OLN's hockey game ratings- how are they?

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puck57

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Has anyone heard or seen how the ratings so far are for the games on OLN- just curious if there has been any word on how they are doing on the new network. Since I have CI, I watch a little of the games on OLN and I would give an average greade so far. I think Clement is a pretty good analyst, but don't care for him as a studio moderator so much. Anyone else's feedback on what they have seen so far and any ratings news.
 

AdmiralPred

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There aren't as many housholds with OLN as there are with ESPN, and the games are exclusively Monday/Tuesday games. Monday's they are up against MNF for the sports audience, Tuesdays... well there's probably some other reality-TV to watch.

Besides, they have me watching their channel twice per week, and that's all that counts.
 

puck57

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Wow- that is really bottom of the barrell- sure not great at all. How long is the contract that the NHL has with OLN- I wonder if already the network is having second thoughts.
 

AdmiralPred

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puck57 said:
Wow- that is really bottom of the barrell- sure not great at all. How long is the contract that the NHL has with OLN- I wonder if already the network is having second thoughts.
I don't know how much the deal was for, but it wasn't costing them THAT much, the NHL needed some US Nat'l TV exposure when ESPN decided not to pick up the option. I am sure it isn't hurting OLN any, might even be a ratings boost.

Besides, as I've heard it, OLN wants to become more of a player in the 'team sports' arena, like TNT back in the early-mid 90's, so it just might be a realatively inexpensive stepping stone for them.
 

Squiddy*

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Don't forget that OLN has almost completely blacked out dishnetwork and cablevision. That's like 80 % of New York's population which is the worst thing you could ever do for ratings. I don't think OLN's motivation to get the NHL right was just leverage to put their crappy channel on every basic tier. We believe in hockey ... yeah right. ESPN used to do a great job all they needed to do was promote it and that would have happend if they signed a revenue based deal. ESPN was just pissed that they were paying for the NHL rights while NBC basically got it for free.
 

puck57

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Well, what are people's general reaction to how OLN has put it together so far- great, average, etc. I wonder if they will alternate some nights besides Monday and Tuesday or try some other things before long to try to generate some more interest. Even though I hated the way ESPN had relegated their hockey coverage when they showed the games at least it seemed more professional than OLN so far and you could get the extra cross over of at least some viewers from other sports on ESPN.
 

Squiddy*

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I think they are doing a horrible job. They really don't know live sports production. I think ESPN is doing a good job even now, they are covering the NHL better than OLN and they don't even have the liscense.
 

Dr Love

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http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/cabletv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001305660

The Pittsburgh Penguins-Buffalo Sabres matchup Monday night averaged a 0.3 household rating and 278,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, down from OLN's inaugural NHL telecast, which scored a 0.4 household rating and 353,439 viewers. That said, the 0.3 was still a significant rise over the 0.1 household rating (111,336 viewers) OLN delivered a year ago.

0.4 is about what the NHL drew on ESPN2.
 

puck57

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Yea- I would have to agree with Squiddy- if ESPN would have put anything into promoting the game especially in the last few years you have to admit their presentations of the games were a cut above what OLN had done so far although to cut OLN some slack this season will be a learning experiece for them and I am sure by a second season you will see improvements. Remember ESPN has a lot of experience to get where they have gotten- if you looked back at some of their starting game broadcasts years ago you would notice hugh improvements since then. As a side question, I know it's a long way off but will OLN network broadcast all the playoff games and if so how will they show games playing at the same time on one channel. At least ESPN had ESPN and ESPN2 so they could show 2 playoff games at the same time.
 

Squiddy*

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puck57 said:
Yea- I would have to agree with Squiddy- if ESPN would have put anything into promoting the game especially in the last few years you have to admit their presentations of the games were a cut above what OLN had done so far although to cut OLN some slack this season will be a learning experiece for them and I am sure by a second season you will see improvements. Remember ESPN has a lot of experience to get where they have gotten- if you looked back at some of their starting game broadcasts years ago you would notice hugh improvements since then. As a side question, I know it's a long way off but will OLN network broadcast all the playoff games and if so how will they show games playing at the same time on one channel. At least ESPN had ESPN and ESPN2 so they could show 2 playoff games at the same time.

