Game 1 Ratings

[heed316 7]

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opener was the highest-rated and most-watched cable telecast of the championship round in six years.

The Red Wings' 4-0 win on Saturday night had a 1.8 national rating -- drawing over 2.3 million viewers. The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus, topping the audience that watched the Penguins' Game 2 victory over Philadelphia in this year's Eastern Conference finals.

Only Lance Armstrong's final ride in the 2005 Tour de France had a higher rating in Versus history (2.1).

Versus will show Game 2 of the finals on Monday night before the series shifts to NBC for the remaining games.

The Game 1 rating is a 157 percent increase over last year's opener and a 100 percent rise from two years ago.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

I still don't understand why it isn't better for the league to have all the games in the Finals be nationally televised?

The ratings would be even higher then.

[Coolio Mendez 7]

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opener was the highest-rated and most-watched cable telecast of the championship round in six years.

The Red Wings' 4-0 win on Saturday night had a 1.8 national rating -- drawing over 2.3 million viewers. The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus, topping the audience that watched the Penguins' Game 2 victory over Philadelphia in this year's Eastern Conference finals.

Only Lance Armstrong's final ride in the 2005 Tour de France had a higher rating in Versus history (2.1).

Versus will show Game 2 of the finals on Monday night before the series shifts to NBC for the remaining games.

The Game 1 rating is a 157 percent increase over last year's opener and a 100 percent rise from two years ago.

Wasn't 6 years ago the Wings vs. Carolina?

[Barrie 900]

Nice. I'm glad the ratings were good for Game 1. Despite what some people think, the NHL needs good ratings. The games need to be on ESPN not Vs.

The ratings will be even higher for the NBC games.

[Doggy 130]

This is no surprise. This really is an awesome matchup for the league. There are 5 of the world's top ten playing.

[KATIEBARTHEDOOR24 426]

That's good. Though not at all surprising with the teams that are playing. What is surprising is 2.3 million people found the channel

[Coolio Mendez 7]

You have a link to this story?

[Earthhuman 8]

Wasn't 6 years ago the Wings vs. Carolina?

Yes it was. I was thinking the same thing.

If I remember correctly, the Wings/Carolina series was the strongest ratings the NHL has ever recorded. It was hug.

[Probert 5 For Fighting 0]

I still don't understand why it isn't better for the league to have all the games in the Finals be nationally televised?

The ratings would be even higher then.

Er, because you actually have to negotiate a network deal before that could happen? Can't just snap your fingers and have the Wings-Pens on ESPN tomorrow. The whole season will have to be accounted for, not just a 7-game series. Considering how s***tacular hockey ratings were when it was last on ESPN, I doubt we'll see it there soon.

And the high ratings for this series should come as no surprise. The league has had to endure very limited markets winning the Cup the past 3 years(ANA,CAR,TB), so of course the percentage increase will look huge. Coupled with Crosby being in the Finals, average Joe fan support increased.

[DyingAlive 27]

Considering how s***tacular hockey ratings were when it was last on ESPN, I doubt we'll see it there soon.

2009-10, If I remember correctly is the next time you'll see the NHL on ESPN.

[Probert 5 For Fighting 0]

2009-10, If I remember correctly is the next time you'll see the NHL on ESPN.

Everything I've read is hypothetical. Just a bunch of fans who hope ESPN picks it up again. I've yet to see any headlines beyond the typical rumormongering.

If there's anything substantial to the contrary, I'd love to see it. From a business standpoint, if I were ESPN, I wouldn't touch the NHL with a ten-foot poll. It's a waste of their money, sadly.

[Datsyerberger 279]

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opener was the highest-rated and most-watched cable telecast of the championship round in six years.

Gee.. 6 years. The last Wings SCF appearance. Coincidence, of course. Noone likes watching Red Wings hockey, they're just so boring.. and all their fans are losers.

[Echolalia 2,961]

From a business standpoint, if I were ESPN, I wouldn't touch the NHL with a ten-foot poll. It's a waste of their money, sadly.

Actually, if I have my facts straight, I believe its the other way around, in that ESPN has repeatedly tried to get a deal with Bettman to have sole rights to nationally broadcast NHL games, with a few other bullets in ESPN's favor here and there and Bettman has refused to give sole rights to ESPN. Especially after how little success the previous contract had, he is instead utilizing shared rights in NBC and VS; two lesser sports media outlets, where NHL would be the dominant sport and wouldn't have to compete with all the NFL and NBA bias.

