Doubt it... other than Toronto there are no other sports teams other than hockey in Canada.
that means canada is fresh meat
Doubt it... other than Toronto there are no other sports teams other than hockey in Canada.
The problem with yesterday's NBC debacle was that they've given their word to Bettman numerous times that they won't cut away from a game going into overtime. That was one of the "guarantees" he was supposed to get from NBC. However, they cut away to the Preakness preshow. Not the actual race, but a preshow. For surely, they could have delayed the preshow to show the overtime. Instead, the NHL gets screwed yet again by NBC and they get shut out.
What I don't get is that there has to be more than one sports channel in the States besides ESPN. I thought Fox Sports was there and if so, why doesn't the NHL try to get a national contract with them? I remember in the late 90s when Fox used to show games and I always thought Fox was great. The Saturday afternoon games was always something to watch and always something good. I think it's time the NHL revisit Fox and go from there.
Last year's rating FWIW:
"The overnight ratings for NBC's coverage of the Preakness Stakes May 20 indicated a small drop-off in viewers from 2005's numbers. The overnights, which measure viewership in 54 major markets, gave the overall telecast a 5.7 rating and a 14 share, down 4% from last year's 5.9/14.
With one rating point equal to 770,000 viewers, the Preakness, from Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Md., was seen in approximately 4.4-million homes. The share indicates the percent of TV sets that were tuned to the race.
The pre-race portion of the one-hour, 45-minute telecast, from 5 p.m.-5:45 p.m. EDT, registered a 4.0/10, down fractionally from 2005's 4.2/10. The race portion of the show, 5:45-6:45, yielded a 7.0/16, down 3% from a 7.2/17 last year.
Nevertheless, the Preakness telecast was the highest-rated sporting event televised May 20. ABC will telecast the Belmont Stakes June 10 from New York."
http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=33676
I think a SCFs elimination game could at least equal that.
GHOST
Bettman at least got the NHL onto network television in the U.S. on a somewhat consistent basis, which is more than I can say for John Ziegler or Gil Stein.
Bettman at least got the NHL onto network television in the U.S. on a somewhat consistent basis, which is more than I can say for John Ziegler or Gil Stein.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_GameIn American football, the Heidi Game (also sometimes called the Heidi Bowl) refers to a famous 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, played on November 17 in Oakland, California. Another NBC "Heidi" incident happened on May 20, 2007, during the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.
With the Jets leading 32-29 with only 65 seconds left in the game, the Raiders quickly scored 14 points to win, 43-32. Meanwhile, millions of American television viewers were unable to see Oakland's comeback. The NBC television network cut off the live broadcast in favor of a pre-scheduled airing of Heidi, a new made-for-TV version of the classic children's story
Not even a Stanley Cup Finals elimination game between two large American markets? If so, things are even worse than I thought. Either that or Preakness is a much bigger event in the USA than I had imagined.
GHOST
But now it's time to get someone in who can at least land the NHL a decent television contract with some more exposure. Bettman has already run his course. He's managed to crush the NHLPA and he's managed to get a salary cap in place. Now the league needs someone who at least has some good working relationships with the major networks in order to land a very good television deal.
Apparently some Versus viewers were none to happy to have their professional strongman competition cut off half way through the broadcast in order to show the hockey game.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/allan_muir/05/20/playoffs.preakness/
GHOST
"I can't believe it," he moaned. "They cut off the strongman competition I was watching for a stinkin' hockey game!"
From your link:
The NHL should learn from that lesson and choose the national network that actually pays them for broadcasting rights.
-The real issue for me is that the race took place an hour and fifteen minutes AFTER the switch took place. I get the move if you switch right at post time but so they can get their entire, hour-plus, degenerate gambler pre-race show in?
Complete JOKE....!!! What the **** is the NHL doing??? Get rid of NBC they are a complete bunch of idiots. I thought I'd seen it all until Saturday at 5pm!!
Well, we hated the NHL on FOX. And we hated the NHL on ESPN/ABC. And now we hate the NHL on NBC/Vs. It doesn't matter who carries it, we'll find a way to hate 'em.
Who gives a **** about the ratings? The problem is that Bettman allowed this to happen, he knew if the game went into overtime NBC would be switching over to the horse race. He turn the NHL into some cheap throw away product. For that alone he should have his ass thrown out, but unfortunately most of the American owners don't give a **** about the game either.
Not even a Stanley Cup Finals elimination game between two large American markets? If so, things are even worse than I thought. Either that or Preakness is a much bigger event in the USA than I had imagined.
GHOST
The issue was advertising. The advertisers paid the money they did for the Preakness-type audience, not the NHL. Unfortunately, there are a lot more people that watch the Preakness than the NHL and NBC isn't going to piss off their advertisers to show the rest of the hockey game.
Well, we hated the NHL on FOX. And we hated the NHL on ESPN/ABC. And now we hate the NHL on NBC/Vs. It doesn't matter who carries it, we'll find a way to hate 'em.