Horses over Hockey?

[xxjdm66]

NBC Hates Hockey.

[CC97]

NBC Hates Hockey.

I'm starting to think those running the NHL do too (not seriously, but I'm still annoyed by this "New NHL")

[NJTank]

NBC Hates Hockey.

I'm starting to think those running the NHL do too (not seriously, but I'm still annoyed by this "New NHL")

Ive said that for a long time myself

[-kj]

NBC said that the overtime would be shown on Versus, and that after the commercial break, they'd be going to coverage of the Preakness.

Damn, I missed that. All I know is that the Preakness coverage started at that point, and I was annoyed, but not surprised. (...and immediately thought that there'd be a thread on here about it.)

Of course, the stupid race didn't even start for over an hour after that....

[broncoempire]

I thought that NBC did the right thing in the situation. There was no way they could move the horse race to accomodate the Preakness (its about the gambling), so they were forced into it. I'm just glad they had a logical point to break away rather than go 11 minutes into overtime, everyone starts fiddling with the remote, and misses the game winning goal. My only real gripe is I feel they should have moved it to one of their cable networks that wasn't doing anything better (MSNBC, CNBC, etc.) so those that don't have Versus could catch the end if they were inclined. I have the combo Versus/Golf HD channel, not Versus by itself, and when I flipped over they were stuck in a Bowflex infomercial and I had to listen to the rest of the game over the internet. I can't say I'm real upset though, I'm a big horse guy too.

And this can all be rectified in the future if the NHL wises up and takes any prospective offer to put the league on ESPN2 the next chance they get.

[Sabrejeff]

I thought that NBC did the right thing in the situation. There was no way they could move the horse race to accomodate the Preakness (its about the gambling), so they were forced into it. I'm just glad they had a logical point to break away rather than go 11 minutes into overtime, everyone starts fiddling with the remote, and misses the game winning goal. My only real gripe is I feel they should have moved it to one of their cable networks that wasn't doing anything better (MSNBC, CNBC, etc.) so those that don't have Versus could catch the end if they were inclined. I have the combo Versus/Golf HD channel, not Versus by itself, and when I flipped over they were stuck in a Bowflex infomercial and I had to listen to the rest of the game over the internet. I can't say I'm real upset though, I'm a big horse guy too.

And this can all be rectified in the future if the NHL wises up and takes any prospective offer to put the league on ESPN2 the next chance they get.

Would NBC have switched back to the game after Preakness coverage had the game gone to, say, 3 overtimes?

[spyboy1]

I sure was worried when today's game went to overtime. I thought "Here we go again", but at least I was home to react to a possible channel change this time.

JeffB

[OMMF]

Why was this a bad decision by NBC?

As far as going back to ESPN, they've done the same thing to the NHL before, so they are no saving grace for those that view them as such. I don't remember when, exactly, but there was some Flyers game I was watching and they had to break away from it to show college football, iirc. I believe the game went from ESPN to ESPN2 but it still caused a stir.

Also, CBC used to have this problem as well, as evidenced by these entries in the gospel known as Wikipedia:

* Up until the mid 1980s, Hockey Night in Canada also used to switch from the end of late running games to show the start of The National. Dave Hodge once threw a pencil in the air after he had to announce CBC's decision to not show the end of an overtime game, and was subsequently fired.

* Another NHL hockey game on the CBC was abruply cut off on CBUT Vancouver at 7:58 p.m. PDT during the 2nd overtime of a playoff game involving two American teams, as the provincial polls were about to close, even though the election was a predicted landslide. The CBC had the ability to warn its viewers in BC that they would switch to election coverage at around 8 p.m. (through text scrolls, overtime intermission news breaks), yet failed to do so and thereby surprised viewers with the sudden cutoff.

[Roger Clemente]

Narcissistic

Breeder of

Cats!

Suck on that one.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[CC97]

Why was this a bad decision by NBC?

