Quarter-Hour Breakdowns For Flyers-Blackhawks

Peak numbers in bold. Courtesy Son of the Bronx:

Time      PHI      CHI

————————————

12:30   1.8/ 4   3.0/ 7

12:45   3.0/ 7  4.1/10

1:00    3.7/ 8   5.3/12

1:15     2.9/ 6   4.7/11

1:30    3.5/ 7   5.5/12

1:45    3.7/ 8   5.8/12

2:00   3.7/ 8   6.1/13

2:15    3.9/ 8   4.9/10

2:30   4.4/ 9    5.1/10

2:45   5.0/10 4.5/ 8

 

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Habs/Flyers

Montreal vs. Philadelphia, 7:30 PM ET, VERSUS
Play by Play: John Forslund
Color: Darren Eliot
Reporter: Charissa Thompson

NHL Going Green with the 2011 All-Star Game

NEW YORK (January 25, 2011) — While the most talented hockey players in the world are thrilling fans on the ice, the National Hockey League, the Carolina Hurricanes and the RBC Center will ensure that the 2011 NHL All-Star Weekend festivities are conducted in ways that protect the planet.

 

As part of its multi-faceted sustainability initiative NHL Green, the National Hockey League will partner with the host Hurricanes, the City of Raleigh, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Rock and Wrap It Up! and North Carolina State University to minimize the environmental impact from the various All-Star Weekend festivities Jan. 28-30.

 

Among the endeavors:

 

The RBC Center, host venue for the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, will maintain its usual diligence in being environmentally friendly. The arena’s 150 recycling bins, which annually divert up to 40 tons of waste from landfills, will help sort all plastic, glass and aluminum waste generated from concession sales. Outside the arena, tailgate recycling will be coordinated by the NHL, Carolina Hurricanes and 86it, a division of Wake County Environmental Services.

 

At the All-Star Wide Open Street Fair on Friday and Saturday, corporate sponsor Honda and fellow RBC Center resident North Carolina State University will display their recent efforts to go green at separate sustainability booths. A third booth houses Raleigh’s own Scrap Exchange, which features fan participation in making arts and crafts entirely from recycled materials.

 

Through coordination between Gale Force Sports & Entertainment and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, all prepared but unsold concession food during All-Star Weekend will be redistributed within local communities as part of the NHL’s league-wide partnership with Rock & Wrap It Up! To date, NHL clubs and RWU have provided more than 75,000 meals while keeping over 50 tons of waste from reaching landfills.

 

As it did during the 2010 Stanley Cup Final and the 2011 NHL Winter Classic, the NHL will replace plastic bags with reusable commemorative bags at several official merchandise locations throughout the Raleigh area.

 

The NHL will purchase carbon offsets for the weekend’s energy usage at the RBC Center through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. All of the purchased renewable resources meet rigorous environmental criteria developed by leading environmental organizations, including The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

 

The NHL also has chosen as its headquarters hotel the Raleigh Marriott City Center, which has developed a strong partnership with the Raleigh Rescue Mission. Throughout the past year, the hotel’s team members have participated in numerous events which supported the agency’s efforts to improve the lives of families and individuals and to protect the environment through the donation of hotel accommodations, toiletries, boxed lunches, packaged food and clothing.

 

 

NHL Shows Growth at Mid-Season

NEW YORK (January 25, 2011) – As the National Hockey League reached the halfway point in the season, the League continued the business growth it has seen over the last four years and is on pace to set an all-time revenue record. In the face of an uncertain economy, the NHL expects total revenue growth for the fifth straight year, in the neighborhood of four to five percent to almost $2.9 billion. League generated revenue is anticipated to grow by 14 percent, resulting in an 85 percent increase over the last four years.

 

The NHL’s strategy of driving growth through big events and digital media continued to pay dividends with double-digit increases in advertising and sponsorship revenue; a record-breaking Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic; viewership increases on broadcast and cable television; traffic increases on NHL.com and its mobile products; growth in sales of licensed product; attendance increases; and continued traction via the League’s social media platforms. Local market television ratings in markets such as Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Washington showed substantial growth as well.

