NHL to stay on NBC for 2007-08

[Morgan Wick]

Deal includes the ability for NBC to choose a game 2 weeks in advance to be the national "Game of the Week" and an option to extend for 2008-09. Also, CBC has re-upped "Hockey Night in Canada" for six years.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=298224

 

[oldvnewschool]

It's alright

Maybe they'll extend their coverage to more than just nine dates after January.

Why not go from October through April?

They just need to market better.

That's the one simple thing I see wrong with the NHL.

I could care less if it's on NBC, ESPN, Versus, or The Golf Channel.

If they market better in the US, then the US will care about it more.

 

[EnbyCee]

It's alright

Maybe they'll extend their coverage to more than just nine dates after January.

Why not go from October through April?

They just need to market better.

That's the one simple thing I see wrong with the NHL.

I could care less if it's on NBC, ESPN, Versus, or The Golf Channel.

If they market better in the US, then the US will care about it more.

Well, October through December they'd get SLAUGHTERED by football on either Saturday or Sunday. But I really don't see why they can't at least go January through April, and put the all-star game back on NBC instead of the stupid digital cable network that nobody gets. That's been one real consistent problem with the NHL's regular season network broadcasts over the past decade-plus whether on Fox, ABC, or NBC.....the inconsistency, they constantly flip back and forth between Saturday and Sunday and different time slots, in the weeks that they do bother to show a game. If you're not a diehard fan of the game, why would you bother keeping up with when the games are being shown?

But yeah, it's just another example of the NHL's inept marketing, especially in the US. Heck, when looking on the NHL's website to find out information about the upcoming broadband broadcasts of Hockey Night In Canada, I found out that the NHL offers its Center Ice game package online. I had NO idea such a thing existed. Baseball constantly promotes its mlb.tv online service on local game broadcasts, but the NHL does no such thing, not even on the local broadcasts of the Detroit Red Wings, who are probably the most popular NHL team across the US both due to their success over the past decade and due to Michigan's large diaspora.

 

[Studio20]

Cool. Another season of :

Colorado at Detroit
New York Rangers at New Jersey
Detroit at Colorado
New Jersey at New York Rangers
Detroit at New Jersey
New York Rangers at Colorado.
Pittsburgh at Colorado
Detroit at Pittsburgh..

plus ..maybe..a flyers game until they are eliminated from playoff contention in December...lol

 

[chuckydoll]

DUH!

The lockout of 2004-05 turned the NHL into a minor sport in the U.S.

Example 1: Arena Football on ABC (with an ESPN crew) gets more viewers than NHL hockey on NBC.

Example 2: The Rangers are fighting for a playoff spot yet can't get the main story on the back page of the New York papers.

Example 3: NBC can't guarantee a full network for NHL hockey. KING-5 in Seattle did not televise the Stanley Cup final last June -- and KING-5 is one of NBC's biggest non-O&O stations.

 

[EnbyCee]

Re: DUH!

The lockout of 2004-05 turned the NHL into a minor sport in the U.S.

Example 1: Arena Football on ABC (with an ESPN crew) gets more viewers than NHL hockey on NBC.

Example 2: The Rangers are fighting for a playoff spot yet can't get the main story on the back page of the New York papers.

Example 3: NBC can't guarantee a full network for NHL hockey. KING-5 in Seattle did not televise the Stanley Cup final last June -- and KING-5 is one of NBC's biggest non-O&O stations.

Really, none of these are new developments. I remember before the lockout, arena football was getting better ratings than hockey with the networks reversed (and arena football not benefitting from ESPN's cross-promotion). This even happened once in Chicago when ABC's NHL game was a rare local televised Blackhawks home game.

As for the Rangers, New York demands more than fighting for the last playoff spot to give them attention, especially with the Yankees soap opera kicking into high gear once again. I think the NHL's struggles in the US have a lot to do with the struggles of the franchises in the top three markets. When the league had its last (relative) boom period in the early and mid 90's, the Rangers, Kings and Blackhawks were all good teams that contended pretty much every year. That hasn't been so on a consistent basis for over a decade.

