequently, was not able to maximize the potential audience for the Canadiens surprising Stanley Cup run. And, although the Stanley Cup Final features two American-based teams, CBC has managed to draw decent audiences through the first half of the series.
So, the question remains, is tonight the night? Or will viewers be treated to a seventh game in the Stanley Cup Final for consecutive years? Regardless the network, you've got to think it will be good for ratings.
TONIGHT’S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers – Game 6, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
For NBC, these are the playoffs that started with a whimper and promise to end with a bang. It’s no secret that the U.S. broadcaster was pretty unhappy with the available matchups in the first three rounds: In the East, superstars Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby never got a chance to play an American team (let alone each other) before their premature ouster by the Montreal Canadiens and, in the West, ratings magnets Detroit and Chicago (which also managed to avoid each other) played against small market franchises like Phoenix and Nashville. The Stanley Cup Final, however, has represented a complete change in fortune for NBC, with two of the largest U.S. hockey markets going head-to-head for the NHL’s most coveted prize. Indeed, NBC is averaging 5,390,000 viewers for the series so far, which represents the best numbers on the southern side of the border since 2002.
For RDS, it was exactly the opposite: The first three rounds got better and better for the French-language broadcaster, with its beloved Canadiens stunning the hockey world with back-to-back upsets against the Capitals and Penguins, before finally bowing out in the third round against the Flyers. But without the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final, RDS can’t hope to come close to attracting the number of eyeballs that were glued to their televisions during the first three rounds. Whereas the average RDS audience grew from 1,338,000 to 1,746,000 during the rounds with the Canadiens involved (which is amazing, considering the channel is only available in 3,000,000 households), it was only able to attract a fraction of that – 610,000 – for the first game of the Stanley Cup Final.
That leaves CBC, which has experienced a less volatile ratings rollercoaster than the league’s other broadcasting partners. Although the public broadcaster did benefit from Canadian content throughout the first three rounds, the network made the mistake of not picking the Canadiens-Capitals series in the first round and, consequently, was not able to maximize the potential audience for the Canadiens surprising Stanley Cup run. And, although the Stanley Cup Final features two American-based teams, CBC has managed to draw decent audiences through the first half of the series.
So, the question remains, is tonight the night? Or will viewers be treated to a seventh game in the Stanley Cup Final for consecutive years? Regardless the network, you've got to think it will be good for ratings.
TONIGHT’S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers – Game 6, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Generous Arithmetic
On May 14, when the league reported that CBC was averaging 1,860,000 viewers through the first two rounds of the playoffs, I couldn’t figure out why my calculations were only showing 1,835,000 over the same span of 37 telecasts. That is, until I discovered that the NHL and its broadcasting partners were presenting somewhat distorted numbers – in their favour of course – when issuing periodic updates about how “well” this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs have been doing in the television ratings department.
Take April 27 as an example. On this date, the public broadcaster issued a press release to announce that its round one average audience was 1,422,000. On average, CBC claimed that its Senators-Penguins series drew 2,000,000 per game, its Kings-Canucks matchup brought-in 2,031,000, its Avalanche-Sharks duel attracted 825,000, and its Bruins-Sabres tilt interested 736,000. But anyone bothering to take out a calculator and determine a weighted average for the four series (each of which lasted six games) would find that these numbers do not average 1,422,000 but, rather, 1,398,000. Even worse for CBC, the Senators-Penguins series really drew 1,965,000 viewers and not the rounded 2,000,000 figure, meaning that the public broadcaster’s true average audience for the first round was only 1,389,250 as opposed to the inflated 1,422,000. CBC’s generous arithmetic attributed an extra 32,750 viewers per game than were really watching. Over the entire 24-game sequence, this amounted to an aggregate audience overestimate of 786,000 – more than the average for the Bruins-Sabres series! No wonder the NHL reported a 1,860,000 average after two rounds as opposed to the 1,835,000 that I had calculated!