Well I think they are going to spread it with local channels until the Conference finals and then NBC will take over the Finals after game 2. NBC coverage should be good. The game was pretty much a borefest last time if you didn't have a team in your city. I know a lot of people that had the mentality wake me up when the playoffs come around. Now those same people are watching any hockey they can get their hands on.
 

puck57

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So I guess if you have Center Ice like I do, I will see the local coverages of playoff games that OLN won't have. Wow- am I glad for Center Ice!
 

AdmiralPred

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I thought there was more to OLN dropping Dish, there is another side to that story. Granted the production is not up to par with ESPN, but remember, when ESPN did have the NHL it was the ugly step-child of the network. ESPN won't promote the NHL to hype it up, even if they pony up the pocket change to carry games. Tthey gave up on it in the spring of 04 when they hyped poker.

I also don't think ESPN has been giving the NHL its fair shake on SC either, the league is still the butt of many a joke on that network.

Funny thing is, ESPN built itself on the NHL and strong-man competitions back in the 80's.
 

Squiddy*

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AdmiralPred said:
I thought there was more to OLN dropping Dish, there is another side to that story. Granted the production is not up to par with ESPN, but remember, when ESPN did have the NHL it was the ugly step-child of the network. ESPN won't promote the NHL to hype it up, even if they pony up the pocket change to carry games. Tthey gave up on it in the spring of 04 when they hyped poker.

I also don't think ESPN has been giving the NHL its fair shake on SC either, the league is still the butt of many a joke on that network.

Funny thing is, ESPN built itself on the NHL and strong-man competitions back in the 80's.

I think they are doing a fine job on SC. Every time I saw hockey highlights they had done it with enthusiams. I heard stuff like "Alexanderrrrrr o rookie-of-the-year?" and they even stopped talking so people can hear that penguins announcer say "Smack me silly sidney." What has OLN done? Black people out from watching hockey after a season long lock out? That one commercial that says we believe in hockey? It's all a gimmick ploy and I have never seen that OLN commerical other than when I was watching hockey. I have seen the NHL commercials many times though on like NBC and CBS. The funny thing is you're wrong about espn building itself on Hockey and strong arm competition. The NFL built ESPN and the NHL came after.
 

puck57

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Hey Admiral- I don't think you will find any hockey fan who would give ESPN higher than an F for promoting hockey especially in recent seasons but you have to admit their game presentations were better than what OLN does now. I think in past years ESPN did give hockey a pretty fair shake but it went down pretty bad in recent years and of course a year off did not help the situation. They probably would have settled for an arrangement like what NBC worked out with the league but got snipped when Bettman rejected that. I just hope the league didn't cut its nose to spite itself by not offering ESPN the same profit incentive deal that NBC got- time will tell.
 

AdmiralPred

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puck57 said:
Hey Admiral- I don't think you will find any hockey fan who would give ESPN higher than an F for promoting hockey especially in recent seasons but you have to admit their game presentations were better than what OLN does now.
I did.

puck57 said:
I think in past years ESPN did give hockey a pretty fair shake..
I said that too. ESPN was built on the NHL, strong-man, Montster-truck rallys, Aussi Footbal, etc...

puck57 said:
...but it went down pretty bad in recent years and of course a year off did not help the situation. They probably would have settled for an arrangement like what NBC worked out with the league but got snipped when Bettman rejected that.
The NHL needed to scratch up some bling from somewhere, and try and get their product to an audience. OLN put in a bid and ESPN decided they didn't want to match that.

I hope the NHL didn't cut their nose off either. This thing works out with OLN or they end up on another network, I guess.
 