Was NBC's coverage of the finals picked up by any other station in Seattle, or were they simply not shown at all? Either way that's a bad development.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Re: DUH!

Was NBC's coverage of the finals picked up by any other station in Seattle, or were they simply not shown at all? Either way that's a bad development.

I thought coverage was dumped over to sibling KONG, but I could be mistaken.

 

[vibe]

Hockey is a lot fun to watch in person but somehow loses its appeal on TV.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Re: DUH!

Was NBC's coverage of the finals picked up by any other station in Seattle, or were they simply not shown at all? Either way that's a bad development.

I thought coverage was dumped over to sibling KONG, but I could be mistaken.

Yeah it was, so they could show local 5 o'clock news on KING. To be fair Seattle doesn't have an NHL team, let alone one in the Finals, and KING showed local news on KONG during football season.

Did/do any other West Coast stations do this, or does it owe to the domination of KING's local news? I wonder if, say, Sacramento's KCRA shuttled the Stanley Cup Finals (or local news during football season) to KQCA. Or Denver's KUSA could shift to KTVD.

 

[arnoldevns]

The NHL had a TV problem long before the lockout. The lockout only made it worse by causing people to lose interest in the game overall.

The single biggest problem is that there is no national following for the NHL or any individual team - at least not in large enough numbers. There is interest in local markets for local teams, but that's not enough to carry over and generate good ratings for two other teams on TV. Until the NHL figures this out and figures out a way to solve the problem, it will continue to struggle on TV.

So what would you do to solve the problem? I have a couple of thoughts - none of which will individually fix things.

1. I'd get back on ESPN somehow, maybe even doing some kind of deal like the AFL. ESPN has done a good job covering the NHL even though they no longer carry games, but there's no question it would be much better if the games were there.

2. Product placement in prime time shows. It's done all the time for websites and soda, why not a sport? Work a game or star into a storyline for an episode or two on a popular show. I don't think people know the stars of the NHL at all. This could help.

3. Pay NBC to carry a big prime time game in the middle of the season. Promote the game by promoting some of the big name stars in it. Get the Today show involved in promoting it. Maybe play the game on the Rockefeller rink! Turn it into an event beyond just the game itself. Running it on Sunday afternoons opposite golf, basketball and NASCAR just doesn't do much to get a national audience to watch. Find a night when the sports competition is kind of weak and there's not much on TV and make an event out of it.

 

[ixnay]

1. I'd get back on ESPN somehow, maybe even doing some kind of deal like the AFL.

I don't follow arenaball. Please explain the AFL deal.

3. Pay NBC to carry a big prime time game in the middle of the season. Promote the game by promoting some of the big name stars in it. Get the Today show involved in promoting it. Maybe play the game on the Rockefeller rink!

Is the Rockefeller rink 200 feet by 85 feet, or adaptable to those dimensions? How would admission be restricted so that those attending in person would have to pay? What would safeguard against "knotholers" watching down from the windows of surrounding skyscrapers?

Didn't the Canadiens and either the Flames or Oilers play one time in Calgary's or Edmonton's CFL stadium? And wasn't there a college hockey game played once in Michigan State's football stadium?

ixnay

 

[txchipk]

Re: DUH!

The lockout of 2004-05 turned the NHL into a minor sport in the U.S.

Example 1: Arena Football on ABC (with an ESPN crew) gets more viewers than NHL hockey on NBC.

Well, to be fair, with the exception of the NFL, all sports are rapidly becoming minor legue. According to the sports media column in yesterday's Dallas paper, last Sunday's (3/25) Suns-Kings game on ABC scored a 1.0 rating, the lowest rated nationally televised game in NBA history. Technically, the Bruins-Pens NHL game on NBC (also a 1.0 rating) beat it since it had more viewers (1.31 million to 1.26 million).

Even NASCAR's ratings nationally have taken a sizeable decline compared to a couple of years ago. Last weekend's race on Fox was off 18% from the year before, for example. The only sport not declining is the NFL.

