NHL TV ratings 2015/16

[Fenway]

Wait, really?

That's crazy, there's 2 closer markets with MLB teams. They would never allow that.

Apparently Selig got involved and granted the waiver. The local radio station had been carrying the Cubs for decades and they were getting WGN-TV via microwave long before they went on the satellite. Ironwood, Michigan is actually further west than Chicago but they wanted nothing to do with Detroit.

The NHL has some doozies when it comes to TV blackouts and nothing is worse then Albany, NY which the NHL decided belongs to Buffalo even though the 3 NYC teams, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal are closer to the market.

 

[tony d]

As much as I like the NHL they're dreaming if they want to eclipse the NFL or even MLB in popularity in the US. They can be better than the NBA though.

 

[berklon]

As much as I like the NHL they're dreaming if they want to eclipse the NFL or even MLB in popularity in the US. They can be better than the NBA though.

They really can't.

The NHL was trending upwards for the most part in the last 10 years and the NBA has dropped considerably since Jordan left... and even with the gap between the two getting closer, it's still the size of the grand canyon.

This is most evident when the NHL had the ideal setup against the NBAs lackluster setting in the 2014 playoffs. The NHL had Boston, Montreal, Pittsburgh, NYR, Philly, Detroit, Chicago, LA and Minnesota in the playoffs - with the 2 biggest TV markets in North America facing off in the finals (NY and LA). The NBA had an almost exact opposite setting with the bigger market teams missing the playoffs - NY, Boston, Philly, Detroit, and LA Lakers. It still didn't stop the NBA from trouncing the NHL.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Isn't the gap between NHL and MLB alot closer than NHL and NBA?

BTW, last night on ESPN radio, they were discussing how soccer has now surpassed hockey in the US. They said SCF averaged 2M and MLS 668k.. gap closer now. Also, they said EPL get better #'s than NHL. They said unless SCF have O6 teams in it, no one watches in the US. I'm thinking, what if CALG/OTT really does happen.. then MLS might just pass NHL.

I never knew hockey was this dead in the US, but i think it really is a dying sport in the US. We can't have to keep depending on CHI to do well each yr.

I guess my long life nightmare is becoming reality. soccer is or is about to surpass hockey as #4.. OUCH

 

[Fenway]

I never knew hockey was this dead in the US, but i think it really is a dying sport in the US. We can't have to keep depending on CHI to do well each yr.

Hockey is not dead in the US but it suffers the same way that baseball does - once the team you root for is eliminated you din't watch anymore. The same thing now applies to Canada. (especially in Quebec)

http://assets.numeris.ca/Downloads/May 30, 2016 - June 5, 2016 (Quebec).pdf

English numbers bounced back for the Final so it shows people still care about the game.

http://assets.numeris.ca/Downloads/May 30, 2016 - June 5, 2016 (National).pdf

The NBA is helped because of star power as people will tune it to watch a player AND that player is going to be on the court for at least 90% of the game. With hockey your star players are only on the ice for a third of the game as a rule.

 

[berklon]

I never knew hockey was this dead in the US, but i think it really is a dying sport in the US. We can't have to keep depending on CHI to do well each yr.

The NHL loves the idea of "growing the game" by putting teams in non-traditional markets - but you just know they are secretly wishing for American teams in a traditional hockey markets to make the finals for the sake of avoiding extra poor ratings. Kind of hypocritical.

In any case, I think the NHL should start worrying about Canadian markets. Hockey is still #1 here, but it's not nearly as popular as it once was. Kids enrolling in hockey is way too expensive, and nowadays there are simply too many entertainment options available to people. It's too easy to put the blame on the poor performance of Canadian teams for the decline in interest. I think there's a cultural shift happening with younger generations.

If the NHL isn't careful, they're going to lose that big inflow of revenue coming from Canada. It could set the league back a few decades.

 

[radicalcenter]

Hockey is not dead in the US but it suffers the same way that baseball does - once the team you root for is eliminated you din't watch anymore. The same thing now applies to Canada. (especially in Quebec)

http://assets.numeris.ca/Downloads/May 30, 2016 - June 5, 2016 (Quebec).pdf

English numbers bounced back for the Final so it shows people still care about the game.

damn, this is bad

Any explanation why the ratings are so low in Qc?

