Comcast to Offer NHL Network On Demand

NEW YORK / PHILADELPHIA -– Today, Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information and communications, and the NHL Network announced an agreement to offer the first On Demand access to NHL and hockey dedicated programming. Under the terms of the agreement, NHL Network subscribers can access in-depth hockey coverage On Demand including NHL game highlights made available only hours after game completion and at no additional charge.

From the latest news and game highlights to classic hockey moments, hockey fans can experience the NHL in a whole new way, anytime of the day, with some content available in high definition. NHL Network On Demand provides in-depth hockey coverage including delivery of condensed NHL games only hours after game completion, player profiles, historical vignettes, daily and weekly wrap-up content, draft coverage and top NHL Network programs including the popular series “NHL On The Fly.” NHL Network On Demand can be found on Channel 1 in “Sports & Fitness” under “NHL.”

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Your Announcers Tonight Are Split 50/50

 

Bruins-Caps, Tonight at 7PM on VERSUS

 

I like it when VERSUS has a play-by-play man from one team and a color man from the other.  Here’s your announcers for tonight Boston-Washington showdown on VERSUS, which we predicted earlier in the day to be one of the top-rated games of the season:

Play by Play: Joe Beninati
Color: Andy Brickley
Reporter: Billy Jaffe
Studio Host: Bill Patrick
Studio Analysts: Keith Jones and Brian Engblom

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.