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!

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!

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

NHL's Tire

With the debut of the Stanley Cup Finals still two days away, hockey fans and broadcasters are no doubt bored with the excessive wait between rounds. For those counting, we’re in the middle of four straight days without any hockey on the tube and it’s starting to get tiring. So, it was with some irony that the NHL announced yesterday that it signed an “Official Tire” agreement. Granted, the deal was signed with Bridgestone Tires – as in the tires on a car – but, given the long wait between rounds, it would have made more sense to ink a deal with a mattress company.

According to the press release, the “Bridgestone brand will serve as the Official Tire of the NHL, NHLPA, and Hockey Hall of Fame for the next five years”. The communiqué goes on to list a plethora of events at which the tires will be featured and for which they will serve as a sponsor. But the real question, on my mind at least, was completely avoided: Why in the world does a hockey league need an Official Tire?

Could it be for the Zambonis? Well, the press release is quite specific with its message “for drivers who want to get the most out of their cars, it’s Bridgestone or nothing”. Cars, the text reads, not Zambonis. It must be for something else.

Maybe it’s for the moving vans when the Phoenix Coyotes finally croak and are relocated to Winnipeg. Again, the press release is quite explicit with the term “car”, but there probably won’t be enough cash left in the team’s $25 million rescue package to hire professional movers. Instead, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman may have to make a few trips with his car in the middle of the night, just like a tenant skipping out on the rent. (It’s worth noting that the Coyotes original lease at Jobbing.com Arena ran through the year 2033.) But I’m not sure Bridgestone would want to associate its brand with the Phoenix Coyotes saga – too controversial and too few people.

How about having Bridgestone on hand to replace the slashed tires of sports journalists covering the visiting playoff team in Philadelphia? Too bad for Montreal Gazette sports writer Pat Hickey that the Bridgestone announcement hadn’t been made when his 1999 Honda Accord with a Quebec licence plate was vandalized in Philadelphia after game one of the Flyers series against the Canadiens. Still, I bet there are a few dozen Chicago-area sports reporters who would be very interested in such an offer from Bridgestone. And the good news is that they still have another 48 hours before the Flyers-Blackhawks series gets underway to make arrangements.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Disjointed Third Round

Of the three rounds played so far in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the third round has been, by far, the most awkward for viewers and broadcasters – particularly in regards to the Blackhawks-Sharks Western Final. The series lasted the minimum four games but managed to rotate between three different broadcasters and three different start times, of which only one was in prime time. The complete audience ratings haven’t been disseminated yet, but it’s a good bet the numbers will be all over the place.

In terms of broadcasters, TSN had the rights to the first three games of the series and the specialty channel announced that it would use Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire to call the action. But this wasn’t entirely accurate because NBC televised the first game in the U.S. and, for whatever reason, whenever NBC televises a game for which TSN holds the Canadian rights, TSN uses the NBC feed. So viewers in Canada got NBC’s Mike Emrick and Ed Olczyk for game one, TSN’s Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire for games two and three, and then the series shifted to CBC where Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson called the action for game four. Hughson and Simpson would have continued to work the remainder of the series had it not been a sweep but, with the Blackhawks winning in four straight games, the top duo at Hockey Night in Canada was limited to calling only one game in the third round – and it was an afternoon contest to boot - not exactly a ratings bonanza for CBC.

Speaking of afternoon contests, the Blackhawks-Sharks series had two of them. In fact, the series comprised more afternoon games than prime time telecasts: Game one was on a Sunday afternoon (not good for TSN's ratings), game two a late night Tuesday (not good for TSN's ratings), game three a prime time Friday (much better for TSN's ratings), and game four back to a Sunday afternoon (back to poor ratings - this time for CBC). Throw in another afternoon contest for game four of the Canadiens-Flyers series (again, bad for CBC), juxtaposed against prime time starts for its other four contests (much better for CBC), and everyone had to have been scratching their heads as to why there wasn’t more consistency with start times. In all fairness to the NHL, the remainder of the third round was all scheduled to be played in prime time and promised to deliver a string of large audiences – the only problem was that both series were over too quickly for any of these games to actually get played. And so, don’t be surprised if the ratings we see in a few days aren’t quite as strong as those to which we have grown accustom - they certainly won't be consistent.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Made for (U.S.) TV

It features neither Alex Ovechkin nor Sidney Crosby, but NBC has to be pretty happy nonetheless with the matchup for this year’s Stanley Cup Final. In fact, this year’s confrontation between the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers is the third season in a row in which the final round involves two teams from major U.S. hockey markets. And, unlike the past two seasons in which one of the markets (Detroit) straddled the Canadian border and split the local audience with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, fans in both Chicago and Philadelphia will have no alternative to the U.S. telecasts.