Fast forward exactly one month to May 27. This time, the NHL says that, through the first three rounds of the playoffs, CBC is averaging 1,950,000 viewers per game. Even if we take the inflated 1,860,000 figure as an accurate starting point after two rounds, the NHL’s numbers are still over the top. CBC’s third round coverage consisted of the entire Eastern Final, which drew an average of 2,673,000 over five games, and one game in the Western Final, which drew 1,257,000. Weighted with the 1,860,000 figure after two rounds (37 telecasts), these numbers only produce an average of 1,940,535 after three rounds (43 telecasts) – not 1,950,000. But, of course, the 1,860,000 figure was an over-estimate to begin with – using the real figure of 1,835,000 after two rounds would yield an average of 1,919,023. Again, this represents more than an “extra” 30,000 viewers per game.
The NHL and its broadcasting partners should be ashamed of themselves for publishing these twisted figures. Journalists should equally hang their heads for not having enough integrity to get out a calculator and verify a few numbers.
TONIGHT’S GAMES
No games scheduled
Take April 27 as an example. On this date, the public broadcaster issued a press release to announce that its round one average audience was 1,422,000. On average, CBC claimed that its Senators-Penguins series drew 2,000,000 per game, its Kings-Canucks matchup brought-in 2,031,000, its Avalanche-Sharks duel attracted 825,000, and its Bruins-Sabres tilt interested 736,000. But anyone bothering to take out a calculator and determine a weighted average for the four series (each of which lasted six games) would find that these numbers do not average 1,422,000 but, rather, 1,398,000. Even worse for CBC, the Senators-Penguins series really drew 1,965,000 viewers and not the rounded 2,000,000 figure, meaning that the public broadcaster’s true average audience for the first round was only 1,389,250 as opposed to the inflated 1,422,000. CBC’s generous arithmetic attributed an extra 32,750 viewers per game than were really watching. Over the entire 24-game sequence, this amounted to an aggregate audience overestimate of 786,000 – more than the average for the Bruins-Sabres series! No wonder the NHL reported a 1,860,000 average after two rounds as opposed to the 1,835,000 that I had calculated!
Fast forward exactly one month to May 27. This time, the NHL says that, through the first three rounds of the playoffs, CBC is averaging 1,950,000 viewers per game. Even if we take the inflated 1,860,000 figure as an accurate starting point after two rounds, the NHL’s numbers are still over the top. CBC’s third round coverage consisted of the entire Eastern Final, which drew an average of 2,673,000 over five games, and one game in the Western Final, which drew 1,257,000. Weighted with the 1,860,000 figure after two rounds (37 telecasts), these numbers only produce an average of 1,940,535 after three rounds (43 telecasts) – not 1,950,000. But, of course, the 1,860,000 figure was an over-estimate to begin with – using the real figure of 1,835,000 after two rounds would yield an average of 1,919,023. Again, this represents more than an “extra” 30,000 viewers per game.
The NHL and its broadcasting partners should be ashamed of themselves for publishing these twisted figures. Journalists should equally hang their heads for not having enough integrity to get out a calculator and verify a few numbers.
TONIGHT’S GAMES
No games scheduled
Monday, June 7, 2010
Stanley Cup Sabotage?
Viewers on both sides of the border had some issues with the Stanley Cup Final schedule over the weekend. While Canadians were deprived of the beloved Saturday night timeslot with games instead on Friday and Sunday nights, Americans saw their Sunday evening play host to both the NHL and NBA Championships. Given where hockey ranks in the pecking order of the average U.S. sports fan, it’s fair to guess that most selected the basketball court over the hockey rink. And the NHL knows this, because it purposely scheduled an additional off-day between Sunday’s game and Wednesday’s contest so as not to go head-to-head with the NBA Finals on the Tuesday. So if the league doesn’t want to compete with basketball on Tuesday, why in the world would it want to do so on Sunday? Is the NHL purposely trying to sabotage its own product?
