2018-19 NHL TV ratings

[Hockeyholic]

Which type of NBA game?

Also, how is hockey's distant 4th in sports tv ratings a surprise to you?

My point is it's funny when the league announces "All time High" ratings. It's the equivalent of an NHL team going 30-50 one season. The next they go 35-45. Then they say " Hey we made progress"!!

 

[Hockeyholic]

Solid number, but still last from major leagues.

Exactly. The league will never compete with the other three ports. It's too regional in the U.S. For instance, I bet mostly everyone in Pittsburgh knows who Sidney Crosby is. If you asked fans who Connor McDavid was, they'd likely say "Who"?

 

[Anisimovs AK]

My point is it's funny when the league announces "All time High" ratings. It's the equivalent of an NHL team going 30-50 one season. The next they go 35-45. Then they say " Hey we made progress"!!

Incremental progress is still progress.

Also they didnt announce it as an all time high, they said 3rd highest since 2004, which also means 3rd highest since NBC became a partner. Why wouldnt NBC's PR account tweet about it?

 

[gordie]

Exactly. The league will never compete with the other three ports. It's too regional in the U.S. For instance, I bet mostly everyone in Pittsburgh knows who Sidney Crosby is. If you asked fans who Connor McDavid was, they'd likely say "Who"?

What a brilliant analysis!!! The Pittsburgh Penguins never actually play the Edmonton Oilers & Connor McDavid despite the fact they both play in the same league. Of course Sidney Crosby isn't known to everyone either, despite playing here for 14 years and winning 3 cups.

 

[Coinneach]

NHL 2018/2019 TV ratings

NBC:

11/23/2018 NY Rangers/Philadelphia 1.3M
01/01/2019 Boston/Chicago 2.9M
01/20/2019 Washington/Chicago 1.2M
02/02/2019 Chicago/Minnesota - Tampa Bay/NY Rangers 1.1M
02/03/2019 Boston/Washington 1.0M


NBCSN:

10/3/2018 Boston/Washington 633k
10/3/2018 Anaheim/San Jose 338k
10/4/2018 Nashville/NY Rangers 194k (non-exclusive)
10/4/2018 Philadelphia/Vegas 227k (non-exclusive)
10/9/2018 San Jose/Philadelphia 249k
10/10/2018 Vegas/Washington 543k
10/16/2018 Arizona/Minnesota 197k
10/17/2018 NY Rangers/Washington 329k
10/17/2018 Boston/Calgary 162k
10/19/2018 Minnesota/Dallas 196k
10/23/2018 San Jose/Nashville N/A
10/24/2018 Toronto/Winnipeg 167k
10/24/2018 Tampa Bay/Colorado 177k
10/30/2018 Vegas/Nashville 227k

11/01/2018 Winnipeg/Florida N/A
11/06/2018 Edmonton/Tampa Bay N/A
11/07/2018 Pittsburgh/Washington 642k
11/07/2018 Nashville/Colorado 222k
11/13/2018 Tampa Bay/Buffalo 243k
11/14/2018 St. Louis/Chicago 407k
11/14/2018 Anaheim/Vegas 230k
11/20/2018 Edmonton/San Jose N/A (non-exclusive)
11/21/2018 Philadelphia/Buffalo 290k (non-exclusive)
11/23/2018 Chicago/Tampa 160k (non-exclusive)
11/27/2018 Vegas/Chicago 189k (non-exclusive)
11/28/2018 St. Louis/Detroit 293k
11/28/2018 Pittsburgh/Colorado 281k (non-exclusive)

12/03/2018 Toronto/Buffalo 286k
12/05/2018 Edmonton/St. Louis 262k
12/05/2018 Chicago/Anaheim 125k (non-exclusive)
12/11/2018 Detroit/Washington 174k (non-exclusive)
12/12/2018 Pittsburgh/Chicago 519k
12/18/2018 Nashville/Chicago 140k (non-exclusive)
12/19/2018 Pittsburgh/Washington 697k
12/21/2018 Buffalo/Washington 278k (non-exclusive)
12/22/2018 Los Angeles/San Jose 192k
12/27/2018 Philadelphia/Tampa 248k

01/02/2019 Pittsburgh/NY Rangers 472k
01/02/2019 San Jose/Colorado 241k
01/03/2019 Chicago/NY Islanders 288k (non-exclusive)
01/06/2019 Chicago/Pittsburgh 474k
01/07/2019 Los Angeles/San Jose 109k
01/08/2019 Philadelphia/Washington 192k (non-exclusive)
01/09/2019 Nashville/Chicago 379k
01/10/2019 Winnipeg/Minnesota 245k
01/14/2019 Montreal/Boston 345k
01/15/2019 Los Angeles/Minnesota 207k
01/16/2019 Boston/Philadelphia 402k
01/16/2019 San Jose/Arizona 185k
01/17/2019 Chicago/NY Rangers 162k (non-exclusive)
01/21/2019 St.Louis/Los Angeles 133k (afternoon game)
01/22/2019 Detroit/Edmonton 214k
01/23/2019 Washington/Toronto 292k
01/23/2019 Nashville/Vegas 220k
01/28/2019 Winnipeg/Philadelphia 195k (non-exclusive)
01/29/2019 Philadelphia/NY Rangers 352k (non-exclusive)
01/30/2019 Tampa Bay/Pittsburgh 494k