As far as going back to ESPN, they've done the same thing to the NHL before, so they are no saving grace for those that view them as such. I don't remember when, exactly, but there was some Flyers game I was watching and they had to break away from it to show college football, iirc. I believe the game went from ESPN to ESPN2 but it still caused a stir.

Also, CBC used to have this problem as well

I don't care what other networks have done, it was still a bad decision. Did viewers really need the 60-90 min pre-race show instead of overtime on the nhl conference finals?

[OMMF]

Why was this a bad decision by NBC?

As far as going back to ESPN, they've done the same thing to the NHL before, so they are no saving grace for those that view them as such. I don't remember when, exactly, but there was some Flyers game I was watching and they had to break away from it to show college football, iirc. I believe the game went from ESPN to ESPN2 but it still caused a stir.

Also, CBC used to have this problem as well

I don't care what other networks have done, it was still a bad decision. Did viewers really need the 60-90 min pre-race show instead of overtime on the nhl conference finals?

No. But NBC was contractually obligated to air it and, therefore, made the only decision that was presented to them. Also consider, while the game was an exciting one, the ratings will still be higher for the Preakness pre-show than they would be for the OT and that NHL OT's have no commercial breaks while the ad time for the horse race preview had already been sold. It's an entirely sound business decision all the way around by NBC.

[VitaminD]

No. But NBC was contractually obligated to air it and, therefore, made the only decision that was presented to them. Also consider, while the game was an exciting one, the ratings will still be higher for the Preakness pre-show than they would be for the OT and that NHL OT's have no commercial breaks while the ad time for the horse race preview had already been sold. It's an entirely sound business decision all the way around by NBC.

Sad, but true. NBC listens to the people who pay their bills. The sponsors forked over a huge sum of cash to get their ads on during the Preakness coverage, since they expected millions of eyes to be watching. It doesn't boil down to what some are making of this - "NBC would rather show horses being walked and saddled up than sudden-death overtime playoff hockey". NBC knows its bottom line. It's getting too much money from sponsors betting that millions more people are tuning in for a Triple Crown race than for a hockey game. Despite the fact that it was a great game, it's still hockey, which was running 4th among the pro sports BEFORE taking the year off. NBC gave them a lifeline for national TV, but on their terms. NBC had programming scheduled that would be seen by manifold more than they'd ever dream of getting for a hockey game, and they went after them. At least they had a feasible backup plan in place. Granted, they should have made a more clear and constant announcement of it - a graphic crawl at the bottom, perhaps? - since I appear to have been the only person in North America who caught the reference, and I was actually heading out of the room when I caught it. We have Versus regular and HD, so I missed nothing.

But NBC would rather piss off the few diehards watching hockey (knowing they'll be back, just like the NHL alienated the casual fan, knowing we diehards would still be there) than the tens of millions of people who are surely watching the ponies. It's a sane move from their perspective. Sorry hockey.

[CC97]

No. But NBC was contractually obligated to air it and, therefore, made the only decision that was presented to them. Also consider, while the game was an exciting one, the ratings will still be higher for the Preakness pre-show than they would be for the OT and that NHL OT's have no commercial breaks while the ad time for the horse race preview had already been sold. It's an entirely sound business decision all the way around by NBC.

Sad, but true. NBC listens to the people who pay their bills.

And if the NHL did the same thing we wouldn't have to deal with afternoon playoff hockey

[OMMF]

No. But NBC was contractually obligated to air it and, therefore, made the only decision that was presented to them. Also consider, while the game was an exciting one, the ratings will still be higher for the Preakness pre-show than they would be for the OT and that NHL OT's have no commercial breaks while the ad time for the horse race preview had already been sold. It's an entirely sound business decision all the way around by NBC.

Sad, but true. NBC listens to the people who pay their bills.