 

NHL fans continued to demonstrate an insatiable appetite for NHL content while the League has grown its product portfolio and enhanced existing platforms in an effort to “superserve” its audience.

 

“The League is extremely well positioned,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “The vital signs are good and we anticipate continued growth and momentum. The strong numbers are a testament to a great product on the ice, a growing fan base that loves our game, and a strategy that provided a path for corporate America to reach that fan base.”

 

Below are some of the business highlights from the first half of the season:

 

League Bucks Economy, Showing Impressive Sponsorship Growth

· The NHL’s strategy to leverage big events to drive corporate marketing investments in the League has paid dividends with record corporate spending on the sport. The NHL has achieved a 32 percent increase in sponsorship and marketing revenue.

· The League added Discover Card as the presenting sponsor of this year’s All-Star Game, the first All-Star Game presenting sponsor in more than a decade. The League has added or renewed deals with blue chip corporate partners such as McDonald’s, Geico, Starwood Hotels, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Cisco, Honda, Bridgestone, Discover Card, Verizon, LG Electronics, Tim Hortons and Hershey’s Canada.

· Advertising on NHL.com and NHL Network has increased by 55 percent.

 

Television

 

NBC

NBC’s broadcast of the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic was the most-viewed NHL regular season game in 36 years with an average of 4.5 million watching in primetime as the Washington Capitals defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins at sold out Heinz Field. The 4.5 million viewership figure was up 22% over last year’s game played at Fenway Park (3.7 million).

 

VERSUS

· VERSUS is averaging 301,000 viewers (through 29 telecasts), up 6% over last year (284,000 viewers)

· VERSUS averaged 750,000 viewers for the Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers telecast on Tuesday, December 14, making it the most-watched regular-season game in network history and surpassing the previous high set by the same two teams in this year’s season-opener (730,000 viewers). The telecast was the most-watched NHL regular-season game on cable in seven years.

CBC

· CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Game 1 is averaging 1.938 million (24 telecasts), up 4% from last season’s average of 1.863 million

· CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Game 2 is averaging 1.017 million (13 telecasts), up 8% from last season’s average of 942,000

· Overall, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada is averaging 1.5 million (24 telecasts), up 7% from last season’s average of 1.4 million viewers

 

TSN

· TSN’s weekly Wednesday Night Hockey are averaging 864,000 viewers (14 telecasts), up 21% from last season (712,000 viewers).

 

· Overall through 36 telecasts, TSN is averaging 748,000 viewers, an increase of 5% over last season (714,000 viewers)

 

 

TOP REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORKS

1. Los Angeles on FS-W : +67%

2. St. Louis on FS-MW: +52%

3. Tampa Bay on SUN: +33%

4. Boston on NESN: +32%

5. Washington on CSN-DC: +31%

 

NHL.Com

· Unique Visitors have increased 25% over last year; video starts, a key metric for the NHL’s growing online advertising marketplace, are up 128%

· Average monthly unique visitors to NHL.com plus all 30 NHL team Web sites has increased to a record 21.2 million

 

NHL GameCenter LIVE (BROADBAND):

· Subscriptions to the League’s live streaming games service are up 24% over last year

 

Shop.NHL.Com

· Gross sales on Shop.NHL.com are up 12%

 

· Shop.NHL.Com experienced its second-highest grossing sales day ever on Black Friday with a remarkable 153 percent increase for the day over 2009

 

NHL Mobile

 

· There have been more than 1 million global mobile downloads this year as the League has introduced 20 new products to support the widest range of devices and manufacturers

· In the US and Canada, NHL GameCenter is the #1 ranked sports app overall

 

Social Media

· “Likes” on the NHL Facebook page are up 633% to nearly 1.3 million

 

· The League’s Twitter followers have increased 133% to 483,000

 

· Facebook is now the No. 1 source of traffic referrals to NHL.com (excluding search engines)

 

· Twitter referrals to NHL.com are up 271%

 

· The NHL Winter Classic peaked at No. 6 in global trending on Twitter on New Year’s Day

 

Attendance

· NHL teams are playing to more than 92 percent capacity, up over last year’s total which was the third- best in NHL history.

