NBC Draws 2.0 For Hawks Clincher; Flyers Game 4 Win Solid As Well

The NHL slayed much of the competition this weekend.

NBC Sports told Puck the Media that the Blackhawks Game 4 win over the San Jose Sharks drew a 2.0 overnight rating for the network’s Sunday broadcast.  The telecast was up 33% from the comparable game last season (DET/CHI Game 4, 1.5).  It is the highest-rated hockey game – aside from the Winter Classic – on American Television this season, and the best number an indoor NHL game has drawn since Game 1 of last year’s Conference Final (CHI/DET), which also drew a 2.0.  The game averaged a whopping 14.1/32 in Chicago, meaning nearly 1 in 3 TV sets that were on in Chi-town had the Hawks on.  The game is also up from last Sunday’s 1.7 rating for Game 1.  The game totaled a less impressive 4.4 in the Bay Area.

While certainly a lower number, NBC’s 1.6 rating for Saturday’s Philadelphia/Montreal telecast is nothing to look down upon, considering it featured a Canadian team, and Canadian audiences do not factor into American ratings.  It equals the 1.6 the previous Montreal telecast scored on the network against Pittsburgh in Round 2.  There was no comparable game last year.  The game drew a 12.0/27 in Philly for the Flyer win.

Most importantly, the NHL can consider itself a big winner on broadcast television this weekend.  According to Sports Business Daily (reg. rquired), aside from FOX’s Saturday night MLB telecast (3.6), the NHL had the highest ratings of anything else on a somewhat light sports Saturday, beating out (or tying) events like PGA Tournament events (1.1 and 1.6), poker (1.1), gymnastics (0.8), and – particularly satisfying – the UEFA Champions League Final (1.1), which FOX Sports head-man David Hill had been crowing would draw big numbers.  Overall, the NHL is a big winner on TV, and… when else can you say that?

Next Season Right Time For the NHL, NBC To Test Primetime Waters

Before we all go on here, I just wanted to point out one thing: How cool was that little NBC Sports “Championship Season” promo they showed during the game yesterday?  I found that to be one of the better things NBC’s done since they got the NHL deal, and it’s not even an NHL specific promo.  NBC’s doing some great, innovative little things.  That sort of brings me to the point I wanted to bring up with you all this morning.

As many of you know, to make room for UEFA Champions League final (and to test it’s feasibility for a more permanent move next year), FOX Saturday Baseball took it’s afternoon package of regional telecasts to primetime.  It did pretty okay.  Won the night among Adults 18-49, drew 4.5 million viewers to the game (without counting west coast markets) and will likely be the 1st or 2nd highest rated baseball broadcast of the season, depending on what FOX is able to muster up when they try this again in June.

So it means that MLB, the NBA, NFL, NASCAR, NCAA football and MLS have all gotten a Saturday night primetime slot for a special, non-championship event.  That doesn’t even add in the US Open women’s final, PGA majors, NCAA Tournament action and Scripps’ National Spelling Bee’s that have gotten their turn to try and carve out a niche on a Saturday night.  It’s television least-watched evening, there hasn’t been regularly scheduled scripted programming since 2003.

So… why not hockey?

If regular season baseball can throw out four regionalized games and draw 4.5-5 million… why can’t, say, a split regional telecast of the San Jose/Detroit and Philadelphia/Boston series, or a split regional telecast of last year’s Pittsburgh/Washington and Anaheim/Detroit series, earn a respectable (for Saturdays) 3.5-4 million?  It’s feasible, in my opinion.  If Saturday and Sunday afternoon hockey on network television is capable of drawing 2 million viewers, the move to primetime on Saturday could easily double that.  At very worst, it’d win the night in Adults 18-49, something NBC cares about as much as any network, and something the Stanley Cup Final did five nights in 2009.

