Seeking Reaction To "HNIC"

[Joseph_Gallant]

Being too far from the range of CBC Television, I was unable to watch last night's (October 8th) return of "Hockey Night In Canada".

I'd like our Canadian friends (or those in border areas who do get CBC-TV) to let me know:

(1) Your general impressions.

(2) Do you think the quality of the coverage was up to CBC's usual standard??

(3) What did Don Cherry have to say other than talk about Wayne Gretzky coaching in Phoenix (that did make several Internet news sites)??

(4) Were there fewer pre-game/between-periods/poistgame features than usual owing to the length of the CBC lockout??

Thanks in advance.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

"HNIC" Ratings Open Strong

I finally found some articles on "Hockey Night In Canada"'s opening-week ratings.

This one, from Jam!/Canoe, noted that "HNIC" got into the top ten shows on broadcast-network television in Canada for it's opening gameds (October 8th), but number-two for the week in Vancouver.

I used the term "broadcast-network television" because TSN's opening-night NHL coverage (October 5th) was actually watched by more viewers than all but five shows that week on the broadcast networks (CBC, CTV, Global), but cable networks like TSN do not get counted in the BBM ratings for broadcast networks.

And this report from the Edmonton Sun reported that HNIC's early games (Buffalo at Ottawa in Ottawa; Montreal at Toronto on the rest of the CBC network) drew about 50% more viewers (almost a half-million more) than the "average" early game. And the late game, Vancouver at Edmonton, drew the largest-ever viewing audience for a 10 P.M. (ET) regular-season game.

Given TSN's spectacular opening-night numbers, some at the CBC may have thought "HNIC" would get record regular-season numbers for their opening night. They did not get record numbers for the early game (BTW, the record viewership for a regular-season 7 P.M. ET "HNIC" game was the November, 2003 outdoor game between Edmonton and Montreal), but I would think both the CBC and the league have to be delighted, considering that there was some concern that some fans would have been fed-up over the year-long NHL lockout and would not have tuned-in.

Although the numbers may dip a little bit tomorrow night (October 15th), should "HNIC" manage to post strong numbers throughout the season, both the CBC and the NHL will be breathing much easier. The NHL will breathe even easier if NBC's ratings for their weekend-afternoon games (starting in January) match or exceed what ABC's numbers were for the 2003/2004 season.

 

[rugrats1]

Missed their first week back, but I saw the second week of HNIC (10/15), and it looks like they're back in the old groove that existed before the NHL and CBC lockouts. The CBC has also brought the old-school-sounding HNIC theme back, replacing the long-running heavy-metal version -- I generally prefer the old version over the metal one.

 

[kirjtc2]

> Missed their first week back, but I saw the second week of
> HNIC (10/15), and it looks like they're back in the old
> groove that existed before the NHL and CBC lockouts. The CBC
> has also brought the old-school-sounding HNIC theme back,
> replacing the long-running heavy-metal version -- I
> generally prefer the old version over the metal one.
>

The "old-school" open (with the animation of the kids playing pond hockey) was actually used in the 2004 playoffs and World Cup as well.

 

[ibezdechi]

Can some do a video capture of this for me...this sounds interesting....


> > Missed their first week back, but I saw the second week of
>
> > HNIC (10/15), and it looks like they're back in the old
> > groove that existed before the NHL and CBC lockouts. The
> CBC
> > has also brought the old-school-sounding HNIC theme back,
> > replacing the long-running heavy-metal version -- I
> > generally prefer the old version over the metal one.
> >
>
> The "old-school" open (with the animation of the kids
> playing pond hockey) was actually used in the 2004 playoffs
> and World Cup as well.
>