And if the NHL did the same thing we wouldn't have to deal with afternoon playoff hockey

Jesus, how about I just buy you a Tivo and you can watch hockey at whatever time of day pleases you. I hate afternoon hockey games, too, but it comes with the territory. I'm sure when Wrigley added lights people started bitching about having to stay up past dusk to watch the Cubs play but no one remembers that now, do they? Sports on a weekend afternoon is what it is. And hey, it may have been 2 o'clock where you were but it was 11am here and yet somehow I was still up and able to watch the game.

So, do you want the 60-hour or the 80?

[stevio321]

AI'S RESPONCE

horses...horses...horses...we're talkin' 'bout horses...horses...hor...horses how are horses supposed to be better for nbc...i mean horses

[HedleyLamarr]

No. But NBC was contractually obligated to air it and, therefore, made the only decision that was presented to them. Also consider, while the game was an exciting one, the ratings will still be higher for the Preakness pre-show than they would be for the OT and that NHL OT's have no commercial breaks while the ad time for the horse race preview had already been sold. It's an entirely sound business decision all the way around by NBC.

Sad, but true. NBC listens to the people who pay their bills. The sponsors forked over a huge sum of cash to get their ads on during the Preakness coverage, since they expected millions of eyes to be watching. It doesn't boil down to what some are making of this - "NBC would rather show horses being walked and saddled up than sudden-death overtime playoff hockey". NBC knows its bottom line. It's getting too much money from sponsors betting that millions more people are tuning in for a Triple Crown race than for a hockey game. Despite the fact that it was a great game, it's still hockey, which was running 4th among the pro sports BEFORE taking the year off. NBC gave them a lifeline for national TV, but on their terms. NBC had programming scheduled that would be seen by manifold more than they'd ever dream of getting for a hockey game, and they went after them. At least they had a feasible backup plan in place. Granted, they should have made a more clear and constant announcement of it - a graphic crawl at the bottom, perhaps? - since I appear to have been the only person in North America who caught the reference, and I was actually heading out of the room when I caught it. We have Versus regular and HD, so I missed nothing.

But NBC would rather piss off the few diehards watching hockey (knowing they'll be back, just like the NHL alienated the casual fan, knowing we diehards would still be there) than the tens of millions of people who are surely watching the ponies. It's a sane move from their perspective. Sorry hockey.

And just to further emphasize your point, (according to PTI's Tony Kornheiser) the viewership for the Preakness was 5.5 million, while the hockey game had only 1.2 viewers.

That's why hockey got bumped......

[NJTank]

This is why Gary Bettman must go I hear he is now considering changing the playoff OT format now because of this and too many late night games. Nobody has done more damage to the NHL ever then Bettman.

[HedleyLamarr]

It's Bettman's fault that no other basic TV station would air the NHL at a cost? It's Bettman's fault that West Coast games start at 10-10:30 (which would be 7-7:30 local time) so people can attend these games?

If I remember correctly, the NHL and NBC came to a broadcasting deal before the lockout season would have started. It isn't Bettman's fault that American TV stations weren't willing to pay for a national hockey coverage. He was really lucky, quite frankly, to get a money deal from Versus after the locked-out season.

[Fred T. Jane]

It's Bettman's fault that no other basic TV station would air the NHL at a cost? It's Bettman's fault that West Coast games start at 10-10:30 (which would be 7-7:30 local time) so people can attend these games?

If I remember correctly, the NHL and NBC came to a broadcasting deal before the lockout season would have started. It isn't Bettman's fault that American TV stations weren't willing to pay for a national hockey coverage. He was really lucky, quite frankly, to get a money deal from Versus after the locked-out season.

Gary Bettman causes Global Warming...

Yes, the deal was signed before the Lockout.

And as for afternoon games, I for one enjoy them, for the record. There's nothing else to watch of note sports-wise to me, so why not enjoy the Stanley Cup playoffs without being encumbered with distractions like people in the house?

[DEAD!]

Gary Bettman causes Global Warming...

That's true... in order to keep the ice and have the arena at suitable temperature during playoff season, especially in Anaheim, you have to use a whole bunch of gas-powered generators going....