Instead of scheduling games for Friday and Sunday night, with an extra night off before the next game on Wednesday, it would have made much more sense to have games on Saturday and Monday nights, before continuing with the series as planned on the Wednesday. The latter plan would have given Canadians the beloved Saturday night timeslot and ensured the league that it would not have to go up against the NBA Finals (and lose, no doubt) on Sunday. Whereas game four ran the risk of seeing the Stanley Cup being awarded on U.S. cable, robbing the league of maximum network exposure for the marquee moment, game five could have seen the Stanley Cup get hoisted while the majority of U.S. eyeballs were glued to basketball.
It’s a good thing for the league that the Flyers are being a lot more competitive than a lot of people thought going into the series. Whatever happens now, the Stanley Cup will be awarded unopposed from a sports perspective on network television in both Canada and the United States. Despite its efforts to the contrary, it looks like the NHL will get the maximum exposure for its marquee moment.
TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled
Instead of scheduling games for Friday and Sunday night, with an extra night off before the next game on Wednesday, it would have made much more sense to have games on Saturday and Monday nights, before continuing with the series as planned on the Wednesday. The latter plan would have given Canadians the beloved Saturday night timeslot and ensured the league that it would not have to go up against the NBA Finals (and lose, no doubt) on Sunday. Whereas game four ran the risk of seeing the Stanley Cup being awarded on U.S. cable, robbing the league of maximum network exposure for the marquee moment, game five could have seen the Stanley Cup get hoisted while the majority of U.S. eyeballs were glued to basketball.
It’s a good thing for the league that the Flyers are being a lot more competitive than a lot of people thought going into the series. Whatever happens now, the Stanley Cup will be awarded unopposed from a sports perspective on network television in both Canada and the United States. Despite its efforts to the contrary, it looks like the NHL will get the maximum exposure for its marquee moment.
TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled
Friday, June 4, 2010
Third Round Statistics
Unlike earlier rounds in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the third round of the spring tournament contained no barrage of network press releases announcing record audience after record audience. So it’s not that surprising that viewership numbers from the most recent round were unable to keep up with the pace set by its predecessor:
RDS continued to lead the pack with a 0.556 Audience per Household (“APH”) figure for the specialty channel’s coverage of the Canadiens-Flyers series. But the channel’s 1,667,000 average audience for the series was unable to beat the 1,746,000 average and 0.582 APH that was recorded during the preceding Canadiens-Penguins matchup. Likewise, CBC’s 0.206 APH and 2,673,000 average audience for the Canadiens-Flyers fell short of the 0.211 APH and 2,747,000 eyeballs for the Canadiens-Penguins. With the series involving the Flyers lasting only five games compared to the dramatic seven game affair with the Penguins, it’s not surprising that viewership wasn’t at quite the same level. Throw in the fact that Philadelphia doesn’t have the same marketing power of a Sidney Crosby, and both RDS and CBC should be relatively pleased with their numbers for this third round series. Nonetheless, both networks must be wondering what could have been if the Canadiens had prevailed and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
Now the other third round series was a little strange from a number of perspectives. First, the Blackhawks-Sharks tilt was split between two Canadian networks, with TSN providing coverage of the first three games and CBC televising the balance of the series. Second, the series involved games at wildly different times, with the first contest being played on a Sunday afternoon, the second on a late night Tuesday, the third on a primetime Friday, and the fourth on a Sunday afternoon again. Finally, the series was a four game sweep, meaning that only one of the games was played in the traditional prime time slot. All of this, not surprisingly, meant lower ratings than would have otherwise been possible. The joint effort between TSN and CBC only earned a 0.129 APH and an average of 1,287,000 viewers – behind every series in this year’s playoffs involving a Canadian team, including a trio of first round matchups.
