NHL Europe Survey

As my time on the road continues, the posts here might be delayed the next week so please bear with me.

There is something important I wanna point out to my European readers. Markukleaf has created a survey for European NHL fans to take. The survey primarily deals with TV coverage. I urge everyone in Europe to take it. Mark has done a great job at keeping European fans updated. He’s been a real help to myself and has helped draw attention to the Euro TV issues.

Mark’s plan is to take the survey results to commissioner Gary Bettman. So, take some time to fill it out. It’s short and will help keep pressure on the league to fix this mess. There’s still plenty of people out there who can’t watch the NHL and they deserve a voice. This survey helps their cause and could help improve coverage down the road.

 

Sportsnet Announces CHL Friday Night Hockey

Sportsnet has finally announced their plans for CHL hockey coverage this season. Coverage begins on November 11. From the press release –

TORONTO (October 26, 2011) – Building on the network’s leading cross-platform efforts and fan engagement, Sportsnet today announced the creation of Friday Night Hockey, a regular weeknight destination for Canadian Hockey League games, plus integration across the multiple Sportsnet platforms – television, radio, digital and print.

Sportsnet will televise a CHL game in high definition every Friday night during the 2011-2012 regular season, plus the CHL’s Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game and the MasterCard Memorial Cup. The season begins on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. (ET)/4 p.m. (PT) when the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors host the Barrie Colts on Sportsnet ONE and the Sportsnet Ontario and Pacific channels. Sportsnet has been the exclusive media partner of the CHL since 1998.

“We wanted a home position for CHL hockey on Sportsnet and created destination viewing with Friday Night Hockey,” said Scott Moore, President, Broadcasting, Rogers Media. “We recognize the hunger and passion for junior hockey across the country and now fans will have a consistent night each week to catch all the action.”

“The Canadian Hockey League is extremely excited to bring weekly Friday night CHL games to fans across the country,” said David Branch, President, CHL. “Through our expanded partnership with Sportsnet, we look forward to Friday Night Hockey showcasing the CHL’s next wave of talent to the NHL.”

On television, the Friday Night Hockey broadcasts will be handled by play-by-play announcer RJ Broadhead, analyst Sam Cosentino, and host Rob Faulds. Each broadcast will feature a pre-game studio show with analysis, scores, interviews and features. Additionally, CHL coverage will extend to Sportsnet Connected and HOCKEY CENTRAL with all the latest news and highlights.

On sportsnet.ca, columnist Patrick King will take a deeper look each week at the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Cosentino will also appear on the website with a weekly blog and discuss CHL news on Skype chats with fans.

In Sportsnet magazine, there will be regular coverage of key CHL issues, topics and players. This week’s upcoming issue takes a fascinating look at 25-year-old rookie GM Kyle Dubas of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds – the youngest GM in the league.

On Radio, Sportsnet 590 The FAN and Sportsnet 960 The FAN will provide regular updates on game results and stats.

While Sportsnet didn’t release a full schedule yet, The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the schedule through Christmas.

 

Canada Ratings Watch

Here’s an update on Canadian TV ratings. These BBM ratings are sourced from Toronto.com’s Remote Control Blog. TSN continues to post some low numbers outside of Toronto Maple Leafs games. The CFL is regularly beating most NHL on TSN telecasts so far but those numbers should rise as the season progresses.

The Leafs continue to be a ratings powerhouse. October 17′s game garnered ratings that beat several nationally aired shows even though the game was only shown regionally. Among those that it beat handily on that Monday night were TSN’s broadcast of Monday Night Football and The Score’s WWE Raw.

MON. OCTOBER 17, 2011

CBC Battle of the Blades 686,000 viewers
Sportsnet Ontario Toronto/Colorado 810,000

TUES. OCTOBER 18, 2011

TSN Montreal/Buffalo 465,000
TSN NY Rangers/Vancouver 687,000
Sportsnet West Edmonton/Calgary 415,000

WED. OCTOBER 19, 2011

TSN Toronto/Winnipeg 1,399,000

THURS. OCTOBER 20, 2011

TSN Toronto/Boston 1,042,000
TSN NY Rangers/Calgary 402,000

SAT. OCTOBER 22, 2011

CBC Montreal/Toronto 2,170,000
CBC NY Rangers/Edmonton 752,000

SUN. OCTOBER 23, 2011

CBC Battle of the Blades 1,098,000

 

Labatt Still On The Losing End

The beer battle over who’s the official beer sponsor of the NHL may finally be coming to an end. The Toronto Star reports that the latest ruling will make it very difficult for Labatt to make any more appeals. From the article -

Ontario Superior Court Geoffrey Morawetz released his written reasons late Monday for ruling against Labatt’s claim the NHL shouldn’t have been allowed to sign a $375-million North American sponsorship deal with Molson-Coors. Labatt had claimed it already had a three-year deal for Canadian rights.

Instead, Morawetz wrote that Labatt didn’t have a deal, and that the NHL hadn’t extended Labatt’s exclusive negotiating window beyond Oct. 22.