As in past years, however, NBC will only show five of the potential seven games in the series, with the other two contests available to the American audience via cable only. The problem for NBC is that three of its five games will only be played if necessary, meaning that the network would only have two games to air in the event of a sweep. And should a sweep materialize, NBC would not air the clinching game. Of course, considering NBC’s level of “commitment” to hockey in general – particularly in the coveted prime-time spot in which all of the games will now air – the network may very well consider a short series to be a good thing.

In Canada, although CBC would have much preferred to see the Montreal Canadiens representing the Eastern Conference, the Flyers-Blackhawks matchup should still deliver good ratings – most notably for the first game which is scheduled for the public broadcaster’s traditional Saturday evening timeslot. Look for Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, and Glenn Healy to work this series. The real loser in all of this is French-language RDS, which had benefited from amazing ratings with the Canadiens, but will now have its numbers plummet back to earth. Of note, Jacques Demers, who has been named to the Canadian Senate, saw his broadcasting career end last night with the elimination of the Canadiens. Demers will not work the final round.

STANLEY CUP FINAL - SCHEDULE:
1 - Sat. May 29 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
2 - Mon. May 31 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
3 - Wed. June 2 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
4 - Fri. June 4 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
*5 - Sun. June 6 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
*6 - Wed. June 9 at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
*7 - Fri. June 11 at Chicago, 8 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)

*if necessary

Last Hurrah for TSN

After more than a month of furious action on TSN, the curtain closes tonight on the specialty channel’s coverage of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs with game three of the third round Blackhawks-Sharks series from Chicago. This spring has seen the network establish a number of hockey milestones and, even though luck sometimes played a part, those involved with the station should give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done. In chronological order, the network can report these impressive numbers:

• TSN’s coverage of the first round Canadiens-Capital series ranks as the most-watched playoff series ever on the specialty channel with an average audience of 1.8 million viewers over seven games. Game two of this series earned TSN its highest NHL playoff audience ever at 2.1 million viewers . . . that is until this figure was surpassed in game seven of the same series with an audience of 2.8 million.
• The network ranked first, fourth, fifth, and seventh in APH ratings in the first round, despite the fact that TSN selected its series in the third, fifth, seventh, and eighth draft spots.
• The specialty channel’s game seven coverage of the second round Flyers-Bruins series earned the network its highest audience ever recorded for a game not involving a Canadian-based team at 2.1 million.
• TSN’s game one coverage of the third round Blackhawks-Sharks series, which drew an audience of 1.225 million (not including NBC viewers), earned the highest APH for any afternoon game played throughout this year’s playoffs at 0.136 – beating even CBC’s game two afternoon coverage of the Canadiens-Penguins series (again, not including NBC viewers).

The most telling milestone from above was the second bullet point – even though the network selected its first round series from a position of weakness in comparison to rival CBC, the specialty channel was rank ahead of the public broadcaster in many of the APH ratings. In fact, after removing the three first round series in which Canadian teams participated, TSN ranked first, second, and fourth for the remaining all-American matchups with CBC placing third and fifth. So, whereas CBC will always benefit from its near-stranglehold on Canadian teams in the playoffs, viewers appear to prefer TSN when the playing field is levelled and Canadian content is no longer part of the equation. This either means that (a) TSN does a better job than CBC in selecting the all-American series, thereby attracting more viewers than CBC, and/or (b) TSN delivers a better overall broadcast than CBC, thereby attracting more viewers than the public broadcaster. Either way, the NHL on TSN team deserves the credit.

THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
Tonight
Sharks at Blackhawks - Game 3, 8 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Saturday
Flyers at Canadiens - Game 4, 3 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Sunday
Sharks at Blackhawks - Game 4, 3 p.m. (NBC)/(CBC)/(RDS)
Monday (Victoria Day)
Canadiens at Flyers - Game 5, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

Third Round Confirmations

So the third round got underway yesterday and, as expected, broadcasting executives and NHL schedule makers didn’t really throw fans any curve balls (pardon the baseball pun). As anticipated, NBC elected to go with the all-American matchup between San Jose and Chicago twice but was also forced to reluctantly accept one game between Montreal and Philadelphia. CBC, for its part, is covering the entire Canadiens-Flyers series and, as I forecasted, is opting to go with Bob Cole in the booth. As for Jim Hughson, he will work the Sharks-Blackhawks series beginning with game four, after TSN concludes its coverage of the first three games. Now that TSN doesn’t have multiple series to cover, Chris Cuthbert will work alongside Pierre McGuire for the specialty channel’s remaining broadcasts – which just goes to confirm my much earlier belief that it should have been Cuthbert as the network’s top play-by-play man, and not Gord Miller, calling the Canadiens-Capitals in the first round.

The Montreal Canadiens have heavily impacted TSN’s playoff coverage this year. In the first round, it was the presence of the Canadiens on TSN that gave the specialty channel its highest hockey ratings in the network’s history. But the continued presence of the Canadiens – now on CBC – has since had the opposite effect for TSN. The specialty channel has not yet released its ratings for the second round, but one can only imagine that they won’t come close to what CBC has been reporting: A whopping 4.239 million watched game seven between the Canadiens-Penguins on CBC alone, with another 2.417 million watching on French-language RDS – that means there weren’t too many people left to watch game six between the Flyers-Bruins on TSN, which aired at the same time as game seven of the Canadiens-Penguins series on the other networks.

And the news doesn’t get better for TSN. The Canadiens are still alive in the third round and will still continue to rack-up ratings for TSN’s competitors. Even more frustrating for the specialty channel, two of the three games it does get to broadcast in the third round start at non-peak times – a Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock and a Tuesday night beginning afterhours at 10 o’clock. CBC, on the other hand, will have the Canadiens at 7 o’clock each night – except for Saturday, when the game will be played in the afternoon to accommodate U.S. television. Notwithstanding the bad foot on which the playoffs started for CBC, the public broadcaster has to be pretty happy with how things have since turned around.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Fog Clears on Third Round

Last night’s stunning Canadiens victory in game seven over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins confirms the third of four participants in the next round of the playoffs. Although the NHL schedule makers will have to wait until Friday night’s game seven between Philadelphia and Boston before publishing the dates and start times for the third round games, we already have a pretty good idea of what the schedule will look like and what the implications will be for the various broadcasters.

Obviously, CBC will be showing the entire Canadiens series – regardless which team they face – and the ratings promise to be huge. However, because game 7 of the Flyers-Bruins series goes Friday night, the eventual winner of that tilt will not be able to begin the next series against Montreal until at least Sunday, meaning CBC won’t get the Habs for the traditional Saturday night timeslot. The other series between Chicago and San Jose – which will be split between CBC and TSN – also can’t get underway until at least Sunday because the San Jose arena has a prior commitment on Saturday. Thus, there will be no Saturday night hockey this weekend.

NBC resumes its playoff coverage on Sunday afternoon after a long hiatus and then continues coverage the following weekend with games on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. So, unless the NHL schedules the Blackhawks-Sharks on back-to-back afternoons (which is highly unlikely given the travel distance between the two cities), there won’t be any Saturday night hockey next weekend either. Of the three NBC telecasts, the U.S. network will probably have to take the Canadiens series at least once because of the back-to-back phenomenon, meaning that CBC will have to cope with a minimum of one afternoon game for the marquee series.

It could go either way – but look for Bob Cole to call the Canadiens series for the public broadcaster with Jim Hughson working the Blackhawks-Sharks. Cole, who rarely travels to the west coast, has done a great job covering the Canadiens – particularly the games in Montreal – and it would certainly make financial sense for him to stay out east, given that he lives in Newfoundland. Jim Hughson calls British Columbia home – only a short distance from San Jose.