Of course I could be mistaken, but I believe I did hear this a couple times, which would also make sense as to why ESPN jumps on any chance it gets to "sabotage" the nhl's ratings with insults and biased comparisons to other sports and players, so long as they're profiting off a competator sport's news channel.

[truebladearmy 33]

Everything I've read is hypothetical. Just a bunch of fans who hope ESPN picks it up again. I've yet to see any headlines beyond the typical rumormongering.

If there's anything substantial to the contrary, I'd love to see it. From a business standpoint, if I were ESPN, I wouldn't touch the NHL with a ten-foot poll. It's a waste of their money, sadly.

This is correct. The last year ESPN hosted NHL games, the ratings were horrible in most parts of the country.

For example. I lived in El Paso. For 3 weeks in a row they televised comercials to the effect of a Dallas/Detroit game. The night of the game I had a 30 rack of beer, and ordered two pizza's.

Guess what actually got televised that night on ESPN in El Paso?

Womens, college, Volleyball.

About twenty effortless calls later with the network hanging up on me each time, I changed the channel to HBO.

I have never once watched ESPN again.

While ESPN is national, their programing is relevant to local areas. That said....if you live in El Paso you're more likely to catch college sports on ESPN, while simultaneously if you live in New York, the Yankees might be playing.

Hockey is typically never high enough profile for them. In Detroit, other companies bid more than they are willing to bid, the same for other towns where hockey is notable. We all know now that Versus is the place to go to watch hockey, so it is worth their time to play the games.....but most people flipping to ESPN see a hockey game, and just flip onward for something else. As a result.....not only did ESPN cancel their contracts, but now nobody even thinks of going to ESPN for hockey games, so its doubly pointless for them to renew their coverage. Why bother, when in Montana college lacrosse, is so much more popular?

[truebladearmy 33]

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opener was the highest-rated and most-watched cable telecast of the championship round in six years.

The Red Wings' 4-0 win on Saturday night had a 1.8 national rating -- drawing over 2.3 million viewers. The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus, topping the audience that watched the Penguins' Game 2 victory over Philadelphia in this year's Eastern Conference finals.

Only Lance Armstrong's final ride in the 2005 Tour de France had a higher rating in Versus history (2.1).

Versus will show Game 2 of the finals on Monday night before the series shifts to NBC for the remaining games.

The Game 1 rating is a 157 percent increase over last year's opener and a 100 percent rise from two years ago.

Look at who was winning last year, or the years prior.

Anaheim?

Carolina?

Tampa Bay?

They don't even have ICE in those places. The fans who did go to those games, couldn't most often even tell you who their teams goalie is these days.

Check local listings. In Tampa bay the drop in fanbase is more than 300% this year over the playoff year.

In places like Chicago, the listings are so horrible that they refuse to televise home games, just to get the few people who are fans to go to the games, because it's not worth a tv contract.

Wings always have relatively good ratings. Pittsburg is also a very good sports fanatic town (Albeit, I've seen that most of their penguins fans are very new to the sport).

But you get a crap finals like anaheim and tampa bay, and who really cares? Anaheim and Buffalo? Almost a waste of television, especially considering the styles of play, and the outcome of the playoffs.

This year, Pitts and Detroit, is the best thing to happen to hockey in well over a decade. Two excellent teams, two teams with a lot of hype, playing for gold. Unlike say....Anaheim and Buffalo where even the home team fans can't list the players on the 2nd line.

I know this because I watched Detroit get beat by Anaheim last year when I was in Iraq. I would sneak into the building with the TV with an anaheim fan every morning at around 3am (Time differential). We'd steal their food and their energy drinks, and watch the games. Good fun.....but this guy was convinced Anaheim was the leading point getter all year long. Obviously, this isn't true, but he was so convinced that I couldn't convince him otherwise (On that note, Buffalo and Detroit were the leading point getters). So it was very clear that this guy hadn't watched hockey all year long, and if I hadn't woke him up at 3 in the morning every morning to go watch the games, he wouldn't have gone period.