Cable average: 285k

Next week:

02/06/2019 Boston/NY Rangers
02/10/2019 St. Louis/Nashville (NBC)
02/10/2019 Toronto/NY Rangers


​

 

[Anisimovs AK]

I wonder if people realize that the NHL getting five times less tv money than the NBA would mean $500 million a year, an increase from the last US TV contract. And thats not including the ridiculous money that Rogers paid the league. The NHL could be looking at $750 million- $1 billion in media rights per year after the next tv contract, even with those "terrible" ratings

 

[Fenway]

Ratings are one thing BUT what must be factored in is how profitable a property is to a network.

I have been told that NBC Universal had recouped their investment in the NHL by the end of the 2015 season and now everything is pure profit except for talent and production costs.

NBC is spitting the US tonight with 2 games on the mothership network. The east coast is getting Rangers/Lightning - the rest of the US is getting the Wild/Blackhawks. NBC keeps LOCAL revenue in NYC and Chicago as they own the OTA stations in those markets.

Sunday NBC is showing Boston at Washington and again NBC owns the LOCAL ads in both markets. It is a huge part of the equation and NBC used every loophole with FCC laws to create a brand new NBC station in Boston from scratch 2 years ago.

 

[Coinneach]

 

[NextBigThing]

Big Sunday in Boston. Three teams on national television all on different broadcast networks. Curious to see if the Bruins can outdraw the Celtics. The B's play the defending champs while the C's play the blah Thunder.

 

[killer1980]

I have been told that NBC Universal had recouped their investment in the NHL by the end of the 2015 season and now everything is pure profit except for talent and production costs.

Don't think our buddies at Rogers can say the same thing.

 

[Fenway]

Don't think our buddies at Rogers can say the same thing.

Rogers desperately needs a strong playoff run by the Leafs to bring in the megabucks. In their first 4 years, the Leafs have made the playoffs twice and lost in the first round. What has kept Rogers afloat has been the Blue Jays but as of now, they are not a contender.

TSN/Bell most likely has a better bottom line over 12 months but they have limited inventory and they really need Montreal to get baseball back.

 

[MNNumbers]

Ratings are one thing BUT what must be factored in is how profitable a property is to a network.

I have been told that NBC Universal had recouped their investment in the NHL by the end of the 2015 season and now everything is pure profit except for talent and production costs.

NBC is spitting the US tonight with 2 games on the mothership network. The east coast is getting Rangers/Lightning - the rest of the US is getting the Wild/Blackhawks. NBC keeps LOCAL revenue in NYC and Chicago as they own the OTA stations in those markets.

Sunday NBC is showing Boston at Washington and again NBC owns the LOCAL ads in both markets. It is a huge part of the equation and NBC used every loophole with FCC laws to create a brand new NBC station in Boston from scratch 2 years ago.

I don't know much about this field. If NBC loses the national contract, would they also lose the local rights in the markets you discussed?

 

[Fenway]

I don't know much about this field. If NBC loses the national contract, would they also lose the local rights in the markets you discussed?

Yes because other broadcast networks use different stations

 

[MNNumbers]

Yes because other broadcast networks use different stations

So, you mean it goes like this:

NHL sells national rights to NBC>>>>
NBC sells the rights to local stations in the various markets nationwide (or uses their own affiliate or they own the local station, so the selling price is effectively $0)

And, thus, the way that NBC actually makes money on this is through the resale?
Are the local stations then responsible for ad buys? Or, are some of those national, and someone like some rent-a-car company buys national ad time from NBC. NBC sells the rights to a local station. The local station has to air those national buys, but any ad time not sold nationally they can sell locally?

Thanks for the help

 

[Fenway]

So, you mean it goes like this:

NHL sells national rights to NBC>>>>
NBC sells the rights to local stations in the various markets nationwide (or uses their own affiliate or they own the local station, so the selling price is effectively $0)

And, thus, the way that NBC actually makes money on this is through the resale?
Are the local stations then responsible for ad buys? Or, are some of those national, and someone like some rent-a-car company buys national ad time from NBC. NBC sells the rights to a local station. The local station has to air those national buys, but any ad time not sold nationally they can sell locally?

Thanks for the help

The economics of broadcast and cable are complicated

CBS was the first to factor in local ad revenue when they outbid NBC for the AFC TV rights in 1998.

In the US, the networks own many of the larger local affiliates but not all and a few years ago FOX traded their Boston owned station to Cox Broadcasting for the FOX affiliate in San Francisco/Oakland and the primary reason was San Francisco was a NFC market (49ers) and Boston was AFC (Patriots).

NBC Owned Television Stations - Wikipedia

NBC also owns the cable rights to NHL teams in Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Jose.