 

[Nicky Santoro]

damn, this is bad

Any explanation why the ratings are so low in Qc?

I'm just going to take a stab at this. Could it be also because in QC, we can also choose to watch CBC, which a ton do (coach's corner don cherry, etc).. and also, like myself, we also can watch it on NBC. so if you add those 3, u probably will get a good rating.

It just doesn't make sense why it's so low. Sid, Malkin, Kessel, Jumbo Joe, and some star french canadians in Letang, Vlasic..

 

[gordie]

NHL season is too long and ratings will never get better unless it shortens it. Americans even in hockey areas just don't want to have to pay attention to a winter sport that runs 9 months out of the year.

 

[Fenway]

NHL season is too long and ratings will never get better unless it shortens it. Americans even in hockey areas just don't want to have to pay attention to a winter sport that runs 9 months out of the year.

I think that was proven in the short season of 2013 - regular season ratings were excellent.

 

[CaptainMalkin]

They can be better than the NBA though.

They could but they will never be allowed to in the prevailing political climate that TV networks live in. The NHL is already considered too white among the inner circles of NYC & LA TV execs, those men and women have reputations to uphold too.
Like NASCAR (and other US auto racing) and hunting & fishing, billion dollar industries in terms of participation and sporting goods sales, the NYC & LA TV execs are only willing to push those sports so far before fear of backlash along the lines of diversity issues force a correction. Golf is another that may see a pullback.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

NHL season is too long and ratings will never get better unless it shortens it. Americans even in hockey areas just don't want to have to pay attention to a winter sport that runs 9 months out of the year.

even baseball is a long meaningless season and only a local sport where when their team is out, no one watches.. Yet mlb playoffs get 15M viewers and NHL only get 2M viewers.

I don't get it.

 

[tsanuri]

I think that was proven in the short season of 2013 - regular season ratings were excellent.

Overall rating were up but couldn't that be contributed to the fact they removed the lower rating games. Those played in the beginning of the season. Ratings tend to trend up the farther they get into the season. And I question if the season was shorter and played mostly in the fall if it would actually help.

 

[joelef]

it simple the NHL dosent market it sport. and cowherd, as much i cant stand him, is right. The NHL is being outdrawn by international soccer, liga mx and EPL.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

And lets be honest here. it's not like calg played ott. we still had 2 great teams in the SCF. we had SID, who is the face of hockey and the Lebron of hockey.. and then we had the bay area team with 3 veterans trying to win their 1st cup. Just Jumbo Joe, and Phil Kessel alone would be worth watching, especially in Boston.. and we had Letang, Malkin.. there were many reasons to watch the SCF in the US..

and to only draw 2M is a joke. It's really embarassing for our sport.

 

[jerrytsao]

As much as I like the NHL they're dreaming if they want to eclipse the NFL or even MLB in popularity in the US. They can be better than the NBA though.

I don't get it why it's so hard to understand, hockey has never been a nationally popular sport in US, and it won't ever eclipse the other three.

They could but they will never be allowed to in the prevailing political climate that TV networks live in. The NHL is already considered too white among the inner circles of NYC & LA TV execs, those men and women have reputations to uphold too.

Baseball demographic is arguably worse, being too white is the least relevant reason net execs didn't push the sport, if hockey draw big numbers they would happily show them.

 

[berklon]

I don't get it why it's so hard to understand, hockey has never been a nationally popular sport in US, and it won't ever eclipse the other three.

I agree. But the NHL's whole reason for throwing teams in all regions of the US is to be popular on a national level and get that lucrative national TV contract. Are they going to give up on that now? Because it's not working and will never work.

 

[joelef]

And lets be honest here. it's not like calg played ott. we still had 2 great teams in the SCF. we had SID, who is the face of hockey and the Lebron of hockey.. and then we had the bay area team with 3 veterans trying to win their 1st cup. Just Jumbo Joe, and Phil Kessel alone would be worth watching, especially in Boston.. and we had Letang, Malkin.. there were many reasons to watch the SCF in the US..

and to only draw 2M is a joke. It's really embarassing for our sport.

and being outdrawn by jamaica vs mexico

 

[Fugu]

And lets be honest here. it's not like calg played ott. we still had 2 great teams in the SCF. we had SID, who is the face of hockey and the Lebron of hockey.. and then we had the bay area team with 3 veterans trying to win their 1st cup. Just Jumbo Joe, and Phil Kessel alone would be worth watching, especially in Boston.. and we had Letang, Malkin.. there were many reasons to watch the SCF in the US..

and to only draw 2M is a joke. It's really embarassing for our sport.

