Versus’ Game 3 Numbers Down From Last Year’s Record

Ken from Fang’s Bites bringing you the ratings for Monday’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. This comes directly from the fine people at Versus.

• First, viewership averaged 2.76 million viewers. That’s down from last year’s cable record of 3.6 million viewers for Philadelphia-Chicago which went into overtime. Again, we take into account one US market and Canadian markets are not measured by the US Nielsen ratings.
• Viewership peaked at 3.52 million viewers in the 9:30 — 10 p.m. ET half hour in the 2nd period.
• Versus says in the 8 — 11 p.m. time period, Versus ranked 3rd among all cable networks in primetime.
• In Boston, Versus saw a 23.37 rating, the highest local rating ever for Versus. And the rating was up 57% from the last time the Bruins were on Versus which was game 7 of this year’s Eastern Conference Final against Tampa Bay.
• And Versus was the top rated network on both cable and network TV in Boston and Providence.

A couple of other tidbits Versus threw our way include last night’s Game 3 finished as the most watched Stanley Cup Final game on cable featuring a Canadian team since 1994 (Vancouver/NY Rangers Game 7, 6/14/94; 5.439 million viewers on ESPN). And Game 3 was up 6% from the last Stanley Cup Final game on VERSUS that aired on a Monday night (Detroit/Pittsburgh Game 2, 5/26/08; 2.61 million viewers).

So there you have the Game 3 numbers from Versus in a nice tight red bow. Steve will have your next post.

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NBC Press Release on Olympic Rights

LAUSANNE – June 7, 2011 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that it awarded the U.S. media rights to the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games to NBCUniversal for $4.38 billion.

 

Brian Roberts, Chairman & CEO Comcast, said: “We are honored to continue as the U.S. Olympic broadcaster for the remainder of this decade. The vision for our new Comcast-NBCUniversal was to create new platforms and technologies to distribute the very best content. Every two years the Olympic Games provides iconic content for us to deliver on all platforms. We are proud to continue the rich heritage and long association that NBC has had with the IOC and I personally want to thank President Jacques Rogge and Richard Carrion for their long-term trust.”

 

Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal: “I’m extremely pleased we will be continuing as the IOC’s U.S. media partner. Broadcasting sports events is an important part of our business and the Olympics are obviously a significant part of the portfolio. We have a talented and experienced team in place with a legacy of outstanding Olympics coverage and we are all looking forward to London next year and to Sochi and Rio after that.”

 

Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group: “It is a great thrill to know that NBC’s unsurpassed Olympic heritage and unprecedented partnership with the IOC will continue through 2020. The Olympics are a significant part of NBC and the IOC again recognized NBCUniversal’s unmatched ability to promote, market, program and produce the Olympic Games. London, Sochi, Rio and the 2018 and 2020 Games will benefit from our ability to galvanize all the resources of the newly-formed NBC Sports Group to bring the Games to more homes and more platforms than ever.”

 

The decision came after two days of meetings held at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. Switzerland, during which ESPN, Fox and NBC each gave a presentation and submitted their proposals to the IOC. The negotiation process started earlier this year with preliminary discussions conducted with all interested parties. Each proposal was discussed by an IOC delegation chaired by President Rogge.

 

IOC President Jacques Rogge said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with our longstanding partner NBC. We received three excellent bids and would like to thank each broadcaster for their presentations. In the end we were most impressed with NBC, which not only has a track record for broadcasting the Games that speaks for itself, but also has a clear and innovative vision of where it wants to take the broadcast of the Games between now and 2020. We look forward to continuing to build on our already strong relationship beginning in London next year.”

 

NBC, America’s Olympic Network, has broadcast a total of 12 Olympic Games, more than any other network. The 2012 London Summer Olympics will be NBC’s 13th Olympic Games broadcast and seventh consecutive. Today’s announcement means that at the conclusion of the 2020 Summer Olympics, NBC will have broadcast 17 Olympic Games and 11 consecutive.

 

How Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final Did in NHL and Non-NHL Markets

NHL Markets Local Ratings for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final

1. Boston – 21.2/38
2. Buffalo – 6.6/12
3. Nashville – 3.0/5
4. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose – 2.8/7
5. Detroit – 2.7/5
t6. St. Louis – 2.5/5
t6. Pittsburgh – 2.5/5
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul – 2.4/6
t9. Denver – 2.2/5
t9. Columbus –  2.2/4
11. New York – 2.1/4
12. Philadelphia – 2.0/4
t13. Washington – 1.8/4
t13. Tampa Bay – 1.8/4
15. Raleigh-Durham – 1.7/3
t16. Chicago – 1.6/3
t16. Phoenix – 1.6/3
18. Los Angeles – 1.4/3
19. Dallas – 1.2/2
20. Atlanta – 0.6/1
21. Miami – 0.8/1

Non-NHL Markets Local Ratings for Game 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final

1. Providence – 11.1/19
2. Hartford – 3.8/7
3. Seattle – 3.2/8
4. Orlando – 2.8/5
5. West Palm Beach – 2.7/4
6. Fort Myers – 2.6/5
7. Norfolk – 2.6/4
8. Greensboro – 2.5/3
9. Las Vegas – 2.3/4
10. Oklahoma City – 2.1/4
11. Dayton – 2.0/4
12. Albuquerque/Santa Fe – 1.9/3
t13. Portland – 1.7/4
t13. Baltimore – 1.7/4
t13. San Diego – 1.7/4
t13. Knoxville – 1.7/3
t17. Richmond – 1.6/3
t17. Sacramento – 1.6/3
t17. Cincinnati – 1.6/3
t20. Charlotte – 1.5/3
t20. Indianapolis – 1.5/3
t22. Cleveland – 1.4/3
t22. Memphis – 1.4/3
t24. Greenville – 1.4/2
t24. Tulsa – 1.4/2
26. Jacksonville – 1.3/2
t27. Milwaukee – 1.1/2
t27. Louisville – 1.1/2
29. New Orleans – 1.0/2
30. Kansas City – 0.9/2
t31.  San Antonio – 0.7/1
t31. Birmingham – 0.7/1
33. Austin – 0.7/2
34. Houston – 0.5/1
35. Salt Lake City* – 0.4/1

*Game aired on CW affiliate

NBC Wins Rights to the Next Four Olympic Games

NBC now owns rights to the Olympics through 2020, and the NHL through 2021. You see what I’m getting at here, right?

The Associated Press’ Steve Wilson reports that NBC has won the rights to the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games, meaning NBC and it’s corporate family (including VERSUS) remain the home for the Olympic Games. I’ll post a press release when one becomes available.