Just like in the earlier rounds, afternoon games in the third round received less viewers than their evening counterparts, with the Blackhawks-Sharks experiencing a percentage decline in the single digits, while the Canadiens-Flyers saw a 24% drop:
The above “NBC Effect” table shows that, on average, a playoff game loses about 15% of its audience when it gets moved to daylight hours for the American broadcaster. It’s a good thing for CBC and RDS that each game of the Stanley Cup Final is an evening start.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES:
Tonight
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 4, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Saturday
No games scheduled
Sunday
Flyers at Blackhawks - Game 5, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
RDS continued to lead the pack with a 0.556 Audience per Household (“APH”) figure for the specialty channel’s coverage of the Canadiens-Flyers series. But the channel’s 1,667,000 average audience for the series was unable to beat the 1,746,000 average and 0.582 APH that was recorded during the preceding Canadiens-Penguins matchup. Likewise, CBC’s 0.206 APH and 2,673,000 average audience for the Canadiens-Flyers fell short of the 0.211 APH and 2,747,000 eyeballs for the Canadiens-Penguins. With the series involving the Flyers lasting only five games compared to the dramatic seven game affair with the Penguins, it’s not surprising that viewership wasn’t at quite the same level. Throw in the fact that Philadelphia doesn’t have the same marketing power of a Sidney Crosby, and both RDS and CBC should be relatively pleased with their numbers for this third round series. Nonetheless, both networks must be wondering what could have been if the Canadiens had prevailed and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
Now the other third round series was a little strange from a number of perspectives. First, the Blackhawks-Sharks tilt was split between two Canadian networks, with TSN providing coverage of the first three games and CBC televising the balance of the series. Second, the series involved games at wildly different times, with the first contest being played on a Sunday afternoon, the second on a late night Tuesday, the third on a primetime Friday, and the fourth on a Sunday afternoon again. Finally, the series was a four game sweep, meaning that only one of the games was played in the traditional prime time slot. All of this, not surprisingly, meant lower ratings than would have otherwise been possible. The joint effort between TSN and CBC only earned a 0.129 APH and an average of 1,287,000 viewers – behind every series in this year’s playoffs involving a Canadian team, including a trio of first round matchups.
Just like in the earlier rounds, afternoon games in the third round received less viewers than their evening counterparts, with the Blackhawks-Sharks experiencing a percentage decline in the single digits, while the Canadiens-Flyers saw a 24% drop:
The above “NBC Effect” table shows that, on average, a playoff game loses about 15% of its audience when it gets moved to daylight hours for the American broadcaster. It’s a good thing for CBC and RDS that each game of the Stanley Cup Final is an evening start.
THIS WEEKEND'S GAMES:
Tonight
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 4, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Saturday
No games scheduled
Sunday
Flyers at Blackhawks - Game 5, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Flyers, NHL Rejoice
Last night’s overtime win by the Flyers in game three of the Stanley Cup Final put smiles on not only hockey fans in Philadelphia but also league executives in New York. Had the Flyers lost last night, the Blackhawks could have won the Stanley Cup as early as tomorrow night in a game that would have only been available to the U.S. audience via cable and satellite. Now that the series will last at least five games, the Stanley Cup is guaranteed to be awarded on U.S. network television via NBC, and the league will be able to maximize its exposure.
Now, if they had been smart, league executives should have never had to have held their breath in the first place. The broadcast schedule in the U.S., which grants two of the first four games to specialty channel VERSUS and the rest of the games to NBC, should have been designed to preclude VERSUS from potentially airing the Stanley Cup clinching game. In other words, instead of having VERSUS air two of the first four games, the specialty channel should air two of the first three games, thereby guaranteeing that NBC would air the Stanley Cup winning moment – be it game four, five, six, or seven. The NHL has worked too hard to let one of the greatest moments in professional sports fly under the radar screen.