I think part of the problem is that the games are everywhere now via cable packages, sports networks, on-line feeds, etc. That wasn't true a decade ago. If you just had your local NBA or NHL team only and one national game of the week, that national game of the week, would mean something more. Another problem...82 games. Worse for the NHL, like here in Texas, how many people are going to get excited to see the Stars play the Kings or Coyotes for the 8th time in the same season?

The NFL is built for TV...they only play 16 games. It's far more meaningful if you miss a game. Missing 1 out of 82 games for the NHL or NBA is less significant.

Local conditions apply...red-hot Mavs have had great ratings locally; Stars not. It would seem like the NHL would do better...game moves a hell of lot faster than the other sports (player speed and length of a game...usually about 2.5 hours); hitting; fighting; etc. I think it just moves too fast. Maybe with HDTV, that will fix that since watching it up-close in person is great. If the NHL was wise, you would think they would demand every game in HDTV and try experimenting. For games on broadcast TV and with most digital TV stations multicasting (27.1, 27.2), put the normal broadcast on one channel (27.1) and put another view (fixed camera at the end of the rink -- kind of like a goalie-view) on another (27.2). For the games on cable, since the FCC doesn't regulate it, mic up some of the players and let the audio in (extreme NHL, I guess -- let the f*bombs and everything else fly, particularly as players exchange comments).

The NHL has had really poor timing...it was a regional sport for such a long time. Expansion into the south to make it national was a probably a good decision long-term, but doing that in the '90s when televsion started the rapid move to niche programming and the Internet and video games came along to compete with it, means it will be an uphill battle. The Stars came to Dallas in the early '90s. The sport has grown some -- who would think border town Laredo would be supporting a minor legaue team and getting 5000-6000 people to show up for games 10 years ago?

 

[bhayes1016]

1. I'd get back on ESPN somehow, maybe even doing some kind of deal like the AFL.

I don't follow arenaball. Please explain the AFL deal.

3. Pay NBC to carry a big prime time game in the middle of the season. Promote the game by promoting some of the big name stars in it. Get the Today show involved in promoting it. Maybe play the game on the Rockefeller rink!

Is the Rockefeller rink 200 feet by 85 feet, or adaptable to those dimensions? How would admission be restricted so that those attending in person would have to pay? What would safeguard against "knotholers" watching down from the windows of surrounding skyscrapers?

Didn't the Canadiens and either the Flames or Oilers play one time in Calgary's or Edmonton's CFL stadium? And wasn't there a college hockey game played once in Michigan State's football stadium?

ixnay

Wisconsin played one of the other Big Ten schools (Ohio State, I think) at Lambeau Field a couple of years ago.

 

[arnoldevns]

1. I'd get back on ESPN somehow, maybe even doing some kind of deal like the AFL.

I don't follow arenaball. Please explain the AFL deal.

ESPN took part ownership of the AFL as part of their deal to broadcast games. It means the games are featured on sportscenter now whereas in the past they might get a play or two here and there. It's essentially a revenue sharing agreement with the league. It's not cash up front like the NFL, NBA and MLB.

 

[JeeperOne]

Re: DUH!

Hi everyone:

Yeah it was, so they could show local 5 o'clock news on KING. To be fair Seattle doesn't have an NHL team, let alone one in the Finals, and KING showed local news on KONG during football season.

Did/do any other West Coast stations do this, or does it owe to the domination of KING's local news? I wonder if, say, Sacramento's KCRA shuttled the Stanley Cup Finals (or local news during football season) to KQCA. Or Denver's KUSA could shift to KTVD.

KUSA 9 moved its 5:00 PM newscast to KTVD 20 during football season. The newscast was anchored by their weekend team.

Not sure what KMGH 7 did with their 6:00 PM newscast when the Avs were in the Stanley Cup way back when (I'm fairly certain they just pre-empted it completely since they don't produce a newscast for either KWHD 53 or KPXC 59, which I think they should start doing someday). But whatever they did, they face doing the same thing should the Nuggets go deep into the playoffs or reach the NBA Finals.