AdmiralPred

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Squiddy said:
I think they are doing a fine job on SC. Every time I saw hockey highlights they had done it with enthusiams. I heard stuff like "Alexanderrrrrr o rookie-of-the-year?" and they even stopped talking so people can hear that penguins announcer say "Smack me silly sidney." What has OLN done? Black people out from watching hockey after a season long lock out? That one commercial that says we believe in hockey? It's all a gimmick ploy and I have never seen that OLN commerical other than when I was watching hockey. I have seen the NHL commercials many times though on like NBC and CBS. The funny thing is you're wrong about espn building itself on Hockey and strong arm competition. The NFL built ESPN and the NHL came after.
I don't dispute the fact that OLN has done a less-than sub-par quality job with the NHL. I just wanted to point out that life wasn't so cozzy on ESPN for NHL fans either. However, OLN has had less than 2 months to prepare, and so far it ehas shown. I have said before that I will reserve judgement for another month or two and see what happens. Although, I am not expecting much.

Back in the 80's ESPN had USFL, NHL, strong-man, Monster truck rallys, etc... Anything they could cut their teeth on. The NFL didn't come until later, and the network took off.
 

Squiddy*

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AdmiralPred said:
I don't dispute the fact that OLN has done a less-than sub-par quality job with the NHL. I just wanted to point out that life wasn't so cozzy on ESPN for NHL fans either. However, OLN has had less than 2 months to prepare, and so far it ehas shown. I have said before that I will reserve judgement for another month or two and see what happens. Although, I am not expecting much.

Back in the 80's ESPN had USFL, NHL, strong-man, Monster truck rallys, etc... Anything they could cut their teeth on. The NFL didn't come until later, and the network took off.

ESPN had NFL before hockey. NHL was on the dreaded sportschannel america in the late 80s early 90s.
 

AdmiralPred

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Squiddy said:
ESPN had NFL before hockey. NHL was on the dreaded sportschannel america in the late 80s early 90s.
Prior to the dreaded (that's an understament) SC America, ESPN had the NHL up until 1988 or 89. I remember being home 'sick' from school watching rebroadcasts of games, and staying up very late to watch the Oilers win a few cups on ESPN in the 80's
 

ScottyBowman

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I think the NHL should have swallowed the hit to be on ESPN and then with their improved NHL, the ratings would have gone up and they would have gotten more money. Right now it really doesn't matter how good the game is. Nobody knows hockey is on OLN and a lot of people don't even get the channel. Its unfortunate because the NHL actually as a good product now.
 

Pens75

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0.4 is about what the NHL drew on ESPN2.

FOX TV rating comparison...

- Pittsburgh Pirates averaged about a 4.5 rating for their recently completed season

- Pittsburgh Penguins season opener had a rating number of 7.5
- Detroit Red Wings season opener had a rating number of 8.1

- St. Louis Blues, up 24 percent to a 2.1
- Columbus Blue jackets, up 69 percent to a 2.2
- Boston Bruins, up 107 percent to a 2.9
- Pheonix Coyotes, up 140 percent to a 1.2
- San Jose Sharks, up 200 percent to a 1.5
- Tampa Bay Lightning, up 257 percent to a 2.5

- Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers game had a rating number of 0.4
 
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Dr Love

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Wingman said:
FOX TV rating comparison...

- Pittsburgh Pirates averaged about a 4.5 rating for their recently completed season

- Pittsburgh Penguins season opener had a rating number of 7.5
- Detroit Red Wings season opener had a rating number of 8.1

- St. Louis Blues, up 24 percent to a 2.1
- Columbus Blue jackets, up 69 percent to a 2.2
- Boston Bruins, up 107 percent to a 2.9
- Pheonix Coyotes, up 140 percent to a 1.2
- San Jose Sharks, up 200 percent to a 1.5
- Tampa Bay Lightning, up 257 percent to a 2.5

- Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers game had a rating number of 0.4
Congratulations, you have compared local ratings to national ratings, those are two different scales.
 
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