Commish has got to be shitting a cat about this. And, it doesnt bode well…
Game 3 equals NBC’s lowest rating ever for prime-time program
Associated Press
Updated: June 5, 2007, 6:45 PM ET
NEW YORK -- The Stanley Cup finals have brought record low ratings to NBC for a prime-time program, sports or otherwise.
Ottawa's 5-3 victory over Anaheim in Game 3 Saturday night received a 1.1 national rating and a 2 share, the network said Tuesday. That matched a rerun of "The West Wing" on July 23, 2005, which also drew a 1.1 rating.
Saturday's rating was down 31 percent from last year's Game 3 between Edmonton and Carolina, which had a 1.6/3.
The national ratings for Monday night's Game 4 declined less sharply from last year. The Ducks' 3-2 victory received a 1.9/3, down 5 percent from the 2.0/3 for Game 4 in 2006.
The rating is the percentage watching a telecast among all homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned in to a broadcast among those households with televisions on at the time. A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households.
It has less to do with the announcers and more to do with how the playoffs/regular season drag on. It’s fricking June, the last thing people are thinking of (other than the teams fans who are in the finals) is hockey- a game played on a sheet of ice.
I would be a huge supporter of shortening the regular season to 60 games, or go back to a 72 game reg season. I highly doubt that will ever happen though.
I am with McGas. They should remove one month at the beginning and one month from the end of the season, this is way too late. I will watch all the games, only because I love to watch hockey, but the casual sports fan would rather be out golf/fishing/whatever then sitting at home watching a game on TV
I’d like to see them go to a best of 5 in the playoffs. With the current format it’s like starting a whole other season.
I wonder how much of a difference having the Sabres in the finals would have made. Lets face it, Anaheim isn’t going to bring in the ratings, and most Ottawa fans are watching the game on CBC.
they could keep the same 82 game season and just tighten up the space between games and such, and not have a whole like 9-10 days off for the all star crap too.
Go outside the northeast, most people haven’t even heard of hockey.
I was describing the new sabres logo to a buddy of mine out west, he said he’s “never seen it”, and this was a week ago.
[/quote]
You can thank the NBA and the Bettman conspiracy for that.
Just a sample from the article…
Everyone has a favorite conspiracy theory about the NBA. Some like the idea that David Stern fixed the 1984 draft lottery. Others favor his supposed secret suspension of a star player for gambling problems.
Mine dates back to the early 1990s, when the NHL was white hot with fans and never better on the ice. Wayne Gretzky was in Los Angeles. Mark Messier was with the New York Rangers, who were on the verge of ending their Stanley Cup drought. Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Ray Bourque, Patrick Roy and many others were hitting their prime.
Anyone who doesn’t think hockey can work in America is forgetting this era. All of a sudden, hockey was challenging, if not beating, the NBA in a number of major U.S. markets – including New York. It’s almost impossible to imagine now, but it happened.
The game is in trouble… Sadly i don’t think its going to change. No one takes it seriously outside of hockey cities. Damn shame too cause it like the perfect game, constantly moving lots of hitting and few commercial breaks.
the games not in trouble. the sabres just had one of the best seasons.
not too mention there are how many hocky teams… so alot of cities watch. i mean theres 3 in ny. what do you think NBC mamly covers./
the annoncers do affect it cause if rick jenneret was the announcer i would much rather watch the game. and now that ny. or buffalo isnt in the cup we wanna watch the sens get there ass kicked. or maybe some wanna see the east bring it home/
Yeah Jay you also brought up another good point…I was watching the game on CBC, not NBC, I wonder how many people in WNY and those that get CBC watched in on there rather than NBC, because hockey fans know the better broadcast is on CBC
the games not in trouble. the sabres just had one of the best seasons.
not too mention there are how many hocky teams… so alot of cities watch. i mean theres 3 in ny. what do you think NBC mamly covers./
the annoncers do affect it cause if rick jenneret was the announcer i would much rather watch the game. and now that ny. or buffalo isnt in the cup we wanna watch the sens get there ass kicked. or maybe some wanna see the east bring it home/
[/quote]
HUH? You guys honetly think hockey is failing because of announcing?
I can tell you that no other city would watch RJ and jim if they had a choice between them and harry neal and bob cole. And are you basking the success of the sabres on the fact that the nhl isn’t in trouble? DUDE the sabres are 1 team and i bet you $50 in 3 years when they suck again they will have attendance issues and will be broke again. We may be hockey fans but there arent enough die hards in the city to support the team.
look, when the game is shown nationally on nbc, and one of the teams is canadian, and the other is a west coast non hockey city, of course the ratings are going to be low. the fans of the sens are not watching it on nbc, they are watching it on cbc. there goes half your audience right there. i’m not worried, all you have to do is look at the teams that are playing, everyone is blowing this way out of proportion
HUH? You guys honetly think hockey is failing because of announcing?
I can tell you that no other city would watch RJ and jim if they had a choice between them and harry neal and bob cole. And are you basking the success of the sabres on the fact that the nhl isn’t in trouble? DUDE the sabres are 1 team and i bet you $50 in 3 years when they suck again they will have attendance issues and will be broke again. We may be hockey fans but there arent enough die hards in the city to support the team.
negative, just stirring up thought. You’ve heard/read it as much as I have since the lockout, Bettman wants to grow the league (audience). The NHL doesn’t want to be the C-list pro-sport any longer. My point with the thread is the same as those points you hear from league & PA officials:
[quote=“RobHimself,post:14,topic:30422"”]
The game is in trouble… No one takes it seriously outside of hockey cities.
[/quote]
The championship series of an international game in a primtime slot and it pulls the worst ratings on record, on one of the largest broadcast networks - thats NOT a problem?
I assumed, same as you, that Ott fans were watching HNIC, but the league doesn’t get those numbers - so it IS a moot point.
:shrug:
…and I sincerely doubt the numbers would’ve been one the other end of the record IF the sabres were in it.
Yes, they’re the league darlings, but even when we played in NYC for two series the ratings were barely good (MSG / NBC combined). The Buff News covered those stats after each game, with the appropriate doom & gloom of course.
If the Sabres took on the Ducks in the finals, I’m sure some more of the “real fans” would be watching - given all the sub-plots…
It boils down to generating NEW blood. Look at the Quakers…