 

On-Ice Highlights

On the ice, dramatic team turnarounds, stellar individual performances, remarkable hot streaks and its hallmark competitive balance have lit up the 2010-11 NHL regular season, at the season’s midpoint. They all set the table for a thrilling stretch run of a season in which every game matters, every point counts.

 

Competitive First Half Sets Stage For Exciting Finish

 

· Presidents’ Trophy: Top seven clubs separated by five points

 

· Division title races: Five of six division leaders are ahead by five points or fewer

· Playoff races: 25 of 30 teams are within five points of a playoff berth

· Back in the playoffs? Five teams who didn’t make the playoffs last season are currently ‘above the line’, including the Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning and Pacific Division-leading Dallas Stars. They are joined by the Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers and New York Rangers.

· Five other non-playoff clubs in 2009-10, the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues, are within five points of a post-season berth.

 

New Partnerships Increase Distribution, Reach

For the 2010-11 season, the NHL has introduced new strategic partnerships and projects to expand its reach and distribution. The NHL and HBO launched a critically-acclaimed new series leading into the NHL’s New Year’s Day outdoor game, “24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic,” a four-episode all-access series which chronicles the two fierce rivals. The NHL also became the first professional sports league with a dedicated presence on Foursquare, one of the leading social media innovators. And the League has partnered with Stan Lee on The Guardian Project, a new franchise from the legendary comic book creator that will incorporate the identities of all 30 NHL teams into superheroes. Additionally, the NHL announced a broad-based partnership renewal with Cisco across multiple NHL platforms and events and involving consumer electronics and technology infrastructure.

 

2009-10 NHL Business: Best Year on Record

Despite difficult global economic conditions, in 2009-10 the NHL posted its fourth-consecutive year of strong business growth, engaging with a record number of fans. The League generated record television ratings during the playoffs, saw triple digit increases across its digital platforms, added sponsors and experienced a 66 percent increase in advertising and sponsorship revenue, set merchandising sales records during the Stanley Cup Final and played to 102 percent of arena capacity for the postseason.

 

Ferrall to Host NHL Live on Friday

I don’t usually post about who’s hosting NHL Live, NHL Network/SiriusXM’s two-hour, daily talkfest from Noon – 2PM ET, but it is note-worthy that this Friday afternoon, sports radio star, former Atlanta Thrashers radio play-by-play man and well-known hockey fanatic Scott Ferrall will host the show for the first time, and will be joined by EJ Hradek. That will be an interesting watch, no doubt.

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Caps/Rangers

NY Rangers vs. Washington, 7:30 PM ET, VERSUS
Play by Play: Joe Beninati
Color: Billy Jaffe
Reporter: Bob Harwood

NHL Network to Go In-Depth For All-Star Weekend

 

All the networks are preparing for the All-Star Game, and the NHL Network is no different. Here’s a schedule of their All-Star related programming throughout the week.

Monday, January 24
2:00 2004 NHL All-Star Game
6:00 2007 NHL All-Star Game

Tuesday, January 25
6:00 2008 NHL All-Star Game

Wednesday, January 26
2:00 1989 NHL All-Star Game

Thursday, January 27
6:00 2011 ECHL All-Star Game
8:00 NHL Network 2011 All-Star Mock Draft
10:00 2009 NHL All-Star Game

Friday, January 28
6:00 NHL Network at the 2011 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft
9:30 NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft Recap

Saturday, January 29
4:00 2011 NHL All-Star Red Carpet Show
6:00 NHL Commissioner’s Press Conference
9:00 2011 Honda NHL Superskills Recap

Sunday, January 30
2:00 2011 NHL All-Star Pre-game
7:00 2011 NHL All-Star Post-game

Many Chicago Viewers Make Blackhawks a Part of Their Championship Sunday

While most of the city was preparing for a disappointing NFC Championship Game, quite a few of them were getting over a disappointing regular season hockey game in Chicago earlier that day.

Despite there being tons of pre-game hooplah for the Bears-Packers title game happening at 2PM CT, and having the Flyers-Blackhawks hockey game at a strange 11:30 AM CT start, Chicago was the #1 market for the NHL on NBC this Sunday, drawing a solid 4.9/11.

