Could Pierre McGuire Bolt TSN For VERSUS/NBC?

It’d make sense, as NBC/Versus seems to prefer Doc/Edzo/Pierre as their #1 team. Be hard to justify keeping McGuire off of TSN while allowing Emrick and Olczyk to continue working for New Jersey and Chicago, though I suppose what they want is McGuire’s exclusivity during the post-season, where they’ve often had to substitute Darren Pang or Brian Englbom. From Ken Campbell of The Hockey News:

Speculation at the Stanley Cup final is that hockey analyst Pierre McGuire could be leaving TSN to take a permanent position as an analyst with NBC and Versus.

 

McGuire already does work for both networks, but it’s believed NBC and Versus would prefer to have him on an exclusive basis. One scenario that has been floated is McGuire would leave TSN as a regular game analyst, but would do some special events, such as the World Junior Championship, for the Canadian network.

 

Talks are continuing and will likely be resolved soon. When asked about prospects for his future and his contract status with both TSN and NBC/Versus, McGuire declined comment.

 

Game 6 Draws New Series High, Well Short of Chicago’s 2010 Clincher

Despite a game that was never really close, the Stanley Cup Final easily hit a series high in the overnights for NBC on Monday evening.

Last night’s Game 6, an easy win for Boston, drew a 3.9 overnight rating for the network, easily the highest-rated game of the 2010 season. Though this was down 33% from last year’s epic Chicago/Philadelphia series closer – which drew a 5.8 – it is even from the last non-clinching Game 6 NBC aired, between Detroit and Pittsburgh in 2009, which also scored a 3.9. It is up a terrific 44% from Game 6 of the 2006 Carolina/Edmonton Final, which is the last Game 6 to feature a Canadian team.

I’ll have more numbers as they come in a little later today.

Game 5 Overnight and Top 5 Local Markets

Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final drew a 3.2/6 overnight rating. While this was down 20% from the 4.0/7 Game 5 drew in 2010 for Philadelphia/Chicago, the number is still quite respectable for Boston/Vancouver, considering it was up 19% from 2009′s Pittsburgh/Detroit series, and was up 25% from the last Stanley Cup Final Game 5 to feature a Canadian team, which was Anaheim’s clinching victory over Ottawa.

The local markets were once again led by Boston, which hit a series high 25.8/44. Providence followed, as has been typical throughout the series, with a 16.0/26. Buffalo (7.9/14), Detroit (4.6/8), and Pittsburgh (4.2/7) rounded out the top five. Expecting all the metered markets to come in later. Overall, not a bad Game 5 draw for NBC.

Stanley Cup Final Game 5 overnights since 2006
2011, Boston-Vancouver: 3.2/6
2010, Philadelphia-Chicago: 4.0/7
2009, Pittsburgh-Detroit: 2.6/5
2008, Pittsburgh-Detroit: 4.3/8
2007, Ottawa-Anaheim: 2.4/4
2006, Edmonton-Carolina: 2.9/5

Over 6 Million Canadians Watch Game 5

From James Mirtle:

Game 5 breaks another record for CBC with 6.1 million average viewers.

 

Game 5 Initial Ratings: Down From Last Year, Up From 2009

For the second time in the series, the 2011 Stanley Cup Final showed an improvement from one of the past two Stanley Cup Finals.

Game 5 drew a fast national of 4.35 million viewers (the number will go up in the final adjustments by a few hundred thousand) for NBC. That was down 27% from Game 5 in 2010, which drew 5.95 million viewers for the Philadelphia/Chicago series on a friendlier night for television. The game did, however, improve by 2% on Game 5 from 2009 between Pittsburgh and Detroit, which drew 4.28 million viewers. This, as I said, marks the second time in this series that Boston and Vancouver have improved on either of the last two Finals, as Game 1 was the most-watched in 12 years.

The game drew a 1.6 among Adults 18-49, giving NBC a victory over the other broadcast networks for the evening. Final numbers and local ratings may not be available until the end of the weekend. That said, not terrible numbers. One might expect better for a Game 5 of a 2-2 series, but Boston and Vancouver have held their ground pretty well over the past week or so.

