Record low ratings for game 3 on NBC...

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/10214141

NEW YORK -- The Stanley Cup Finals have brought record low ratings to NBC -- and not just for sports.

Saturday night's Game 3 equaled NBC's lowest rating ever for a prime-time program. Ottawa's 5-3 victory over Anaheim received a 1.1 national rating and a 2 share, the network said Tuesday. That matched a rerun of "The West Wing" on July 23, 2005, which also drew a 1.1 rating.

Saturday's rating was down 31 percent from last year's Game 3 between Edmonton and Carolina, which had a 1.6/3.

The national ratings for Monday night's Game 4 declined less sharply from last year. The Ducks' 3-2 victory received a 1.9/3, down five percent from the 2.0/3 for Game 4 in 2006.

The rating is the percentage watching a telecast among all homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned in to a broadcast among those households with televisions on at the time. A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households.

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/10214141

NEW YORK -- The Stanley Cup Finals have brought record low ratings to NBC -- and not just for sports.

Saturday night's Game 3 equaled NBC's lowest rating ever for a prime-time program. Ottawa's 5-3 victory over Anaheim received a 1.1 national rating and a 2 share, the network said Tuesday. That matched a rerun of "The West Wing" on July 23, 2005, which also drew a 1.1 rating.

Saturday's rating was down 31 percent from last year's Game 3 between Edmonton and Carolina, which had a 1.6/3.

The national ratings for Monday night's Game 4 declined less sharply from last year. The Ducks' 3-2 victory received a 1.9/3, down five percent from the 2.0/3 for Game 4 in 2006.

The rating is the percentage watching a telecast among all homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned in to a broadcast among those households with televisions on at the time. A ratings point represents 1,114,000 households.


What a shame. God damn shame. :shakehead

What a shame. God damn shame. :shakehead

I know.

I wonder if Bettman reads these things. He is always saying the league is about to take off in the US. haha:shakehead

That's what happens when you have another Canadian team vs. another team without a track record for 3 years in a row. Who knows what the ratings woulda been if this was Ottawa vs. Calgary/Minnesota?

I know.

I wonder if Bettman reads these things. He is always saying the league is about to take off in the US. haha:shakehead

Not anytime soon anyway.

I know.

I wonder if Bettman reads these things. He is always saying the league is about to take off in the US. haha:shakehead

aye - and i'm sure there were some valid logistical reasons, but that insanely long delay to get the SCF started did not help this situation...

a bit of a tangent here... but i feel the league needs to figure out a way to get the playoffs completed sooner. hockey in june is just too much of a contrast, and the more casual fans who may actually take the time to watch the finals for the sake of the game (assuming their team is no longer in it) are well on their way to other activities and distractions...

The major reason for the low ratings is that we have hockey in markets (#1 example: Nashville) that do not care about the sport. The talent level in the league is watered down with too many teams. There should be about 24 teams max, get rid of the Nashvilles of the league and we will see better hockey in markets that actually care. The stupid trapezoid rule and other gimmicks have hurt more than they have helped too.
Bettman has ruined the great NHL.

aye - and i'm sure there were some valid logistical reasons, but that insanely long delay to get the SCF started did not help this situation...

a bit of a tangent here... but i feel the league needs to figure out a way to get the playoffs completed sooner. hockey in june is just too much of a contrast, and the more casual fans who may actually take the time to watch the finals for the sake of the game (assuming their team is no longer in it) are well on their way to other activities and distractions...

I totally agree. The cup should be ending by memorial day.

It's a shame though as they all missed one hell of a hockey on saturday.

While the numbers are nothing to write home about, bear this in mind (and some has been stated already):
1. The ratings exist solely for advertisers. So, if a Canadian household watches NBC (Buffalo, Detroit, Vancouver, Montreal metro areas) it doesn't exist. Even if NAFTA creates borderless markets for goods (particualrly consumer goods and services), Nielsen will not place people meters in Canadian households, lest they incur the wrath of Canadian networks (particularly CBC) who would be annoyed that a Canadian household is waqtching American TV - no matter how pervasive "American" culture is in Canada. It's been a political (and cultural) hot button for years.....
2. June evening - so why should a neutral someone stay indoors? Your lawn awaits!
3. Anaheim is a market which, I think, still doesn't get Versus. So, how can it build any momentum?
4. Anaheim? With all due respect, Tampa is a better hockey market, IMHO.

While the numbers are nothing to write home about, bear this in mind (and some has been stated already):
1. The ratings exist solely for advertisers. So, if a Canadian household watches NBC (Buffalo, Detroit, Vancouver, Montreal metro areas) it doesn't exist. Even if NAFTA creates borderless markets for goods (particualrly consumer goods and services), Nielsen will not place people meters in Canadian households, lest they incur the wrath of Canadian networks (particularly CBC) who would be annoyed that a Canadian household is waqtching American TV - no matter how pervasive "American" culture is in Canada. It's been a political (and cultural) hot button for years.....
2. June evening - so why should a neutral someone stay indoors? Your lawn awaits!
3. Anaheim is a market which, I think, still doesn't get Versus. So, how can it build any momentum?
4. Anaheim? With all due respect, Tampa is a better hockey market, IMHO.

Not only that, but it was a Saturday night.

The major reason for the low ratings is that we have hockey in markets (#1 example: Nashville) that do not care about the sport. The talent level in the league is watered down with too many teams. There should be about 24 teams max, get rid of the Nashvilles of the league and we will see better hockey in markets that actually care. The stupid trapezoid rule and other gimmicks have hurt more than they have helped too.
Bettman has ruined the great NHL.