Compared to recent Blackhawks broadcasts on NBC in the market, this is fairly within range. In 2010, a March 7th telecast against Detroit drew a 5.3, while a March 14th game in that same year against Washington drew a 4.4. The game drew a 3.6/7 in road market Philadelphia, making it the 2nd highest-rated market for the game.

Obviously, hockey was nowhere near the draw that football produced yesterday, as the Sunday FOX telecast of Bears-Packers drew an astronomical 36.6/58 in Chicago, the nation’s #3 TV market. Regardless, it was good news that hockey was on many local fans’ minds on this important football Sunday.

NHL On NBC Premiere Up 20% Over Last Year

With a premiere that aired away from the football playoffs, NBC and the NHL found a little bit more success with their first non-outdoor telecast this season.

According to Sports Business Daily (reg. required), the NBC broadcast of Flyers-Blackhawks drew a 1.0 overnight rating. While that’s nothing to really write home about, it is a 20% improvement over the 0.8 overnight for the first non-Winter Classic NBC telecast of 2010, a Red Wings-Blackhawks game  (1/17/10) than overran directly with the NFL Divisional Playoffs. This is opposed to yesterday’s game, which mostly avoided conflict with the NFC Championship Game.

This is still down from 2009′s indoor premiere, a Rangers-Penguins game (1/18/09), which drew a 1.1 overnight. Regardless, something positive to write about an NBC telecast is always a good thing for the league and it’s fans.

NBC/Comcast Merger Sees It’s First Sports-Related Move with Creation of NBC Sports Advertising Group

NEW YORK – January 24, 2011 – John Miller, NBC Universal Television Group CMO and one of television’s most decorated marketing and promotion executives, will be shifting his focus to the NBC Sports Group to create and head “The NBC Sports Agency,” as soon as the pending acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast is complete.

 

Miller, known for his unprecedented ability to build viewer awareness and interest in new programs, is credited with creating the ubiquitous “Must See TV” campaign and branding such hit shows as Seinfeld, Friends, ER and The Cosby Show, as well as creating campaigns for the Olympics and “Sunday Night Football,” which resulted in record viewership. He is a four-time Entertainment Marketer of the Year, a former Promotion Executive of the Year, a PROMAX Hall of Fame member, and received a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Commercial that also won the World’s Best Commercial award.

 

“Over the last 25 years, John Miller has become one of the most legendary figures in television promotion and marketing,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. “In a business where people often talk about synergy yet rarely achieve it, John, as Chairman of the NBC Marketing Council, has demonstrated to all of us how we can come together for the betterment of all. NBC Sports’ big-event strategy, which has produced record audiences for the Olympics, NFL, NHL and horse racing, is predicated on this marketing strategy. And now John will be masterminding that coordination for NBC Sports, as well as creating campaigns for our partners and advertisers.”

 

“The NBC Sports Agency,” modeled after the successful “The NBC Agency” – which Miller co-founded and led from 1999-2010 – will focus on marketing NBC Sports Group assets, including soon-to-be-integrated Comcast properties, and serve as an agency for NBC Sports’ growing list of partners and advertisers, who use NBC Sports as a marketing resource. NBC Sports has recently produced campaigns for partners such as the USOC, NFL and NHL, and collaborated with advertisers, including Proctor & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, Mercedes, Target, Sears, Coors, DirecTV, and Papa John’s. “The NBC Agency” was the industry’s first full-service advertising agency comprised of an award-winning in-house unit that quickly established itself as one of the country’s top creative commercial firms.

 

“I’m thrilled to be shifting my focus to the NBC Sports Group and working with Dick Ebersol’s team,” said Miller. “‘The NBC Sports Agency’ will take advantage of the full creative support of NBC Sports, Versus, Golf Channel and the RSNs to create campaigns not only for the individual channels, but also for the NBC Sports Group partners and advertisers.”

 

In addition to his work for the NBC Sports Group, Miller will continue his role as Chairman of the newly expanded NBC Universal Marketing Council, co-coordinating the full company cross-promotional efforts.