One Last HNIC Open Thread For a Few Weeks

Philadelphia vs. Montreal, 7PM, CBC Full Network/NHL Network
Play by Play: Jim Hughson
Color: Craig Simpson and Guy Carbonneau
Reporter: Elliot Friedman

Ottawa vs. Detroit, 7PM, CBC Ottawa
Play by Play: Bob Cole
Color: Gary Galley

Anaheim vs. Calgary, 10PM, CBC
Play by Play: Mark Lee
Color: Kevin Weekes
Reporter: Scott Oake

NHL Celebrates Good Business In 09-10

NEW YORK (February 12, 2010) – The National Hockey League continues to show impressive momentum with sustained growth across multiple platforms. Through the first two-thirds of the regular season, NHL fans continue to display their unprecedented demand for NHL hockey by attending games, tuning in on television, purchasing at retail and logging on to NHL.com.

The League’s latest business highlights include:

Attendance

· Through February 11, NHL Clubs are playing to 91.9 percent of capacity.

· More than half of the 30 Clubs have seen increased or even attendance.

TV Ratings

· All four of NBC’s 2010 “NHL Game of the Week” broadcasts have featured a one-goal decision. Three of the games went into overtime and two went to shootouts. The close finishes have resulted in a 14-percent increase in viewership compared to a year ago.

· Feb. 7’s Pittsburgh/Washington game on NBC delivered a national household rating that was 22 percent higher than last year’s comparable game (2/22/09 – Pittsburgh/Washington).

· VERSUS continues to build on successes of 2009; the best year in network history. Through Feb. 2, national household ratings for VERSUS’ exclusive game telecasts are up 19 percent and national household ratings for the 2009-10 season-to-date are up three percent from the same time period last year.

· Through Feb. 2, CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada is averaging 43 percent more viewers this season compared to last season. Non-Hockey Night in Canada CBC broadcasts of NHL games are averaging 121 percent more viewers this season compared to last season.*

· Through Feb. 8, NHL on TSN’s average audience is 48 percent higher compared to last season.*

· Through Feb. 2, RDS’s average viewership for all NHL games is up 3 percent from the same time period last year.

· Through Jan. 31, 17 of 24 (71 percent) Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) in the US have ratings that are even or increased from last season, with 16 (67 percent) showing year-over-year increases. The Chicago Blackhawks (+109 percent), New York Islanders (+100 percent) and Anaheim Ducks (+100 percent) have had the largest year-over-year increases.

* Please note that this year’s Canadian television ratings are based on the Portable People Meter (PPM) measurement tool, which includes out of home viewing. All historical television viewing information is based on the Mark II Meter, which did not include out of home viewing. RDS and RIS are exceptions; French network audiences have been measured using the PPM the past four years.

Digital Media Consumption

· Unique Visitors (UVs) to NHL.com for the 2009-10 NHL regular-season through January are up 34 percent compared to the same time frame for the 2008-09 regular season.

· January 2010 was also highest trafficked month in NHL.com history. Unique Visitors were up 41 percent for the month of January 2010 compared to January 2009.

· With the continued trade coverage, analysis, and first games for traded players, January 31, February 1 and 2 were the three highest trafficked regular-season days in NHL.com history, excluding Playoffs and Trade Deadline Days.

· Video starts for NHL.com rose 130 percent in January 2010 compared to January 2009.

· Signaling strong global demand for the NHL, almost 45 percent of all video starts in January came from outside North America.

· Subscriptions to NHL GameCenter LIVE™ are up 33 percent this season compared to the same point last season.

· NHL Mobile visits are up 282 percent season to date over last year’s average.

· The NHL’s audience on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms has grown 161 percent since the beginning of the season.

Integrated Sales and Marketing

· Year-to-date, advertising revenue for NHL.com is up 50 percent.

· Kraft Hockeyville is up 45 percent in entries – the highest in the event’s five-year history.

· Advertising revenue for NHL Network has already doubled that of the entire 2008-09 season.

· All Canadian NHL partners have gone to market with NHL-themed activation in the first half of the 2009-10 season.

Consumer Products/Retail

· Season-to-date, NHL soft-goods apparel are pacing at 6-7 percent above year-over-year sales.

· Season-to-date, NHL hard-lines (all non-apparel including accessories, collectibles, electronic games, gifts and novelties, house and home publishing and printed products, toys and game and trading cards) have realized a 7 percent gain in North America compared to plan for fiscal 2009-10.