Meanwhile, before TSN gets to its limited third round coverage, it has the privilege of televising game seven between the Flyers and Bruins. With the Flyers looking to win the series after trailing 3-0, the specialty network may very well be in for another ratings bonanza . . . but nothing like what the network's sister station RDS is going to attract for the Canadiens third round presence.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
No games scheduled

Momentum Shifts from TSN

One week ago today, TSN was sitting pretty. The specialty channel had just aired game seven of the Canadiens-Capitals series and had cemented its best first round ratings performance ever. What’s more, the network had lined-up two promising series for the second round – both expected to be long and hard-fought, featuring a pair of evenly-matched combatants that could easily go the distance and continue to drive ratings.

But things can change quickly in the world of hockey. TSN’s two second round series have been exciting but one-sided, and both risk ending in sweeps. And if the Red Wings and Flyers do exit these playoffs over the next 48 hours, TSN may end-up exiting with them.

Contractually, TSN only has rights to a select number of third round games that do not involve Canadian teams. But with the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens still alive – at least for now – both third round series could potentially involve Canadian content. If that were to happen, TSN would be shutout from the third round. Combined with a pair of potential sweeps in the second round, the specialty network may be done just as it was getting started.

CBC has to be licking its chops – not only would it benefit from high ratings with Canadian teams in action, but its telecasts would run without competition from the other hockey broadcaster. But stay tuned . . . things can change quickly in the world of hockey.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
Penguins at Canadiens - Game 4, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Sharks at Red Wings - Game 4, 7:30 p.m. (TSN)

Cue the Goosebumps

Sure, his best years may be behind him. Yes, sometimes he fumbles player names or penalty calls. And, without a doubt, CBC has been wise to prepare its broadcasting landscape for the day he can’t continue. But in the meantime, no one – absolutely no one – calls a hockey game better than Bob Cole. His legendary voice and trademark cadence transform a simple game into a magical experience. When it’s all on the line and the atmosphere thick with tension, there’s no one I’d rather having calling the action. Today's blog is dedicated to some memorable moments from his career to-date:













TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Bruins at Flyers – Game 3, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Blackhawks at Canucks – Game 3, 9:30 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)

Good News and Bad at NBC

NBC posted some impressive numbers for a U.S. hockey broadcaster over the weekend, earning 1.6 overnight ratings for both its Flyers-Bruins telecast on Saturday and Canadiens-Penguins game on Sunday. With the exception of the outdoor Winter Classic, this weekend’s numbers represent the largest audiences for NBC this season . . . which must make the network’s upcoming hockey hiatus all the more frustrating for those trying to grow the game south of the border.

There will be no hockey on NBC this upcoming weekend because the network is committed to The Players Championship (golf) on both Saturday and Sunday beginning at 2 o’clock for five hours each day. Now, far be it for me to tell network executives how to optimize their schedules, but couldn’t they have arranged to broadcast a hockey game at noon and commence golf coverage at 2:30? Wouldn’t that have made more sense than having a two hour hole for network affiliates to plug with local and paid programming? And wouldn’t continued hockey coverage help nurture the growing ratings that NBC has enjoyed this post-season?

To make matters worse, the network will again be absent from the hockey scene the following Saturday, this time because of the Preakness Stakes (horse racing). NBC’s pre-race coverage begins at 4:30 – why the network couldn’t schedule a game earlier in the day is beyond logic. Instead, hockey fans in the U.S. will have to wait until Sunday, May 16 to get their next dose of NHL action on over-the-air television. By that time, the casual hockey viewer who has contributed to NBC’s recent ratings run will have moved on to something else and a number of valuable U.S. hockey markets for the broadcaster will have seen their teams eliminated from the playoffs. Not a good combination. But then again, as history has shown time after time, neither necessarily is hockey and U.S. television.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
Penguins at Canadiens - Game 3, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Sharks at Red Wings - Game 3, 7:30 p.m. (TSN)

Let's Hear Those Anthems

What makes the playoffs so exciting for hockey fans is the atmosphere and unique rituals found in each of the arenas lucky enough to host post-season contests. Characterized by octopuses and whiteouts, this year’s Detroit-Phoenix series is proving to be a favourite with both fans and media alike. Hockey traditions in many cities begin with the national anthems, and it’s unfortunate that this piece of pre-game theatre doesn’t always get the media attention that it deserves, particularly in the United States.

In Boston, Rene Rancourt has been singing at Bruin games for almost 30 years, and the playoffs wouldn’t be the same without his signature salute and fist-pump at the end of the U.S. anthem. In Philadelphia, emotion is at its highest when the late Kate Smith appears on the scoreboard from an era gone by and sings God Bless America.



And in Chicago, the crowd is swept into a frenzy as the organ belts out the tune of the Star Spangled Banner. But while the national anthems are a fixture every Saturday night on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, NBC almost never televises hockey anthem performances prior to the Stanley Cup Finals – and even then, the record is spotty at best.

With hockey traditions not as plentiful south of the border as they are in this country, it’s too bad that NBC doesn’t do more to embrace some of the best traditions at its disposal. The U.S. network will televise game five of the Predators-Blackhawks series on Saturday afternoon, and it would be great to hear that Chicago organ on NBC.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Capitals at Canadiens – Game 4, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Sabres at Bruins – Game 4, 7 p.m. (CBC)
Canucks at Kings – Game 4, 10 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS – joined in progress)

NHL Could Learn from Pierre McGuire

Frequently forced to juggle his Canadian and U.S. broadcasting duties, TSN/NBC analyst Pierre McGuire employs a strikingly different approach than that used by the game he covers. Unlike the NHL, which routinely accommodates U.S. television interests at the expense of the Canadian public and, at times, even the integrity of the game itself, McGuire doesn't ditch respect for throngs of Canadian hockey fans just because he has a contract with NBC.

For example, it would have been all too easy for McGuire to abandon TSN mid-way during the World Junior Hockey Championships in Saskatoon earlier this year so that he could travel to Boston and cover the outdoor Winter Classic game for NBC. But he didn't. It would have been all too easy for McGuire to disappear from Canada's Olympic coverage so that he could work the Gold Medal game on NBC. But he didn't. And it would have been all too easy for McGuire to be missing in action from Saturday night's Canadiens-Capitals game on TSN so that he could appear on NBC's weekend afternoon telecasts. But he didn't. Although McGuire is prepared to accommodate U.S. television interests whenever possible, he isn't prepared to alienate established hockey fans on this side of the border to do it.

Conversely, the NHL does almost everything it can to please U.S. broadcasting partner NBC - more often than not at the expense of the league's loyal Canadian fanbase. Remember that outdoor Winter Classic in Boston? Well, the Bruins wanted to play against their natural rivals from Montreal, but NBC pushed the NHL to schedule an American opponent for Boston in order to try and maximize local U.S. ratings. And, so, instead of playing Montreal, the Bruins hosted Philadelphia. In fact, since the Winter Classic became an annual tradition in 2008, all three matchups have been entirely U.S.-based to please NBC. Not only have Canadian teams been barred from appearing in the Winter Classic, but they've also been prohibited until now from staging separate outdoor games of their own so as not to dilute the novelty of NBC's annual outdoor product. Although Calgary has been conditionally approved to host an outdoor contest in 2011, rumour has it that the game won't be marketed under NBC's Winter Classic umbrella. Surprise, surprise.

Then there's the yearly struggle regarding the playoff schedule: Canadian networks like Saturday night games but NBC wants weekend afternoon games. Both get what they want while there are enough series to distribute, but Saturday night games are always sacrificed once enough teams are eliminated and the Conference Finals come along. In 2007, not only did NBC arrange to have Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final between Buffalo and Ottawa air on Saturday afternoon instead of Saturday night, but the network then abandoned the telecast when the game went into overtime and created a conflict with a horse race preview show. As for the Stanley Cup Finals themselves, last season saw the NHL schedule games on back-to-back dates for the first time in 54 years so as not to interfere with NBC's 10 o'clock debut of The Jay Leno Show. And even though Leno has since returned to his 11:35 timeslot, NBC tentatively lists Game 1 of this year's Stanley Cup Finals for June 5 at 6:30, followed by Game 2 the very next day at 8 o'clock.

