NHL All Star Game

[fonz]

The NHL posted this article on their site (I don't know why) of how the ratings for the All Star Game have plunged 76% since 2004. Could its elimination be next?

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=28809...mp;service=page

[LMU]

Elimination could be what they end up doing, although the reason for the ratings drop could be, oh, I don't know, the fact that the league's been relegated to an obscure cable channel not all companies provide and that the game was held in the middle of the week against the ratings machine that is American Idol without any buildup.

So, odds are that they'll blame the whole thing on the popularity of the game, although the whole thing is just a sign of the incompetence of the NHL marketing department.

[Milo Meningocele]

ya, needs stripes.

[zig]

ya, needs stripes.

Beat me to it

The NHL posted this article on their site (I don't know why) of how the ratings for the All Star Game have plunged 76% since 2004. Could its elimination be next?

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=28809...mp;service=page

At least it went up in Canada. I'm not Canadian but, yah go canada

These ratings are as bad as the XFL and that is never a good thing.

[DEAD!]

These ratings are as bad as the XFL and that is never a good thing.

Well at least the Stanley Cup is better than the trophy the XFL had.

[jkrdevil]

What the article doesn't point out that the game switched from network (free) tv to cable (pay) tv. Network ratings are always higher than cable ratings so a drop in ratings isn't surprised especially given the limited distrubution of Versus and the fact that sports ratings (and other tv shows) in general are falling with more and more channels becoming availble each year which breaks up viewership. Considering that the game put Versus in the top twenty for cable networks for one of the few times the game isn't going anywhere. I bet at the end of the year that the ASG and games 1 and 2 of the Cup Finals will be Versus highest rated programs for the year. The ASG is going nowhere.

The ratings aren't as bad as the XFL as the XFL was on network. A comparable would be what the XFL got on their cable games not their NBC games.

In fact if you look at the ratings for the championships the populatrity of hockey has declined at the same rate as MLB, and the NBA over the last 5 or so years. There's a good article on Foxsports.com on this.

Of course stripes couldn't hurt.

[IceCap]

The NHL needs to talk to NBC about them airing the ASG and Stanley Cup playoffs instead of VS. On that note they need to talk about NBC showing more games in general. If NBC won't budge then the NHL may need to look for other options. Fox is probably the best bet, Spike TV may work as well.

Two things are clear though; OLN/VS hasn't taken off like the NHL hoped it would, and they can't go back to ESPN.

[jkrdevil]

Well NBC has increased the number of game this year and are showing the most games since FOX in the late 90's. The ASG was moved to the cable package back in '04 when NBC and ESPN got the rights. After the lockout Comcast bought the ESPN portion of the TV deal. So as long as that contract with VS in place NBC can't show it if they want to. Second I don't see the league wanting to put the game back on network TV, that would almost be certain to mean that the ASG would have to be moved back to the weekend which I can't see the NHL doing as it would take away a weekend's worth of gate money from the teams. Plus more people watch TV during the week than on weekends. Baseball has their ASG during the week for these reasons also. All they need to do is figure out away out of the VS. Contract and move the game to a cable channel with higher distribution and the game would get a decent cable rating for what amounts to the least watchable game of the year. That said don't count on that to happen, as Comcast is part of the NHL ownership.

In general All Star Games are moving to cable. The NBA ASG has been on TNT, and the Pro Bowl was put on ESPN the last few years (although it will be on CBS this year). The only All Star Game that has stayed on network TV has been the MLB All-Star Game which not coincidentally is probably the ASG that most resembles a regular game of that sport.

[Dilbert]

Maybe if they didnt show it on VS I would have been able to see it. If the NHL wants people to watch games on TV they should put it on a channel like Fox. NBC does a horrible job and not everyone has VS.

[Original6]

Hockey is done like Dinner...

R.I.P

They might as well take boxing with them too.

[leedsunited]

Hockey is done like Dinner...

R.I.P

They might as well take boxing with them too.

I hope not, because the NBA is unwatchable and i'd be mighty bored without the ol' NHL.

[Jigga]

Maybe if they didnt show it on VS I would have been able to see it. If the NHL wants people to watch games on TV they should put it on a channel like Fox. NBC does a horrible job and not everyone has VS.

It's not like the NHL can "put" games on any channel they want. Come on now. The NHL has no "pull" anymore. They had to take a "horrible" deal with NBC/Versus, because it was the only one they could get. The networks have to want your league. If FOX wanted the NHL, they could have had it for a song. Face it...the NHL is not a viable television entity. This isn't a big boy league in the US, people! Hockey is a great game, but the NHL is a horrible league and no network is going to bend over backward and lose money on the grease fire that is the NHL. Sorry, puckheads.

[cleckie]

Maybe if they didnt show it on VS I would have been able to see it. If the NHL wants people to watch games on TV they should put it on a channel like Fox. NBC does a horrible job and not everyone has VS.