I’m sure there are many who will disagree with that statement, and many who will flat-out call me wrong for this next one: why not try this on, say, the Saturday night in between the NFL Conference Championships and the Super Bowl:

• 8PM: NY Rangers vs. New Jersey
• 8PM: Detroit vs. Chicago
• 8PM: Pittsburgh vs. Washington
• 11PM: Colorado vs. Los Angeles (West Coast Only)

Just do what FOX does, essentially: take a regional announcer from each team to call it, and throw Emrick/Olczyk/McGuire at the best game.  Or re-hire the two other teams the network used to call regional games in 2006 and 2007.  This can be done without costing too much.  It isn’t like NBC is losing money on the NHL regardless.

Some might find it annoying that this would replace an All-Star Game in the NHL’s yearly, non-Olympic timeline.  Well I argue: who cares?  An annual,  primetime, regular season showcase for the National Hockey League is as important – if not moreso – than an All-Star Game.  Heck, one of the highest-rated hockey games of all time is the 1996 All-Star Game in Boston on FOX.  When did that game air?  Oh yeah, Saturday night.  Sure, it had FOXtrax premiere buzz behind it, but it was an event, and it was good for the league.

Here’s what NBC aired, and their overnight ratings, for the last four weeks of primetime Saturday night programming:

• 5/22/10: 8PM – Parenthood (R) 2.06 million viewers, 0.5 A18-49.  9PM – Law & Order (R) 4.03 million viewers, 0.8 A18-49.  10PM – Law & Order: SVU (R) 4.56 million viewers, 1.1 A18-49
• 5/15/10: 8PM – Parenthood (R) 2.06 million viewers, 0.5 A18-49.  9PM – Law & Order (R) 3.73 million viewers, 0.8 A18-49.  10PM – Law & Order: SVU (R) 4.86 million viewers, 1.2 A18-49
• 5/8/10: 8PM – Parenthood (R) 2.10 million viewers, 0.6 A18-49.  9PM – Law & Order (R) 3.92 million viewers, 0.8 A18-49.  10PM – Law & Order: SVU (R) 5.67 million viewers, 1.3 A18-49
• 5/1/10: 8PM – Parenthood (R) 2.74 million viewers, 0.8 A18-49.  9PM – Law & Order (R) 4.39 million viewers, 1.0 A18-49.  10PM – Law & Order: SVU (R) 5.13 million viewers, 1.3 A18-49

Doesn’t anyone else think this is beatable?  I’ll eat my words if Game 1 (a likely Saturday start) of the Stanley Cup Final can’t at least outperform the 8-10PM block.  5 million for a Game 1 might be a bit much, but regardless… I think some of those numbers there are something our sport can improve on, and it needs to be given the shot to do so.

So here’s what I tell NBC: put us on 1 Saturday night in primetime.  It can be a regular season game or, better yet, the Saturday NBC typically skips NHL playoff action for a horse race.  Use the healthy thoroughbred lead-in to spur ratings for your coverage.  Make sure you have Dan Patrick or Bob Costas or Al Michaels to host it with Milbury and/or Roenick in the New York studios, and make sure to try some new things that an NHL broadcast hasn’t seen before.  Anything goes.  It’d definitely create more excitement among American fans than another boring, listless All-Star Game, and it could certainly generate as much interest as four meaningless, regionalized baseball contests in May.  The NHL and NBC need to take a chance.  Besides, what else you gonna’ show in that slot… it’s Saturday.  I got stuff to do.

Hawks Ratings For Game 3 Up From Game 2

From Phil Rosenthal:

Versus’ telecast of Friday’s 3-2 overtime victory over San Jose in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, which left the Chicago Blackhawks one victory away from their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 18 years, averaged an 11.52 household rating in the Chicago market.

