How an NHL On FOX Would Look in 2010

We’re gonna’ guess that FOX isn’t going to release series of hockey cards in anticipation of it’s return to broadcasting hockey, if the reports are to be believed.  But we imagine that FOX would attempt to do some heavy promotion and give the games their stamp.  FOX never does anything less than 100%, so it’d be interesting to see.  Of all the networks, we’ve always thought the one who would have the most interesting take on TV hockey in 2009 would be FOX.  So let’s take a look at what The NHL On FOX might look like in 2010.

Top 5 VERSUS Games This Year All Feature Red Wings, Penguins

This has to be encouraging news for NBC, which has Detroit and Pittsburgh on February 8th.  According to the front page of Sports Business Daily, these are the five most-viewed NHL telecasts on VERSUS so far this season:

1. Toronto vs. Detroit (October 9th, 7:30 PM): 577,000 Viewers
2. Pittsburgh vs. Detroit (November 11th, 7:00 PM): 526,000 Viewers
3. Detroit vs. Dallas (January 12th, 8:00 PM): 491,000 Viewers
4. Pittsburgh vs. NY Rangers (January 5th, 7:00 PM): 481,000 Viewers 
5. Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh (December 8th, 7:30 PM): 450,000 Viewers

Now you all know why VERSUS and NBC schedule so many of the same matchups.  Either way, it’s good news that the network is drawing so well.  After the jump are some telecasts from VERSUS that could possibly join these games for the last few months of the season

CBC Draws Highest All-Star Audience Since 2000, Best Skills Competition in Longer Than That

We should have the VERSUS numbers for you later today, but here’s a CBC PR that both hypes the ratings for the 2009 All-Star Weekend, but gives you the CBC’s viewership numbers for the past decade as far as the game and the skills show go.  Your welcome, folks at The 506:

All eyes were on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA as Montreal hosted the 57th NHL All-Star Game, attracting a national average audience of 1.516 million viewers. This marks the highest audience for the annual event in the past nine years, coinciding with the last time it was held in a Canadian based market (Toronto, 2000). Not to be outdone, the NHL All-Star Super Skills drew a national average audience of 1.358 million viewers, the largest in the competition’s history. Rounding out the weekend was The Montreal Canadiens: 100Years – 100 Stars, which attracted a combined average audience of 996,000 viewers during the Friday and Saturday night broadcasts.

VERSUS NHL All-Star Game Telecast Up 12% From Last Year

 

The East won the All-Star Game in a Shootout, 12-11

 

 

From Sports Media Watch:

Ratings for the NHL All Star Game rose for the second straight year, but cannot begin to approach the Winter Classic.

Versus drew a 0.8 overnight rating for coverage of the NHL All Star Game on Sunday, up 12% from last year, according to USA Today.

Yes, we know, the rating is ultimately poor in comparison to many events, but with the disinterest among hockey fans as far the All-Star Game, trending up is all the NHL needs to hear for the game to continue.  Combined with the 1.5 Million on CBC, around 2.3 Million folks likely watched the game.  More on the CBC ratings in a little bit.

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Coyotes-Red Wings

Phoenix vs. Detroit, 7PM, VERSUS
Play by Play: John Forslund
Color: Andy Brickley
Reporter: Charissa Thompson

NHL Network to Have Winter Classic Monday

Good night for those of you who have NHL Network.  Not only will they be airing the entire Winter Classic II broadcast from NBC, but they’ll be showing you a half-hour special, titled “Ivy and Ice”, which was produced locally in Chicago.  We’ve seen some clips, and it’s definitely worth your time.  Enjoy it.

Gary and Ron’s Annual Airing of Grievances

A not nearly as contentious meeting between Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean and Commissioner Gary Bettman at this year’s All-Star Game as there have been in the past.  They cover everything that needs to be covered.  MacLean never throws Gary a softball, but he never quite hangs him out to dry like we’re sure some people would like to see done.  Must-see TV/Internet, we recommend you give it a click if you have the nine minutes.

Could Columbus Become the New Pittsburgh?

 

The Blue Jackets are 22-20-5

We were originally thinking of titling this “Could Columbus Become the New Buffalo?” but we realized we were being a bit hasty, since the two markets are a bit different.  Columbus is a little larger, and Buffalo just has hockey ingrained in it’s culture like so few other cities in the United States, it’d be unfair to both sets of fans to think Columbus could possibly match the kind of euphoria and ratings the Sabres produce.

But is there a chance that the Jackets could develop a following akin to say, the Penguins have in Pittsburgh if they start flexing their playoff muscle?  

VERSUS All-Star Broadcast: Keep it Simple, Stupid

There’s the shootout portion of last night’s All-Star Game on VERSUS.  Overall, it was the best of the three since the lockout and likely as good as the 2004 game in Minnesota, which isn’t saying too much since it went to a shootout too.  VERSUS did an okay of getting the game to the people, and a better job of keeping an eye on the action than they did during the Superskills last night.  But there were some pet peeves that we need to talk about.

For a review of some of what was talked about on the CBC, here’s the awesome William Houston.  But now, let’s break down the All-Star coverage:

THN: FOX Could Be Interested in Paying for NHL Rights

 

The NHL On FOX Lasted From 1995-99

Right up front, here’s the scoop from Ken Campbell at The Hockey News:

 The free lunch for NBC is over. That’s the message the NHL will give to the network when it begins negotiating a new national television contract to replace the one that expires after this season.

Since the lockout, the league has had a deal with NBC that essentially gave the network its NHL property for free. In a deal similar to the one that the Arena Football League had, NBC doesn’t pay the NHL any money, but guarantees that it will cover production costs. Any money made by the broadcasts first goes to covering those costs and if any profits are left over after that, 80 percent go to the league and 20 percent go to NBC.

But that arrangement for NBC is about to end, according to those who are familiar with the league’s television contract. With paying customers in the form of TSN and CBC in Canada and Versus in the United States, the league feels it has the leverage to begin charging a national broadcaster for its product.

Well golly, NHL, way to show some spunk.  The NHL will likely ask for $10-20 Million a year for it’s TV rights.  While most people believe NBC wants to keep the NHL at least for the Winter Olympics, Campbell sees another former hockey TV partner lining up for a potential reconciliation: