Buffalo-Pittsburgh scores highest regular season ratings ever for VERSUS

Stevedude530

Registered User
Dec 21, 2005
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From the NHL...

Tuesday’s Buffalo at Pittsburgh game on VERSUS posted a .41 national household cable rating, garnering 394,678 viewers. The telecast not only was the highest-rated NHL game this year, but the most-viewed NHL regular-season game ever on the network. In addition, the shoot-out thriller outranked every other prime-time cable program in both the Buffalo and Pittsburgh television markets. In Buffalo, the game registered a 12.0 rating, up 16 percent from last season’s comparable average (10.0) for Sabres games on VERSUS. In Pittsburgh, the telecast received a 6.0 rating, making it the highest rating ever in Pittsburgh for a Penguins game on the network.
 

MAROONSRoad

f/k/a Ghost
Feb 24, 2007
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Maroons Rd.
From the NHL...

Tuesday’s Buffalo at Pittsburgh game on VERSUS posted a .41 national household cable rating, garnering 394,678 viewers. The telecast not only was the highest-rated NHL game this year, but the most-viewed NHL regular-season game ever on the network. In addition, the shoot-out thriller outranked every other prime-time cable program in both the Buffalo and Pittsburgh television markets. In Buffalo, the game registered a 12.0 rating, up 16 percent from last season’s comparable average (10.0) for Sabres games on VERSUS. In Pittsburgh, the telecast received a 6.0 rating, making it the highest rating ever in Pittsburgh for a Penguins game on the network.

Hi Stevedude,

Thanks for the info. That's not suprising to me. Buffalo and Pittsburgh get some of the best ratings in the USA. Do you have a link?

Thanks,
GHOST
 

Stevedude530

Registered User
Dec 21, 2005
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It was in an E-mail from the NHL. You can find it on Kukla's Korner, but that's the whole article.
 

Chileiceman

Registered User
Dec 14, 2004
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709
Toronto
From the NHL...

Tuesday’s Buffalo at Pittsburgh game on VERSUS posted a .41 national household cable rating, garnering 394,678 viewers. The telecast not only was the highest-rated NHL game this year, but the most-viewed NHL regular-season game ever on the network. In addition, the shoot-out thriller outranked every other prime-time cable program in both the Buffalo and Pittsburgh television markets. In Buffalo, the game registered a 12.0 rating, up 16 percent from last season’s comparable average (10.0) for Sabres games on VERSUS. In Pittsburgh, the telecast received a 6.0 rating, making it the highest rating ever in Pittsburgh for a Penguins game on the network.

How can a miserable 0.41 be the highest ratings of the regualr season? Wouldnt NBC telecasts have beaten that?
 

MLH

Registered User
Feb 6, 2003
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How can a miserable 0.41 be the highest ratings of the regualr season? Wouldnt NBC telecasts have beaten that?


Yes, but the quote goes on to say "on the network". It's an encouraging number for an obscure cable channel.

Needless to say, Versus is going to try and get Buffalo on as many times as possible (they pretty much already are) next season.
 

Wooty

Registered User
Dec 31, 2006
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Harbor City, CA
Let me ask a question to you TV Stat freaks:

Who has more potential viewers, VS or HD Subscribers? I think the game was in HD and I wonder if there was a sudden burst of new potential viewers. On Directv the HD channels are different then the normal VS. channel.

Do I make any sense?
 

KeydGV21

Registered User
Jul 25, 2006
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Let me ask a question to you TV Stat freaks:

Who has more potential viewers, VS or HD Subscribers? I think the game was in HD and I wonder if there was a sudden burst of new potential viewers. On Directv the HD channels are different then the normal VS. channel.

Do I make any sense?

On DirecTV it was on Versus's HD network, different from HDnet. The people were watching versus; it's the same as watching CBS or ESPN in HD.
 

Stevedude530

Registered User
Dec 21, 2005
1,941
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I think more the buzz of this game (New Arena, #1 in East vs. Crosby & Malkin) had more to do with it than the game being in HD.
 

Pens75

Pens Fan Since 1975
Jul 30, 2005
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Duquesne Gardens
Hi Stevedude,

Thanks for the info. That's not suprising to me. Buffalo and Pittsburgh get some of the best ratings in the USA. Do you have a link?

Thanks,
GHOST


Does that surprise you?

- #3 in U.S. = Pittsburgh average viewer rating is 4.5
- #2 in U.S. = Detroit average viewer rating is 5.0
- #1 in U.S. = Buffalo average viewer rating is 5.6

- Islanders average 7,336 viewers a game
- Devils average 13,206 viewers a game > viewer rating is .18
- Rangers average 36,834 viewers a game

- Panthers average viewer rating is .23
- Hurricanes average viewer rating is 1.0

14 of the NHL teams in the USA are averaging a rating equal or lower than 1.0
 
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MLH

Registered User
Feb 6, 2003
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- #2 in U.S. = Detroit average viewer rating is 5.0

Do you have a link for that? Everything I've heard has Pittsburgh as the #2 market in the US and the Red Wings have struggled with their ratings this season (upper 2's - lower 3s). As of early December they were down 50% from last year. I haven't heard anything since, but I highly doubt it's anywhere near 5.0 for the season.
 

Pens75

Pens Fan Since 1975
Jul 30, 2005
2,948
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Duquesne Gardens
Do you have a link for that? Everything I've heard has Pittsburgh as the #2 market in the US and the Red Wings have struggled with their ratings this season (upper 2's - lower 3s). As of early December they were down 50% from last year. I haven't heard anything since, but I highly doubt it's anywhere near 5.0 for the season.

Have to do an internet search, data is hard to come by, bits and pieces.

I thought the exact same thing as you, how could Detroit be at 5.0 when they are 50% lower than last year. The most recent information came from the NY Times 6 weeks ago, that's when they gave the 5.0 figure. I'll keep an eye out.

In regards to Buffalo, I know they are the highest, but were previously rated too high on HF. What happened is... they were taking the local rating of 5.6 and adding in the VS ratings to get a higher average, that's not really fair when the others are local ratings only. So Buffalo is not the 6.0 to 7.0 as you often hear, their local average rating is 5.6 as of February, still #1 in the NHL.
 

MLH

Registered User
Feb 6, 2003
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In regards to Buffalo, I know they are the highest, but were previously rated too high on HF. What happened is... they were taking the local rating of 5.6 and adding in the VS ratings to get a higher average, that's not really fair when the others are local ratings only. So Buffalo is not the 6.0 to 7.0 as you often hear, their local average rating is 5.6 as of February, still #1 in the NHL.

I agree to an extent. The problem is Mondays and Tuesdays are good nights for ratings and Versus generally schedules attractive games. Since Buffalo is on Versus so much, it's not really fair to discount 8 games that would get big ratings on VS or MSG. It's not much of a difference to compare the local ratings of nationally televised cable game to a locally televised cable game.

Perfect example is the late-season Pens/Sabres games. They're matchups between two prominent and exciting teams close in the standings on a very attractive ratings night (Tuesday). Obviously, there's significant star power too as Buffalonians want to see Crosby et al. It really doesn't make a difference if Sabre fans have to hit 28 or 71 on their remote, the game would be in the double digits in Buffalo. Yet Versus has both.

Do you know the link for that NY Times article? I can't find it.

EDIT: Found the article, but I'm not sure it's accurate. Doesn't fit any other information out there.
 
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Eichel 9

Registered User
Jan 2, 2007
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I was guessing this game would have good ratings with the #1 team in USA tv ratings vs #2 team in USA tv ratings, combined with both be exciting teams.
 

MayDay

Registered User
Oct 21, 2005
12,661
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Pleasantville, NY

It's true. As others have posted, Buffalo, Detroit, and Pittsburgh are the top three US TV markets for hockey, by a wide margin.

Heck, Buffalo has more households watching Sabres games in raw numbers, then NYC households watching Ranger games. And consider that Buffalo has 1/10 the population of NYC, and the Rangers are a northeast Original Six team.
 

HockeyCritter

Registered User
Dec 10, 2004
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Does that surprise you?

- #3 in U.S. = Pittsburgh average viewer rating is 4.5
- #2 in U.S. = Detroit average viewer rating is 5.0
- #1 in U.S. = Buffalo average viewer rating is 5.6

- Islanders average 7,336 viewers a game
- Devils average 13,206 viewers a game > viewer rating is .18
- Rangers average 36,834 viewers a game

- Panthers average viewer rating is .23
- Hurricanes average viewer rating is 1.0

14 of the NHL teams in the USA are averaging a rating equal or lower than 1.0


What is the viewership when those two teams do not have winning records?
 

MLH

Registered User
Feb 6, 2003
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What is the viewership when those two teams do not have winning records?

Buffalo was the #2 TV market in the US in 2003-2004 despite finishing 5th in the Northeast. Buffalo has consistently been in the top 2 US markets for local ratings and nationally televised games since it became a Nielsen rated market.
 

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