Back to KUSA 9 for a second, I would imagine they'd probably pre-empt the 6:00 PM newscast should the Avs put on a miracle on ice and make the playoffs, but don't hold your breath.

Lastly, VS isn't a Digital cable channel everywhere. Here in Denver, they're on Channel 73, along with all the other analog channels on the dial.

Just my $.02 worth

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

The NHL had a TV problem long before the lockout. The lockout only made it worse by causing people to lose interest in the game overall.

I couldn't agree more.

The single biggest problem is that there is no national following for the NHL or any individual team - at least not in large enough numbers. There is interest in local markets for local teams, but that's not enough to carry over and generate good ratings for two other teams on TV. Until the NHL figures this out and figures out a way to solve the problem, it will continue to struggle on TV.

So what would you do to solve the problem? I have a couple of thoughts - none of which will individually fix things.

1. I'd get back on ESPN somehow, maybe even doing some kind of deal like the AFL. ESPN has done a good job covering the NHL even though they no longer carry games, but there's no question it would be much better if the games were there.

Either ESPN or the big FOX network (The latter of whom could easily put the NHL on Saturdays until the end of their football season). With the NHL back on FOX, FOX could do with it what they currently do with MLB. That is to put a sizeable chunk of that Saturday Night's schedule on FSN during the day so then this way FOX can have backups in case the marquee game gets out of hand or whatever.

2. Product placement in prime time shows. It's done all the time for websites and soda, why not a sport? Work a game or star into a storyline for an episode or two on a popular show. I don't think people know the stars of the NHL at all. This could help.

I agree. For instant promotion, the hit show 24 would do wonders (Of course there's a risk the arena could be destroyed or everyone inside it could get gassed, but at least it's exposure - *LOL!*).

3. Pay NBC to carry a big prime time game in the middle of the season. Promote the game by promoting some of the big name stars in it. Get the Today show involved in promoting it. Maybe play the game on the Rockefeller rink! Turn it into an event beyond just the game itself. Running it on Sunday afternoons opposite golf, basketball and NASCAR just doesn't do much to get a national audience to watch. Find a night when the sports competition is kind of weak and there's not much on TV and make an event out of it.

This would be a great idea except for two wee wittle problems known as ESPN and FSN, both of which would easily DESTROY NBC in such an event (Heck, even smaller networks such as Altitude Sports & Entertainment could also destroy them if they have the Nuggets in basketball or even the Avs in another NHL game on). The NHL would be better off striking a deal to have NBC's sister network USA Network televise national prime time games instead of relying on VS or whatever they're gonna call themselves in the future to do so.

That is of course barring they can somehow land back on ESPN again.

If it weren't for the above things, #3 would seem like a pretty good idea.

Just my opinion though

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

Re: DUH!

Hi everyone:

Maybe with HDTV, that will fix that since watching it up-close in person is great. If the NHL was wise, you would think they would demand every game in HDTV and try experimenting. For games on broadcast TV and with most digital TV stations multicasting (27.1, 27.2), put the normal broadcast on one channel (27.1) and put another view (fixed camera at the end of the rink -- kind of like a goalie-view) on another (27.2). For the games on cable, since the FCC doesn't regulate it, mic up some of the players and let the audio in (extreme NHL, I guess -- let the f*bombs and everything else fly, particularly as players exchange comments).

One problem. KDFI 27's subchannel on 27.2 (like all subchannels for every OTA channel in America) IS STILL considered the same as an OTA channel.

HOWEVER using FOX Sports as an example here (Since you did bring up FOX O&O KDFI 27), there's NO reason I can think of that FSN Southwest couldn't do it using its FSN HD subchannel even if KDFI 27 is the one carrying the more sanitized "family friendly" portion of the game.

This way, if an f-bomb is dropped and its picked up on the HD broadcast, sure FOX will probably catch a lot of heat over it. But at least KDFI won't be facing a fine because of it because the HD broadcast wasn't theirs to begin with (It's was FSN's).

Just my $.02 worth

Cheers