Unlike Canadian networks, which pay through the nose for NHL television rights, NBC pays no upfront fee to carry the games. Although I'm not familiar with the terms of Pierre McGuire's contracts with TSN and NBC, suffice it to say that he earns a lot more each year covering a plethora of hockey games for TSN than he does working a dozen or so for NBC. Money, no doubt, influences McGuire's decisions when conflicted between Canadian and U.S. interests. It's surprising that the NHL doesn't use the same rationale for solving its trans-border broadcasting dilemmas. The league may not see it, but when it comes to hockey, there's simply more money to be made up here than there is down there.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
Capitals at Canadiens - Game 3, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Sabres at Bruins - Game 3, 7 p.m. (CBC)
Canucks at Kings - Game 3, 10 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS - joined in progress)

Cuthbert Shutout from TSN's Top Line

Foster Hewitt, Danny Gallivan, Bob Cole, and Chris Cuthbert: Conventional wisdom once held that this was going to be the natural evolution at Hockey Night in Canada. Until, that is, Cuthbert was terminated by CBC in early 2005 - a casualty of the NHL's season-long lockout. TSN wasted little time hiring Cuthbert and having him work the network's top CFL telecasts, including the Grey Cup Championship Game. But when it came to hockey, TSN was - and still is - reluctant to give Cuthbert what he has rightfully earned.

During the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a power outage at the Montreal Forum forced CBC to switch away from the lead Canadiens-Bruins telecast to the back-up Capitals-Devils game. Cuthbert, who had been positioned solo in Washington to provide sporadic updates on the out-of-town scoreboard, suddenly found himself doing play-by-play, providing colour commentary, and acting as intermission host. Impressed with his work, CBC made Cuthbert into a Hockey Night in Canada regular - first pairing him alongside Dick Irvin for Canadiens games and, later, assigning him to the second game of the network's doubleheader. In 1998, Cuthbert won a Gemini Award for Best Sports Broadcaster and, in 2004, was recognized by Sports Media Canada as Sportscaster of the Year. It was Cuthbert who called the outdoor Heritage Classic game between the Canadiens and Oilers and it was Cuthbert who was scheduled to take over primary play-by-play duties for Bob Cole when the latter retired. But then the lockout hit, CBC had to cut costs, and Cuthbert ended-up at TSN.

For whatever reason, TSN has always considered Cuthbert second fiddle to Gord Miller. I have nothing against Miller or his work, but no one is ever going to mention him in the same breath as Foster Hewitt or Danny Gallivan. Nonetheless, since Cuthbert joined TSN, most of the top hockey work has gone Miller's way. The one notable exception was the Gold Medal Game at the Vancouver Olympics, but only because Cuthbert had it explicitly written into his contract. Other than that one game, Miller regularly gets the network's top assignments: Calling Canada's semi-final game and two of Canada's three preliminary round games at the Olympics (including the key matchup with the U.S.), the entirety of the annual World Junior Hockey Championship Tournament, and the best of TSN's NHL schedule.

Case in point: Chris Cuthbert was on the air last night from New Jersey, covering TSN's secondary Devils-Flyers series alongside Ray Ferraro. Why? Because Gord Miller will be on the air tonight from Washington, covering TSN's primary Capitals-Canadiens series with Pierre McGuire.

Now that the Olympics are over, one has to wonder for how long TSN can relegate Cuthbert to back-up duties. The chance to call Team Canada's gold medal performance on home ice was a once in a lifetime opportunity that Cuthbert now has under his belt. With that experience behind him, one would imagine he isn't going to be satisfied being demoted to the likes of the Philadelphia-New Jersey series for much longer.

Could Cuthbert return to Hockey Night in Canada? It may be emotionally difficult to do so - perhaps for both parties - but the fact is that CBC is in desperate need of play-by-play talent. After Jim Hughson, there isn't much long-term depth on the Hockey Night in Canada broadcasting bench. Bob Cole is in his late 70s and can't keep working forever, and neither Mark Lee nor Dean Brown is a serious contender to move up to the big games. If Cuthbert continues to be shutout from TSN's top line, he may be the heir apparent on Hockey Night in Canada after all.

TONIGHT'S GAMES:
Canadiens at Capitals - Game 1, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Bruins at Sabres - Game 1, 7 p.m. (CBC)
Kings at Canucks - Game 1, 10 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)