NBC struck gold with the Blackhawks between 2010-2015 and at the same time saw the NBC affiliate in Boston that they didn't own cash in with the Bruins and Patriots games on SNF and they decided they would launch a brand new station in the market that they owned. The former NBC affiliate in Boston today just runs local news, reruns and game shows and they say they are making money.

NBC had a fiasco Saturday night that affected viewers in Montreal and they are not pleased with the station based in Plattsburgh, NY (WPTZ) - NBC was showing both Rangers/Tampa and Chicago/Minnesota on the east coast and the start times were staggered. When the Rangers game ended they went to the Chicago game which just before 11 PM went to OT. A producer in Plattsburgh thought there was enough time before overtime started to do a local newsbreak and the winning goal in OT was not shown.

Unfortunately for WPTZ, 2 high level Chicago executives were in Montreal scouting the 2 Habs afternoon games and never saw the OT.

 

[Fenway]

The lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever brought CBS a 44.9 overnight rating Sunday night, according to Nielsen’s television ratings, the lowest Super Bowl overnight rating since 2009, when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals. Last year’s Super Bowl earned a 47.7 overnight rating.

The lackluster viewership, which may have had something to do with aggrieved fans in New Orleans, ran counter to the success the NFL had on television this season. Every time slot for NFL games earned higher ratings during the 2018 regular season, a total gain of 5 percent.

Ratings were strong in Boston, which drew a 57.4 overnight rating (best for the Super Bowl since 2015), and Los Angeles (44.6, best in that market since 1996). But the Super Bowl’s overall ratings this year may have gotten dragged down by places such as New Orleans, home of a Saints team that many feel was robbed of a chance to play the Patriots because of a missed call in the NFC Championship game. Fans there largely avoided the Super Bowl, as thousands turned out for a French Quarter protest parade instead. Though New Orleans isn’t one of the country’s largest television markets, it is one of the most fervent for football. The Super Bowl earned a 26.1 rating in New Orleans; last year’s earned a 53.0.

 

[killer1980]

Rogers desperately needs a strong playoff run by the Leafs to bring in the megabucks. In their first 4 years, the Leafs have made the playoffs twice and lost in the first round. What has kept Rogers afloat has been the Blue Jays but as of now, they are not a contender.

TSN/Bell most likely has a better bottom line over 12 months but they have limited inventory and they really need Montreal to get baseball back.

A losing team is a bogus excuse for production execs to use when nobody watches their lousy product. My grandmother could produce when a team is winning and she would get good numbers. The challenge has always been to get the numbers when the team stinks. HNIC delivered good numbers for decades when the team sucked or was challenging.

 

[Coinneach]

NHL on NBC:

Saturday: 1.1M for Tampa Bay/Rangers - Chicago/Minnesota

Sunday: 1.0M for Boston/Washington
—————————————————————

By comparison, EPL game on Sunday had 0.7M viewers on NBC.

 

[Coinneach]

428k for Wednesday’s Bruins/Rangers game.

Not great number for Original Six match.

 

[Fenway]

428k for Wednesday’s Bruins/Rangers game.

Not a great number for Original Six match.

No, it isn't and I think the 8 PM ET start was a factor.

Totally unscientific reading of the Bruins GDT for that game was displeasure the game had a late start - AND THIS IS FROM THE HARDCORES

 

[stealth1]

No, it isn't and I think the 8 PM ET start was a factor.

Totally unscientific reading of the Bruins GDT for that game was displeasure the game had a late start - AND THIS IS FROM THE HARDCORES

I don't get that at all. I can understand attendance being down with an 8pm start but tv viewing wise makes no sense. In stead of it finishing at 930 or 10 it finishes around 1030 or 11. Big deal.

I am amazed at how early a lot of people go to bed now.

 

[Fenway]

I am amazed at how early a lot of people go to bed now.

Here in Boston we have FIVE TV stations doing local TV news at 4:30 AM M-F - Obviously there are enough viewers up that early to make it profitable for the stations.

 

[MSZ]

I am amazed at how early a lot of people go to bed now.

Im not from the Boston area. But a lot of companies worldwide have early start time to allow employees to have easier daily commute. I leave my home at 5:30 in the morning everyday, I'm sure that a late start of an eastern NHL game would piss off a lot of local viewers.

 

[sctvman]

Most markets in the US have at least a couple 4:30am newscasts. Little old Charleston, barely in the top 100, has 2. Some places even have 4am newscasts.

Morning news is a big moneymaker for TV stations because they can sell all the advertising.

 

[Stand Witness]

I don't get that at all. I can understand attendance being down with an 8pm start but tv viewing wise makes no sense. In stead of it finishing at 930 or 10 it finishes around 1030 or 11. Big deal.

I am amazed at how early a lot of people go to bed now.

Pretty sure the average person is 'done' with their day by 10 most nights. That extra 30-60 mins really can really throw off a persons routine.

I'm up by 7, so not even bad compared to quite a few people.