That translates to approximately 403,000 Chicago-area homes tuned in between 7:15 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., and marks a new cable ratings high for the Hawks. It surpasses Versus’ 10.93 rating for Game 2 of the series with the Sharks and the 10.14 rating in Game 3 of their previous playoff series vs. Vancouver, which stands as the most-watched event in the history of Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Day 35 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs

San Jose vs. Chicago, Game 4 (CHI Leads 3-0), 3:00 PM ET

National TV (US): NBC (HD)
Play by Play: Mike Emrick
Color: Eddie Olczyk
Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire

National TV (Canada): CBC (HD)
Play by Play: Jim Hughson
Color: Craig Simpson
Reporters: Scott Oake and Kelly Hrudey

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Day 34 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Philadelphia vs. Montreal, Game 4 (PHI Leads 2-1), 3:00 PM ET

National TV (US): NBC (HD)
Play by Play: Mike Emrick
Color: Eddie Olczyk
Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire

National TV (Canada): CBC (HD)
Play by Play: Bob Cole
Color: Gary Galley and Glenn Healy
Reporter: Elliot Friedman

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Night 33 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs

San Jose vs. Chicago, Game 3 (CHI Leads 2-0), 8:00 PM ET

National TV (US): VERSUS (HD)
Play by Play: John Forslund
Color: Darren Eliot
Reporter: Charissa Thompson

National TV (Canada): TSN (HD)
Play by Play: Chris Cuthbert
Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire

Columnist I Generally Like Creates Fake Controversy Between Networks

From Damien Cox of The Star:

It’s a tussle nearly as intriguing as the Habs-Flyers series that will continue Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre.

Who will win? NBC? RDS? CBC? It’s going to be a fascinating window into the priority given to the various networks by the NHL.

All three, you see, would like to have dibs on the ice-level broadcasting position between the benches for Game 3. NBC uses Pierre Maguire there, CBC uses Glenn Healy. RDS sometimes uses former NHLer Joel Bouchard.

It’s a spot without a lot of wiggle room since the setup forces the Montreal backup goalie into the same area.

Here’s the intrigue. RDS has the No. 1 position for tomorrow’s game, which mean they get first choice of everything, from interviews to camera positions, etc.

NBC, however, is arguing that having an analyst between the benches is a staple of their broadcasts. The NHL, of course, has spent years courting the various U.S. networks in hopes of landing a rich deal, although the current deal with NBC is anything but that.

NBC will absolutely win here.  Do you think RDS and CBC would have a 3PM Saturday game if they had any choice in the matter?

Final Ratings For Hawks/Sharks Game 1

From Sports Media Watch:

Despite featuring two of the five largest television markets in the country, the NHL’s Western Conference Final got off to a slower start on NBC.

Game 1 of the Blackhawks/Sharks series drew a 1.3 final rating and 2.2 million viewers on NBC Sunday, down 19% in ratings and 17% in viewership from Blackhawks/Red Wings Game 1 last year and down 7% and 14%, respectively, from Flyers/Penguins Game 5 in ’08.

Sunday’s game is tied as the fourth-lowest rated of the eight Conference Final games on NBC since ’06.

That said, the 1.3 rating is tied as the highest rated of the postseason on NBC, and the 2.2 million viewers stands alone as the largest audience.

Audiences So Far For the 2010 Conference Finals

All numbers come courtesy of Sports Business Daily:

Sunday, May 16
3:00 Chicago vs. San Jose, Game 1 (NBC) – 2.2 Million (Down 17% from 2.5 million for CHI-DET, Game 1, 2009)
7:00 Montreal vs. Philadelphia, Game 1 (VERSUS) – 1.5 Million (Down 11% from 1.7 million for CAR-PIT, Game 1, 2009)

Tuesday, May 17
7:00 Montreal vs. Philadelphia, Game 2 (VERSUS) – 1.2 Million (Down 29% from 1.7 million for CAR-PIT, Game 2, 2009)
10:00 Chicago vs. San Jose, Game 2 (VERSUS) – 1.5 Million (Down 15% from 1.7 million for CHI-DET, Game 2, 2009)

Average: 1.6 Million (Down 16% from 1.9 million in 2009)

Check Out a Great Interview With NHL COO John Collins

Here.