When FOX televised game one of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final between the Red Wings and Devils, it marked the first time since 1980 that a game from the final round had aired on U.S. network television (and the first to do so in prime time since 1973, but I digress). Between 1995 and 1999, FOX split its coverage of the Stanley Cup Final with ESPN, not unlike today’s sharing of duties between NBC and VERSUS. But the way in which FOX and ESPN divided the games, combined with the length (or lack thereof) of each year’s final round, meant that ESPN often aired the decisive game. In fact, apart from the first year of the contract in 1995 when FOX aired the Devils clinching game, coincidence had it that each of the next four seasons deprived U.S. viewers of the chance to see the Stanley Cup being lifted on network television. To prevent this from happening in subsequent years, the NHL’s next broadcast contract with ABC and ESPN stipulated that ESPN would always air the first two games of the final series while ABC would air the remaining contests. So from 1999 through 2004, regardless in which game the Stanley Cup was won, the NHL knew the clinching game would air on U.S. network television.
Why the league abandoned this format is unclear – but the result is not. The current arrangement between NBC and VERSUS is a step backwards for the NHL and the league should consider itself lucky that it has escaped without harm – at least so far. Next year, everyone will have to hold their breath all over again.
TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No game scheduled
Now, if they had been smart, league executives should have never had to have held their breath in the first place. The broadcast schedule in the U.S., which grants two of the first four games to specialty channel VERSUS and the rest of the games to NBC, should have been designed to preclude VERSUS from potentially airing the Stanley Cup clinching game. In other words, instead of having VERSUS air two of the first four games, the specialty channel should air two of the first three games, thereby guaranteeing that NBC would air the Stanley Cup winning moment – be it game four, five, six, or seven. The NHL has worked too hard to let one of the greatest moments in professional sports fly under the radar screen.
When FOX televised game one of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final between the Red Wings and Devils, it marked the first time since 1980 that a game from the final round had aired on U.S. network television (and the first to do so in prime time since 1973, but I digress). Between 1995 and 1999, FOX split its coverage of the Stanley Cup Final with ESPN, not unlike today’s sharing of duties between NBC and VERSUS. But the way in which FOX and ESPN divided the games, combined with the length (or lack thereof) of each year’s final round, meant that ESPN often aired the decisive game. In fact, apart from the first year of the contract in 1995 when FOX aired the Devils clinching game, coincidence had it that each of the next four seasons deprived U.S. viewers of the chance to see the Stanley Cup being lifted on network television. To prevent this from happening in subsequent years, the NHL’s next broadcast contract with ABC and ESPN stipulated that ESPN would always air the first two games of the final series while ABC would air the remaining contests. So from 1999 through 2004, regardless in which game the Stanley Cup was won, the NHL knew the clinching game would air on U.S. network television.
Why the league abandoned this format is unclear – but the result is not. The current arrangement between NBC and VERSUS is a step backwards for the NHL and the league should consider itself lucky that it has escaped without harm – at least so far. Next year, everyone will have to hold their breath all over again.
TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No game scheduled
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Jets Getting Louder
During a May 11 interview on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman seemed to dismiss rumours that a franchise in Winnipeg was on the short-term radar screen. When reporter Scott Oake started talking about a potential ownership group coming forward in the Manitoba capital to relocate the Phoenix Coyotes, Bettman interrupted with “you say that’s true, but nobody has confirmed that in Winnipeg for sure”. Well, now it appears that Bettman himself has provided this confirmation.
Fast forward 17 days after the CBC interview: It’s now May 28, and Bettman is addressing the media with his annual update on league affairs prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final. Instead of dismissing the Winnipeg rumours as he did during the Oake interview less than three weeks earlier, Bettman does a 180-degree turn, confirming that “Winnipeg did make a bona fide offer” and, referencing the Jets original departure from Winnipeg in 1996 and the Nordiques move from Quebec City one year earlier, he adds “I’d like to try and fix something that I wish might not have happened in the first place”.
So, what does all this mean? The Phoenix Coyotes have yet to find a buyer that is committed to keeping the team in Arizona. The league has set a deadline of June 30 to ink a deal and there is growing speculation that none will be reached. If the June 30 date comes and goes without an announcement, the league would be in a legal position to move the team unless city council were to make good on the infamous $25 million guarantee - far from a certainty. Nonetheless, with the NHL schedule set to be released on June 22, it is highly unlikely at this point that any franchises will be on the move in time for next season. But after that, all bets are off.
Bettman’s drastic shift in message to the media in such a short period of time suggests that the league is now actively embracing Canadian relocation and that teams in both Winnipeg and Quebec City are legitimate short-term possibilities. “Winnipeg, I believe, has an NHL building,” Bettman commented, “and in Quebec, they’re talking about building one”. And at NHL headquarters in New York, you’ve got to believe that they’re seriously talking about teams coming back to Canada. They're certainly talking about it on this side of the boarder.
TONIGHT'S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 3, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Fast forward 17 days after the CBC interview: It’s now May 28, and Bettman is addressing the media with his annual update on league affairs prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Final. Instead of dismissing the Winnipeg rumours as he did during the Oake interview less than three weeks earlier, Bettman does a 180-degree turn, confirming that “Winnipeg did make a bona fide offer” and, referencing the Jets original departure from Winnipeg in 1996 and the Nordiques move from Quebec City one year earlier, he adds “I’d like to try and fix something that I wish might not have happened in the first place”.
So, what does all this mean? The Phoenix Coyotes have yet to find a buyer that is committed to keeping the team in Arizona. The league has set a deadline of June 30 to ink a deal and there is growing speculation that none will be reached. If the June 30 date comes and goes without an announcement, the league would be in a legal position to move the team unless city council were to make good on the infamous $25 million guarantee - far from a certainty. Nonetheless, with the NHL schedule set to be released on June 22, it is highly unlikely at this point that any franchises will be on the move in time for next season. But after that, all bets are off.
Bettman’s drastic shift in message to the media in such a short period of time suggests that the league is now actively embracing Canadian relocation and that teams in both Winnipeg and Quebec City are legitimate short-term possibilities. “Winnipeg, I believe, has an NHL building,” Bettman commented, “and in Quebec, they’re talking about building one”. And at NHL headquarters in New York, you’ve got to believe that they’re seriously talking about teams coming back to Canada. They're certainly talking about it on this side of the boarder.
TONIGHT'S GAME:
Blackhawks at Flyers - Game 3, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Fabricated Atmosphere
I did a piece a while ago about National Anthems and how NBC, apart from the Stanley Cup Final, rarely embraces the arena atmosphere prior to puck drop. Well, the final round is now upon us and, true to form, NBC has started to televise the player introductions and anthem theatrics. This year is a particular treat because both the Blackhawks and Flyers have arguably the most storied anthem traditions in the NHL – with Jim Cornelison accompanying the famed Chicago organ before Blackhawks games, and the late Kate Smith belting out God Bless America in front of the Flyers faithful. The atmosphere in both arenas is always electric in anticipation of the tune-to-come, and NBC should be congratulated for recognizing these important traditions and bringing them into the living rooms of the U.S. audience:
CBC, on the other hand, made what I consider to be a major pre-game no-no during last night’s broadcast. Instead of bringing viewers the authentic atmosphere inside Chicago’s United Center prior to Cornelison taking the ice, the public broadcaster only provided the video feed from the arena, choosing to replace the audio with the theme song from the Phantom of the Opera. You see, Don Cherry had just done a promotional piece in a phantom costume underneath the bleachers of the arena, and CBC apparently thought it was necessary to extend the musical number throughout the entire player introductions. So, instead of hearing the crowd getting worked-up into a frenzy, Canadian television viewers only got to see them. The authentic audio feed was absent (except for the final few seconds), replaced with something a lot more cheezy:
The pre-game atmosphere at a Stanley Cup Final game is explosive and CBC is usually pretty good at recognizing this. Let’s hope the public broadcaster gets it right as the series now shifts to Philadelphia.
TONIGHT'S GAMES
No games scheduled
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