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Night 45 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Boston vs. Vancouver, Game 5, 8:00 p.m. ET

National TV (Canada): CBC
Play by Play: Jim Hughson
Color: Craig Simpson
Inside the Glass: Glenn Healy
Reporters: Scott Oake and Elliotte Friedman

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

VERSUS To Air Pre-game Coverage For Games 5-7

VERSUS will significantly beef up it’s presence for the rest of the Stanley Cup Final, as they’ll be airing pre-game editions of Hockey Central for the remainder of the series.

The network, which already airs a post-game show after every NBC telecast, will present pre-game shows for Games 5, 6 and 7 tonight, Monday and Wednesday, all at 7:30 p.m. ET. The shows will be hosted by Bill Patrick, with analysis from Keith Jones and Mike Milbury. Pierre McGuire and Darren Pang will report from ice level.

VERSUS will continue to air Hockey Central after Games 5-7, with Patrick and Jones joined by Jeremy Roenick. McGuire and Pang contribute interviews. The Stanley Cup Final games return to NBC starting tonight, with host Dan Patrick.

Full Ratings For Games 3 & 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on VERSUS, Plus a Finished VERSUS Top 10 For the 2011 Playoffs

Monday, June 6

7:30 p.m. Hockey Central – 185,000 viewers
8:00 p.m. Vancouver vs. Boston, Game 3 – 2,757,000 viewers
10:30 p.m. Hockey Central – 870,000 viewers

Wednesday, June 8

7:30 p.m. Hockey Central – 219,000 viewers
8:00 p.m. Vancouver vs. Boston, Game 4 – 2,714,000 viewers
10:30 p.m. Hockey Central – 875,000 viewers

10 Most-Watched Games of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs on VERSUS

Top 10 in Viewers For 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs on VERSUS

1. Vancouver vs. Boston, Game 3 (6/6/11) – 2,757,000 viewers
2. Vancouver vs. Boston, Game 4 (6/8/11) – 2,714,000 viewers
3. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 7 (5/27/11) – 2,551,000 viewers
4. Boston vs. Philadelphia, Game 2 (5/2/11) – 1,699,000 viewers
5. Boston vs. Tampa Bay, Game 6 (5/25/11) – 1,681,000 viewers
6. Detroit vs. San Jose, Game 5 (5/8/11) – 1,627,000 viewers
7. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 2 (5/17/11) – 1,562,000 viewers
8. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 1 (5/14/11) – 1,541,000 viewers
9. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 5 (5/23/11) – 1,516,000 viewers
10. Boston vs. Tampa Bay, Game 3 (5/19/11) – 1,405,000 viewers

(Source: Son of the Bronx) 

Stanley Cup Final Down 13% From Last Year, About 5K Viewers From Game 3

American coverage of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final remained down from the 2010 series, but are still solid considering that a Canadian team is participating.

Game 4 of the championship series, in which the Bruins tied the best-of-seven at two games apiece, drew 2.71 million viewers on VERSUS. This is down 13% from the comparable match-up last year (PHI/CHI, Game 4 drew 3.1 million) and down about 4,000 viewers from Game 3, which drew 2.75 million viewers on Monday night.

Game 4 was the second most-watched program of the night on cable television, being beaten by CMT’s coverage of the CMT Music Awards (2.89 million viewers). It was also the second most-watched program among Adults 18-49 on cable, scoring a 1.1, and bested only by the season finale of South Park (1.3) on Comedy Central.

Through four games, the 2011 Stanley Cup Final on NBC and VERSUS have averaged 3.4 million viewers. This is down 20% from the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, which had drawn 4.23 million viewers on average through four games. It is also down 17% from the 2009 Stanley Cup Final, which drew an average of 4.05 million viewers through Game 4. However, they’re still solid numbers for a Stanley Cup Final featuring a Canadian team, as VERSUS has produced the two largest audiences for Cup games featuring teams from Canada since 1994.

Your Announcers and Open Thread For Night 44 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Vancouver vs. Boston, Game 4, 8:00 p.m. ET

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

National TV (Canada): CBC
Play by Play: Jim Hughson
Color: Craig Simpson
Inside the Glass: Glenn Healy
Reporters: Scott Oake and Elliotte Friedman