Yes, I have a lot of weird stories

[Cicada 4]

In places like Chicago, the listings are so horrible that they refuse to televise home games, just to get the few people who are fans to go to the games, because it's not worth a tv contract.

rubbish...

the Blackhawks not televising home games had nothing to do with ratings at all

[VM1138 1,921]

I would much rather have the NHL Playoffs on a station like NBC than ESPN. No matter that it's the "biggest name is sports", it's still a cable station. NBC has a wider reach I'm sure, and thus more exposure. The NHL has been recovering fairly well and is gaining ground in the world of sports, which is amazing considering the difficulty in actually finding VS for many people. People are seeking out the NHL, which is a good sign.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Er, because you actually have to negotiate a network deal before that could happen? Can't just snap your fingers and have the Wings-Pens on ESPN tomorrow. The whole season will have to be accounted for, not just a 7-game series. Considering how s***tacular hockey ratings were when it was last on ESPN, I doubt we'll see it there soon.

And the high ratings for this series should come as no surprise. The league has had to endure very limited markets winning the Cup the past 3 years(ANA,CAR,TB), so of course the percentage increase will look huge. Coupled with Crosby being in the Finals, average Joe fan support increased.

I wasn't talking about espn. I was talking about all the games being shown on NBC.

If NBC has something against hockey, they wouldn't be showing any of the games at all. Yet for some reason, they're only showing games 3 through 7. That's what I was confused about.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I wasn't talking about espn. I was talking about all the games being shown on NBC.

If NBC has something against hockey, they wouldn't be showing any of the games at all. Yet for some reason, they're only showing games 3 through 7. That's what I was confused about.

When ABC broadcasted games in the early 2000s, it worked out the same way more/less I think. ESPN broadcasted games 1 and 2 of the SCF, and ABC games 3-7.

[betterREDthandead 58]

I wasn't talking about espn. I was talking about all the games being shown on NBC.

If NBC has something against hockey, they wouldn't be showing any of the games at all. Yet for some reason, they're only showing games 3 through 7. That's what I was confused about.

Because Vs. wouldn't even pay half the money they pay now if they were shut out of the Finals.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Of course the ratings are up. This is the first time in 4 years that the SCF hasn't been an almost extremely predictable matchup of a sunbelt team vs. small market Canadian team matchup (well, technically, it's only been 3 years because of the lockout, but the 2002-2003 SCF was a ratings nightmare as well, because New Jersey is certainly no draw, and I think Anaheim speaks for itself).

Deep south teams are never going to get big ratings; they are smaller cities, for one thing, and the hockey following down there is very weak. As far as Canadian teams go, they don't get Vs. in Canada; they watch CBC or TSN. So that's a whole team with a fanbase who's not bringing in the ratings (unless any of them live in the US, which in the case of a team like Edmonton or Ottawa, isn't very likely).

This years SCF is the best thing to happen to the NHL in a long time; two big market teams with a long history of success, and genuine talented players to market.

Edited May 26, 2008 by Kp-Wings

[betterREDthandead 58]

This years SCF is the best thing to happen to the NHL in a long time; two big market teams with a long history of success, and genuine talented players to market.

Pittsburgh is the smallest American market of any team that's ever played in the Finals except Carolina. They're kind of medium-sized. Obviously a bigger hockey fanbase though.

[Jwo 7]

I would much rather have the NHL Playoffs on a station like NBC than ESPN. No matter that it's the "biggest name is sports", it's still a cable station. NBC has a wider reach I'm sure, and thus more exposure. The NHL has been recovering fairly well and is gaining ground in the world of sports, which is amazing considering the difficulty in actually finding VS for many people. People are seeking out the NHL, which is a good sign.

I'm pretty sure people can find the cable channel 'VS' since they carry MMA and that seems to be the "in" thing to watch right now.

Another thing too look at is that Versus is run by the largest cable company in the U.S. That would be Comcast and they helped build the NHL Network channel.

Edited May 26, 2008 by Jwo

[Ladsud2002 0]

From ESPN

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Detroit Red Wings' victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals opener was the highest-rated and most-watched cable telecast of the championship round in six years.

The Red Wings' 4-0 win on Saturday night had a 1.8 national rating -- drawing over 2.3 million viewers. The rating was the highest for an NHL game on Versus, topping the audience that watched the Penguins' Game 2 victory over Philadelphia in this year's Eastern Conference finals.

Versus will show Game 2 of the finals on Monday night before the series shifts to NBC for the remaining games.

The Game 1 rating is a 157 percent increase over last year's opener and a 100 percent rise from two years ago.

Hmmm who was in the finals 6 years ago. I think it was Detroit....

[wingsfan75 2]

And they say Detroit isn't Hockeytown....