Tag Archives: Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup Final could have used a Gretzky; Game 1 ratings soar with LeBron, Durant

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It’s all about big, big stars.

The NBA has them for its final; the NHL didn’t. Just look at the ratings.

Final numbers for the Stanley Cup finals were the lowest since 2007. The Los Angeles Kings-New Jersey ratings were down 33 percent from last year, averaging 3 million viewers per game.

Meanwhile, Game 1 of the NBA Finals did an 11.8 overnight rating, the highest ever for a game on ABC. And it only figures to get bigger if LeBron James and company can win a few games in this series.

The NBA rating speaks to the star power of a final that includes James, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook. As much as people hate the Heat, they still tune in to watch. I thought it was great that they made the finals. Rooting for Miami to lose to Boston is sort of like wanting Jack Nicholson’s Joker to be knocked off with 45 minutes left in Batman. I wanted more Heat, not less.

As for hockey, would the ratings have been down if the Kings still had a player named Wayne Gretzky? Definitely not.

Gretkzy, though, is long gone, and the league doesn’t have another transcendent star, given the uncertain health status of Sidney Crosby. As a result, the final featured two mostly unknown teams. And the Kings going up 3-0 also dulled the ratings momentum.

The NHL’s parity is great in the early rounds, when the No. 8 Kings proved that the seeds don’t really matter in hockey. The new format of airing every game on NBC’s various platforms resulted in a nice increase in the ratings.

However, the problem with parity is that sometimes the big-name teams and players get knocked off before the finals. For the first time since 2007, there wasn’t an Original 6 team or Crosby-led Pittsburgh in the Finals. Instead, the NHL got Los Angeles-New Jersey, two teams that don’t necessarily move the meter even in their home markets.

There are plenty of positives for hockey. But as the ratings for the Final showed, there’s plenty of room for improvement.

 

 

 

 

Ratings report: Stanley Cup down; Golf Channel has huge May

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The Stanley Cup Final isn’t exactly how the NHL hoped to finish its season. It has been a ratings buzzkill.

Monday’s Game 3 was watched by 1.743 million viewers, down 37% from 2.757 last year for Bruins-Canucks. The game did a 1.03, down from a 1.58.

It doesn’t figure to get much better tonight with Los Angeles holding a 3-0 lead in the series. The clincher will be on NBC Sports Network if the Kings can complete the sweep. Again, not what the NHL wanted.

Channeling up: It’s big times for another Comcast-owned network. Ratings are soaring for the Golf Channel, which enjoyed its biggest May ever.

From Golf Channel:

Coming off its best year ever in 2011, Golf Channel continues to build on its momentum with a strong start to 2012. Based upon five-plus quarters of growth since becoming part of the NBC Sports Group, Golf Channel is the fastest-growing network on cable (among networks serving 80 million or more U.S. homes). Through May, average viewers are up 20 percent over 2011 and 52 percent over the same time period two years ago. Four out of five months in the books so far this year – and the last consecutive four months – have set a “most-watched” record for that month.

And more good news:

MAY MOST-WATCHED: Golf Channel averaged 112,000 viewers per day during May, spurred by compelling PGA TOUR coverage and strong performances from the network’s original entertainment series:
· The second episode of Big Break Atlantis (May 21) was the highest-rated and most-watched (0.3/349,000) original entertainment program in primetime this year and of any Big Break Episode Two in four years.
· The Feherty episode featuring guest Donald Trump (0.2/215,000) was the highest-rated Feherty premiere this season. The series has bolstered the network’s primetime Monday lineup of original shows, which is up 64 percent over 2011.
DIGITAL KEEPS PACE: GolfChannel.com continues to attract new users in 2012, with page views up 41 percent and unique users up 58 percent so far this year over last year. Page views for the site’s mobile application are up 368 percent over 2011.

 

Just like Scully, all praise for beloved Mike Emrick; Even Mushnick likes him

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It’s official: Mike Emrick is the Vin Scully of hockey.

In an era of rip, rip and then rip some more, Emrick finds himself buried by an avalanche of bouquets during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The only other person in broadcasting who receives such universal praise and adoration is the living legend in the Dodgers’ booth.

Richard Sandomir evoked operatic terms in today’s piece in the New York Times:

They are Emrick’s arias: dramatic tales of passes, shots, checks, crashes into boards, saves, interceptions, goals and line changes accentuated by the sound — “OhhhhHHHHHHH!” — of his internal thermostat rapidly heating up, as if close to exploding. He hits his highest note with variations on a single word: “SCORES!”

Richard Deitsch of SI.com came out with his media power list this week. One guess at who is No. 1:

I call him NBC’s Bard of Spring. With NBC airing every NHL playoff game  nationally since the second round, Emrick has been a welcome visitor in homes  for weeks, and at 65, he’s never been better at his craft.

And here’s the ultimate barometer of Emrick’s appeal. Even Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wrote nice things about him in a column this week, and he doesn’t like anybody. Mushnick writes:

Beyond that, if there were ever a play-by-player who should be encouraged to  speak as much as often as possible, it’s Emrick. Imagine hiring Emrick and  telling him to speak half as much. Would you ask DeNiro, Sinatra, Einstein,  Pele, Magellan, Sonny and/or Cher to give it less than all they’ve got?

“Hey, you, Michelangelo! Get down off that scaffold! You wanna kill  yourself? Paint something down here!”

Wow, opera and Michelangelo references for a hockey announcer. Has to be a first.

It’s great to see Emrick get the recognition. He’s really benefitted by the new playoff format in which every game has aired on NBC’s various networks.

Like Scully, the man clearly has a way with words. Earlier this week on an NBC teleconference, he got everyone fired up with this opening:

This is our best time of year. How’s that for an understatement? …You see bearded people, you see people with goatees, because that’s a part of our tradition. You see smiles on every face because of the anticipation of living up to a lifetime dream – and that’s getting your name on a trophy that you can’t keep, and getting a ring that’s too big to wear, and having the experience, and to be referred to as a Stanley Cup Champion for the rest of your life.

Here’s hoping we all get to hear Emrick call seven games in the Final.