Iceman said:patheticucking:
NHL's Strong Comeback Marred by Poor TV Ratings
[SIZE=-1] Associated Press[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]June 04, 2006
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The NHL playoffs, mostly relegated to the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), a second-tier cable channel known for hunting and fishing programs and its Tour de France coverage, have barely registered with the American public. NBC's ratings aren't great, either.
"You look at the NHL playoff [ratings] numbers, and they have been beaten pretty soundly by poker and bowling," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "But I don't think this year was ever about robust TV numbers. It was about the gate and about competitive balance. With an economic model that doesn't rely on television, they can make this league work long-term."
The NHL parted ways with ESPN when the network declined to offer the NHL any type of upfront rights fees for airing its games. Instead, ESPN proposed splitting profits after the network recouped its costs, terms virtually unheard of among the major professional sports leagues.
Measured another way, the NHL will earn about 3 percent of its revenue from national television this year. The NBA's and MLB's share of national television revenue is well into the double digits, and the NFL's television revenue is about 66 percent of the total league-wide earnings.
During the playoffs, OLN is averaging 0.4 rating, which is well below the 0.7 ESPN had at the same time in 2004. NBC's telecasts have averaged a 1.1 rating, off from the 1.5 ABC pulled two years ago. There's a sliver of good television news: the Eastern Conference finals between Carolina and Buffalo last week was one of the most watched OLN programs ever. But that's a far cry from the big national television presence that Bettman and NHL owners hoped to achieve when they expanded in the 1990s.
"The two objectives of parity and creating a national television contract are not necessarily consistent with each other," said Jeff Citron, a Toronto-based attorney who once worked for the players' union. Then again, said Citron, "hockey, in all fairness, is just not a sport with national appeal to Americans."
What remains to be seen is whether the improved on-ice product will ever translate into better ratings. Some supporters say the NHL may have to consign itself to being a gate-driven sport with little widespread appeal.
"The NHL is what it is," said television consultant Mike Trager. "It's a major sport that is ratings-challenged."
The NHL fucked up big time not signing with ESPN, even if the cash was less because people just don't go to OLN to see what is on. I called a buddy of mine last night and he said he was bored, there were no sports on TV and I said, "dude, the Stanley Cup is on". He turned the game on. No one checks OLN.
Kenny B said:
first off monday's G1 was ONE OF THE BEST games i have seen in some time
this is very misleading since espn/espn2 is in a TON more homes than OLN
as for not signing with ESPN - don't blame the NHL on this one - sort of. if they had never gone away for 1 year they might still be on ESPN but once they did ESPN found alternative programming that was CHEAPER to produce and got better ratings - so saying ADIOS to the NHL was easy
even then ESPN had exclusive negotiating rights for a certain time frame when the NHL came back - but they declined. they also had the right to MATCH any offer the NHL got - and once again THEY refused
we can blame the NHL for the labor situation in the beginning but not signing with RESPN once they came back is NOT their fault
50/50 ESPN and the NHL get back together again once the OLN deal runs its course (2006-07 season then an option for 2007-08)
also keep in mind 1 more thing
now NBC has the NHL and that will play a part in all this
having said that NBC is PRAYING for a 4 game sweep because that would mean only 2 games left and only 2 ratings loser games. saturday could get OK ratings. monday's G4 will be one of the lowest rated shows of the week and if there is a game wednesday - ditto
