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After two lean, postlockout years, the NHL is beginning to make gains in U.S. television.
Hockey audiences won't challenge the numbers produced by football, baseball and basketball any time soon, but the bleeding caused by the cancelled 2004-05 season has stopped.
At the midway point of this season, national audiences on Versus are up 32 per cent from this time last year.
Versus is drawing numbers comparable with ESPN2's viewership in 2003-04, which was the last year of its deal with the NHL.
Related Information
- Atlanta Thrashers
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Detroit Red Wings
- Minnesota Wild
- Ottawa Senators
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Phoenix Coyotes
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- St. Louis Blues
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Washington Capitals
- Jason Blake
- Sidney Crosby
- Steve Downie
- Dean McAmmond
- Tiger Woods
Regionally, the audiences on Fox Sports Net have increased 25 per cent. FSN, which airs regional telecasts in 14 markets, has seen huge increases for the Minnesota Wild (114 per cent), St. Louis Blues (103 per cent) and Detroit Red Wings (50 per cent).
On the downside, audiences for the Atlanta Thrashers have dropped 50 per cent. The Phoenix Coyotes numbers are down 35 per cent. Viewership for the Tampa Bay Lightning has declined 31 per cent and the Dallas Stars are in the hole by 29 per cent.
All of these results reflect team performances, the one exception being the Stars, which are second in the Western Conference but, nevertheless, losing viewers.
In the season of 2003-04, before the lockout, FSN earned an average rating of 1.1 (percentage of the potential audience watching) for its hockey telecasts. After the lockout, in 2005-06, the rating dropped to 0.96. Then it climbed to 1.0 in 2006-07. If the audience trend continues, FSN will be back to a 1.1 by the end of this season.
The NHL telecasts on Versus are drawing an average audience of 261,406, which is well above the 209,000 who watched the telecasts on ESPN2 in 2003-04.
However, when ESPN2 was airing games, the telecasts were blacked out in the local markets. Versus has the advantage of going into the local markets.
A TV source said the improved NHL numbers should be viewed cautiously.
"The hockey audiences are teeny to begin with," he said. "But, any time you increase an audience by a third or 25 per cent, you've got to be happy with it."
Why are the numbers up? The absence of prime-time content, as a result of the Hollywood writers' strike, is driving audiences to sports programming. Versus showcases Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby at every opportunity.
John Shannon, the NHL's head of broadcasting, feels the league's competitiveness has helped improve viewership.
Shannon also believes the buzz created by the outdoor Winter Classic in Buffalo on Jan. 1 has helped spark U.S. interest.
NBC's overnight rating of 2.6 for the outdoor game telecast has been downgraded to a national rating of 2.2 (or 3.8 million viewers), but it still ranks as the largest NHL rating in the United States since Fox's 2.2 for Wayne Gretzky's final game on April 18, 1999.
Going head to head against NBC's outdoor game telecast, the Gator Bowl on CBS earned a 2.6 rating and the Capital One Bowl on ABC a 9.1.
Two dummies
Golf Channel commentator Kelly Tilghman uttered the first completely idiotic remark of the 2008 sports broadcasting year when she suggested young players on the PGA Tour should "lynch" Tiger Woods "in a back alley" to gain a competitive advantage. Tilghman was suspended for two weeks. The channel apologized "to anyone who was offended." Anyone? How about everyone.
On the same list, Tilghman is followed by former Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bobby Clarke, who gave his approval to Steve Downie of the Flyers for sucker-punching Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake, who had condemned Downie's attack on Dean McAmmond of the Ottawa Senators. "When he went after Blake, I loved it," said Clarke, appearing on TSN.
Writers help sports
The Hollywood writers' strike, now in its third month, is increasing the size of sports audiences in Canada. On Wednesday, TSN drew 310,000 viewers for an all-U.S. NHL matchup involving two non-playoff teams, the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche. A year ago, the same game would have pulled in about 210,000 viewers.
- TSN hockey anchor James Duthie's suggestion to organize a shootout competition for the NHL all-star weekend has been picked up by the league.
- Peter Mansbridge, anchor of The National on CBC, spoke at a reception in Winnipeg this week honouring network sports broadcaster Don Wittman, who is fighting cancer. Mansbridge and Wittman worked together years ago.
- The CBC will give tomorrow night's Red Wings-Senators game full national distribution, except in Quebec, which will get the Montreal Canadiens-New York Rangers game.
- TSN's Mike Milbury took a run at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment chief executive officer Richard Peddie this week. He said Peddie, who accompanied the Leafs on the current trip to the U.S. West Coast, should limit his club involvement to selling tickets and popcorn.