· Oct. 2009 – Jan. 2010, sales at the NHL Powered By Reebok store in NYC are up 26.5 percent compared to the same time frame last season.

· Jan. 2010 sales at the NHL Powered by Reebok store were up 45 percent compared to Jan. 2009.

· Overall NHL store sales for 2009 increased 16 percent from 2008.

· As of Jan. 30, Shop.NHL.com sales are up 10 percent compared to the same time period last year.

· The Top 20 Selling Jerseys on Shop.NHL.com season-to-date are:

1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

3. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

4. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins

5. Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers

6. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks

7. Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins

8. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks

9. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

10. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils

11. Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils

12. Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers

13. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

14. Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

15. Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers

16. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings

17. Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins

18. Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers

19. Marc Savard, Boston Bruins

20. Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers

NHL Network Featured Schedule Next Week

Monday, Feb. 15
12:00 NHL Live
4:00 NHL Power Play
6:00 NHL Live
7:00 Hockey Powers: Czech Rep.
7:30 Hockey Powers: Finland
8:00 Hockey Powers: Sweden
8:30 Hockey Powers: Russia
9:00 Hockey Powers: Team USA
9:30 Sid the Kid vs. Alexander the Great
11:30 The Great Tournament

Tuesday, Feb. 16
7AM On Home Ice
Noon NHL Live
4:00 NHL Power Play
6:00 NHL Live
8:30 Hockey Powers: The Women’s Teams

Wednesday, Feb. 17
Noon NHL Live
4:00 NHL Power Play
6:00 NHL Live

Thursday, Feb. 18
Noon NHL Live
4:00 NHL Power Play
6:00 NHL Live

Friday, Feb. 19
Noon NHL Live
4:00 NHL Power Play
6:00 NHL Live
7:30 LIVE: Nebraska-Omaha vs. Miami (OH)

Saturday, Feb. 20
12:30 Mirabito Outdoor Classic Pregame Show
1:00 Mirabito Outdoor Classic: Binghamton vs. Syracuse

Sunday, Feb. 21
Noon NHL Live
2:00 1996 World Cup of Hockey Marathon

Caps Ratings Manage to Get More Awesome

Bethesda, Md. (Feb. 11, 2010) – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic delivered the highest-rated Washington Capitals game in network history for their live coverage of the team’s road match against Montreal on Wednesday, Feb. 10. The game earned an average household rating of 5.8 in the Washington market and was viewed by an average combined audience of 148,000 households in Washington and Baltimore. The record household rating broke the network’s previous Capitals high of 5.5, set on May 13, 2009 during the Stanley Cup Semifinals against Pittsburgh (Game 7).

The game earned a peak household rating of 7.0, which equates to more than 163,000 Washington-area households, and was the most-watched television program in the key demographic group of Men 25-54, posting a regular-season Capitals record 7.0 average rating. The game ranked second in the Washington market during the time period among all other key demos, including Men 18-49 (5.9) and Adults 25-54 (4.7).

In addition to the setting a new all-time hockey ratings record, Comcast SportsNet has now delivered the five highest-rated regular-season Capitals games in network history since Jan. 21 of this year. The original regular-season record, a 2.5 mark posted on April 5, 2008 against Florida, has since been surpassed by average household ratings of 5.8 (Feb. 10 at Montreal), 4.4 (Feb. 5 vs. Atlanta), 3.3 (Jan. 21 at Pittsburgh), 3.2 (Feb.2 at Boston) and 2.6 (Feb. 4 at N.Y. Rangers).

Over the 10 games aired on Comcast SportsNet since beginning the record-setting pace on Jan. 21, the Capitals have earned an average household rating of 2.8, representing an average viewership of nearly 65,000 Washington-area households. In that span, the network has averaged a 3.4 rating among Men 25-54, an increase of more than 140 percent over the season average prior to Jan. 21.

After 55 games on Comcast SportsNet this season, the Capitals have recorded an average 1.5 household rating in the Washington market, an increase of 41 percent compared to the same time period last season and a growth of more than 175 percent versus the first 55 games of the 2007-08 season.

Re-Posted: Your Official 2010 Winter Olympic Hockey (Men’s & Women’s) Superschedule

Here’s a guide to where you can find all the games, and a link will be posted over on the blogroll.  Follow me after the jump.  Also, at 2:30 AM ET everyday, CNBC will air highlights from each day of hockey once the men’s tourney begins.  Credit goes out to jkrdevil and Rob Hoffman for pointing these out to me.