Just because Bettman and the NHL tell us he's the face of hockey doesn't mean he IS the face of hockey. I think more fans hate him than like him.



Anyway.... the season is over. We're shutting this thread down shortly, so get in your last comments for this season.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

The real current face of hockey

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

I hate to blame Sportsnet only, but they were a big reason I myself stopped paying attention to other teams/games.

I actually liked all the commentators they had besides one before SN took over full time, but watching coverage after the change infuriated me, as they wouldn't call action on the ice, instead focus on the "Stories behind the game." I was personally never a fan of the CBC/SN intermission crew, but to each their own. Don Cherry is fine, he's just Don Cherry right now, the broadcast would feel weird without him. Strombo is so missused it's criminal. His feature interviews go over so well with me, but him leading a panel just isn't clicking right now. Maybe he'll grow into it, but I'm not a huge fan of the format they're using right now. I'd prefer to see different panel's each week.

The big "plug a glass puck" computer made me change the channel so fast, and I haven't turned back in a while.

I sometimes purposefully miss jets games because I don't like their coverage.

I don't think it would really matter if they were capturing the more casual audience, but I they may have lost some of the hardcore's with their current broadcast setup, especially if most of your favorite team's games are on a different channel.

Oh well, only 15 more years of no competition. :'(

 

[varsaku]

I think that was proven in the short season of 2013 - regular season ratings were excellent.

I still feel a 60 game season would be much better. It would shorten the season and create more meaning to each game. That would also help with TV ratings. Fewer games also means games could be better scheduled to ensure seats are filled.

 

[bigred50]

Biggest mistake NHL made was not finding a way to get their games on ESPN after 2004.

They also missed out on the rise of debate/talk sports shows that were just coming to light on ESPN (Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, etc, etc). Those shows generate eyeballs to the live events, create storylines. You can bet your sweet bippy that NHL would be covered far more on ESPN "shows" if the parent network was still covering the games.

 

[BattleBorn]

Biggest mistake NHL made was not finding a way to get their games on ESPN after 2004.

They also missed out on the rise of debate/talk sports shows that were just coming to light on ESPN (Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, etc, etc). Those shows generate eyeballs to the live events, create storylines. You can bet your sweet bippy that NHL would be covered far more on ESPN "shows" if the parent network was still covering the games.

I agree, being outside of the ESPN "Universe" is the biggest thing against the NHL today. They've either got to hook up with ESPN somehow or hope the eventual downfall of ESPN happens sooner than later.

 

[Fenway]

Biggest mistake NHL made was not finding a way to get their games on ESPN after 2004.

They also missed out on the rise of debate/talk sports shows that were just coming to light on ESPN (Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, etc, etc). Those shows generate eyeballs to the live events, create storylines. You can bet your sweet bippy that NHL would be covered far more on ESPN "shows" if the parent network was still covering the games.

Disney was disenchanted with hockey after their ownership in Anaheim and when Bob Iger took control of Disney at the same time as the lost season the NHL had zero leverage.

ESPN told Bettman 'Gary, truth is we discovered we don't need the NHL but you need us.' and then offered the NHL a contract for 2005-06 that was 50% less than it was before the lost season. Bettman then said we don't need ESPN - we have the Outdoor Life Network (OLN was owned by Comcast which owned the Flyers)



Little did we know than 6 years later Comcast would by NBC from GE and OLN (which became Versus) would now be branded NBCSN.

But now ESPN will televise the World Cup in September which is a big slap in the face to NBC. Comcast still owns the Flyers but they no longer have Ed Snider whispering in Gary's ear.

I work in the TV business and I am shocked ESPN is back in the picture. The World Cup Final is scheduled for a Saturday night in the height of the college football season and ESPN is putting the final on the mothership. I have no idea why NBC was not included but now you have Doc Emrick and Pierre McGuire silenced in favor of Jack Edwards and Barry Melrose