It's not like the NHL can "put" games on any channel they want. Come on now. The NHL has no "pull" anymore. They had to take a "horrible" deal with NBC/Versus, because it was the only one they could get. The networks have to want your league. If FOX wanted the NHL, they could have had it for a song. Face it...the NHL is not a viable television entity. This isn't a big boy league in the US, people! Hockey is a great game, but the NHL is a horrible league and no network is going to bend over backward and lose money on the grease fire that is the NHL. Sorry, puckheads.

Exactly... and we still hear rumors about more possible expansion in the US when there are more than a couple of Canadian markets more than prepared to host an NHL team? Strictly business speaking wouldn't it make sense to invest in a market where you know that will make a profit and generate interest in your product. All this talk of the Pens moving to KC when they have a quality fan base in PITT, it's sad. Without a doubt a new or moved franchise to a larger Canadian market would be a huge success for both the community and the leauge.

[TFoA]

I think LMU pointed it out...They barely even promoted it, and then they scheduled it on Wednesday, which most folks would forget about not only because it's in the middle of the week, but the same night as American Idol. I'm thinking that they need to get some better promotions crews or get the scheduling together because that was ridiculous. Honestly, that was the most invisible major all-star game I've ever heard of. It's really a shame.

[rams80]

Maybe if they didnt show it on VS I would have been able to see it. If the NHL wants people to watch games on TV they should put it on a channel like Fox. NBC does a horrible job and not everyone has VS.

It's not like the NHL can "put" games on any channel they want. Come on now. The NHL has no "pull" anymore. They had to take a "horrible" deal with NBC/Versus, because it was the only one they could get. The networks have to want your league. If FOX wanted the NHL, they could have had it for a song. Face it...the NHL is not a viable television entity. This isn't a big boy league in the US, people! Hockey is a great game, but the NHL is a horrible league and no network is going to bend over backward and lose money on the grease fire that is the NHL. Sorry, puckheads.

Exactly... and we still hear rumors about more possible expansion in the US when there are more than a couple of Canadian markets more than prepared to host an NHL team? Strictly business speaking wouldn't it make sense to invest in a market where you know that will make a profit and generate interest in your product. All this talk of the Pens moving to KC when they have a quality fan base in PITT, it's sad. Without a doubt a new or moved franchise to a larger Canadian market would be a huge success for both the community and the leauge.

What is this large Canuckistani market that you speak of? Where are these prepared arenas? Winnipeg's is too small, Copps needs massive renovation, and Le Colisee needs replacement. Winnipeg and Quebec are both smaller than Edmonton (current smallest market), and anything in the GTA would get killed by the Leafs (based on history).

They talk of moving Pitt for the same reason that helped doom the Jets, Whalers and Nordiques. They NEED a fracking arena. Need, need, n-e-e-d one.

And actually it makes sense to put your teams in places that could potentially be palatable to the tv guys someday down the road and you're trying to build the game. (I also understood and liked that part of the "Sun Belt" reasoning). Sure you may sell out games in Canada, but that ain't expanding the game, and that is also an admission that you've given up on tv.

[Breakwood]

I'm steering this off-topic, but its still about hockey on tv, and I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Why the :censored: is TSN showing the Rangers-Bruins game tonight instead of the Habs-Sens game!!!!!! A game between two American teams over a game between two Canadian teams...who just happen to be in a battle for 2nd place in the division ON A CANADIAN STATION.

[Original6]

LOL!

[Fred T. Jane]

I'm steering this off-topic, but its still about hockey on tv, and I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Why the :censored: is TSN showing the Rangers-Bruins game tonight instead of the Habs-Sens game!!!!!! A game between two American teams over a game between two Canadian teams...who just happen to be in a battle for 2nd place in the division ON A CANADIAN STATION.

Because they don't want you to see the Senators beat the Habs?

*ZING!*

[jkrdevil]

In related news not surprisingly Versus as picked up the option on the NHL contract. So the NHL will be on Versus through 2011.

http://ibc.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/...e.jsp?id=100547

[Gordie]

I'm steering this off-topic, but its still about hockey on tv, and I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Why the :censored: is TSN showing the Rangers-Bruins game tonight instead of the Habs-Sens game!!!!!! A game between two American teams over a game between two Canadian teams...who just happen to be in a battle for 2nd place in the division ON A CANADIAN STATION.

It seems like TSN airs a lot of American games, while Sportsnet has the regional broadcast rights for most Canadian teams. The Sens - Habs game would probably be on Sportsnet East (not Ontario) if they weren't showing the AHL All-Star game tonight.

For what it's worth, the Ottawa - Montreal game is on local english-language TV in Ottawa, and in french on RDS in Quebec and eastern Ontario. Wouldn't you get alternate programming even if the game was on TSN? We do whenever a Leafs game is on anything but HNIC, unless Toronto's playing Ottawa or Montreal.