Right now, I would argue that the talent is the least watered down it has been since the original six era. The time that hockey was at it's peak popularity was in the late 80s/early 90s when the talent was extremely diluted. Almost half the league right now is European in nationality, and those floodgates opened in the early-mid 90s. The rate of expansion didn't keep up with the influx of talent with Europe, so as a result, we have more skilled players in the league, and fewer chumps to take advantage of. The result is lower scoring, and more balance throughout the league.

:shakehead Don't worry about league revenues folks... raising the ticket prices and new jerseys will keep the cap high.

The numbers were up for game 4

Overnight ratings for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals were up from the previous game and down from last year.

The Anaheim Ducks' 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night received a 2.3 overnight rating and a 4 share on NBC, the network said Tuesday. That was up from the 1.5/3 for Saturday night's Game 3, but down 4 per cent from last year's Game 4 between Edmonton and Carolina, which drew a 2.4/5.

The decline wasn't as large as it had been for Game 3, when ratings were down 12 per cent from last year.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070605.wspttvrati5/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home

i wanted to watch but i only caught the 3rd period - because they space these damn games out too far and have way too long of a break between rounds.

i swear if they want to capture an audience of anyone other than fans of the teams in the finals, they need to keep it front and center in your attention span - not wait 6 days to start the next series or wait 3 days to play the next game... make the final games the same time - the same channel every other day on weekdays and back to back on weekends. I don't care if they are tired or if the season is too long - fix that with shortening the season or something - but if you want to build excitement for a cup final - you have to keep it rapid paced just like the game itself.

Imagine a fireworks display where the finale was shooting a few fireworks off every other minute or every 3 minutes... that's how I think NBC and the NHL have handled this cup final. Sad when i'm watching a marathon of "deadliest catch" and just happen to flip through channels during commercials only to discover I've missed the first 2 periods and 7 minutes of the 3rd even though I meant to watch the game... great promotion NBC... well done NOT.:shakehead

The NHL sucks at marketing. That, IMO, is the biggest problem. It's like they've been hiring people from the Devils marketing department. The only time I've seen an ad for the playoffs...is when I'm watching them! Brilliant, advertise to the people who have already tuned in.

That, and I think not having a big underdog to promote hurts. People love underdogs, and last year they could play up Edmonton's status as a #8 seed.

The NHL sucks at marketing. That, IMO, is the biggest problem. It's like they've been hiring people from the Devils marketing department.

:biglaugh:

That might have to be a sig...

The major reason for the low ratings is that we have hockey in markets (#1 example: Nashville) that do not care about the sport. The talent level in the league is watered down with too many teams. There should be about 24 teams max, get rid of the Nashvilles of the league and we will see better hockey in markets that actually care. The stupid trapezoid rule and other gimmicks have hurt more than they have helped too.
Bettman has ruined the great NHL.

Great point if the league gets rid of all those southern teams they can go back to the glory days of the 80's when the Final wasn't even on Network TV. :sarcasm:

I'm sorry but your point makes no sense what so ever. Those markets that supposedly don't care about hockey would still exist even if they didn't have teams. The ratings aren't just NHL markets they are all the TV markets in the US. With teams in the southern markets the league gets at least a few more people that tune in than they would if that market didn't have team. Fewer teams would also increase the chances of an all Canada match-up which would drive down the ratings even more. The result is none of the games would be on network TV like it was through the 80's and early 90's. That is the problem with the TV ratings now, the league was off TV for so many years that it never built up a viewing tradition like the other sports. By the time the league did get on network TV regularly in 1995 it was two late because ratings overall on TV were going down because of more cable choices. Of course this all goes back to the league waiting to expand until 1967 being the last league to do so when they should have expanded in 1957.

That comment about the long break is right on. I almost forgot about the whole thing by the time Game 1 rolled around.

Oh, and thank you lockout for these ratings. They no longer get newspaper coverage (see article on ESPN right now) across the country. Some people just got used to no hockey.

And the lockout was designed to help the small market teams like Ottawa thrive, so you can't blame the ratings in that! After all, that was the plan.

The real plan is above... higher ticket prices and more jersey sales.

Oh, and thank you lockout for these ratings. They no longer get newspaper coverage (see article on ESPN right now) across the country. Some people just got used to no hockey.

And the lockout was designed to help the small market teams like Ottawa thrive, so you can't blame the ratings in that! After all, that was the plan.

The real plan is above... higher ticket prices and more jersey sales.

The newspaper thing is overblown in my opinion. A lot of those newspapers don't even cover the Presidents travels anymore because of budget cuts.

aye - and i'm sure there were some valid logistical reasons, but that insanely long delay to get the SCF started did not help this situation...

a bit of a tangent here... but i feel the league needs to figure out a way to get the playoffs completed sooner. hockey in june is just too much of a contrast, and the more casual fans who may actually take the time to watch the finals for the sake of the game (assuming their team is no longer in it) are well on their way to other activities and distractions...


Definitely a big factor. The week plus break killed all momentum. That plus the fact that it's happening when colleges and schools are letting out, means that people's routines changed. I watched every game of the ECF and a few of the WCF, but have only watched a period of the finals because I've been busy celebrating finally being done with law school and keep forgetting to watch.

The newspaper thing is overblown in my opinion. A lot of those newspapers don't even cover the Presidents travels anymore because of budget cuts.

Nobody reads newspapers anymore... the internet killed them.