“In part, Labatt fell victim to its own reluctance to unequivocally commit itself to an enforceable contractual arrangement,” Morawetz wrote. His decision was originally announced Oct. 6, but he only released his written reasons Monday.

“The NHL twice extended the exclusive negotiating period. … Both extensions were provided in writing. … It is also clear that no further requests for extension to the exclusive negotiating period were made by Labatt, and none were offered by the NHL,” Morawetz wrote. “The mere fact that the parties continued to negotiate beyond Oct. 22, 2010, does not, in my view, reflect an ongoing legal obligation to do so.”

 

Viewers Are Pawns In Carriage Battles

November 1 could be a very ugly day for DirecTV subscribers. That day is when over 20 News Corporation owned networks might be dropped from the provider’s channel lineup. It’s a terrible situation for subscribers and fans of those networks. Both sides have launched PR campaigns to woo the public although Fox seems to be winning that battle at the moment. Stuck in the middle are the viewers. In many cases, the viewers are loyal to both the channels and their providers, yet they are still getting screwed and now they don’t know where to turn and who’s to blame. It’s not pretty and that’s why so many people would love to see an ala carte system in place but in reality, the media companies don’t want it nor do the providers. I’ll write more about that a little later but first some background on this current carriage battle.

 

NHLN To Add New Weekly Segment, “Making of a Royal”

NHL Network and NHL.com will be featuring a new weekly segment which will lead to two specials -

NEW YORK (October 25, 2011) – NHL Network™ and NHL.com now feature a weekly series titled Making of a Royal, which provides an unprecedented look behind the scenes at the Long Island Royals – an Under-16 AAA hockey team that happens to be coached by Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine.

Making of a Royal, presented by McDonald’s, is distributed as a weekly vignette that rolls out every Monday on NHL Network’s NHL Live™ and NHL on the Fly™. The series also lives on NHL.com and is accompanied with a blog written by LaFontaine and occasional guest bloggers. The weekly installments will come together in two NHL Network specials. The first is scheduled to air February 19 as part of the network’s “Hockey Day in America” coverage with another on April 8 chronicling the Royals’ season-long journey.

Former New York Islander Steve Webb serves as an assistant coach for the Royals, whose roster includes LaFontaine’s son, Daniel. In LaFontaine’s first blog entry, he discusses the difference between being a dad and being a coach, as well as his son’s affinity for Coach Webb.

“With this series, I hope to show the hard work and dedication it takes to make it to the next level as a hockey player,” said Pat LaFontaine, who skated for the Islanders, Sabres and Rangers in a 15-year NHL career. “We have a lot of talented players on this team who also happen to be great kids. Getting behind the bench to coach this team is a thrill.”

McDonald’s, the world’s leading food service provider, is the presenting sponsor for Making of a Royal. As part of this partnership, the players will wear McDonald’s patches on their jerseys for the remainder of the season.

“We are proud to sponsor this program as part of our ongoing commitment to support grassroots programs that encourage active lifestyles in local communities around the world,” said John Lewicki, Head of McDonald’s Global Alliance Marketing.

This weekend, the Royals head to the Beantown Classic, one of the premiere and most scouted series of elite hockey showcases in North America. Since the tournament’s founding, the Beantown Classic has seen over 500 graduates play professional or NCAA Division I Ice Hockey.

 

It doesn’t sound like the most exciting programming and it will be filled with McDonald’s placement but it’s good to see something new on NHLN. The network still needs to make some big strides before it can be considered must see but every little bit helps. I’m still waiting for Voices to make a comeback.

 

NBC Sports Moving To Stamford

SportsBusiness Daily reports that NBC Sports is moving most of its operations to Stamford, CT, the home of Versus. The move will affect 300 people and helps align NBC and Versus even closer, ahead of their re-branding. From the article -

Currently, NBC Sports, Versus and Comcast SportsNet operate out of several offices in Manhattan, Connecticut and Philadelphia. Golf Channel’s operations will remain in Orlando.

This move, which was first reported in a Connecticut-focused blog called Daily Ructions, would put all of NBC Sports under one roof, in a building which used to house a Clairol hair dye factory.

Versus already operates a studio out of Stamford and NBC Sports’ digital and Olympics Web team has offices there, too. NBC is building a studio for the NHL in Stamford, as well.

NBC would join other media companies in Stamford, including WWE, which has its headquarters and studio there, and YES Network, which has a studio in the city of roughly 125,000 people.

Sources said NBC Sports was attracted by tax breaks Connecticut offers to the TV and film industry. Plus, NBC Sports should save a significant amount of money moving employees from high-rent areas in Manhattan and downtown Philadelphia to a building just off of I-95.

Much of NBC Sports’ senior staff will move out of NBC’s famed 30 Rock offices and be based out of Stamford, which is around 35 miles from New York City and a 45-minute ride on MetroNorth to Grand Central. All NBC Sports sales executives will remain in New York, and there will be some offices in 30 Rock to allow executives to work out of Manhattan on occasion.

 

Some Weekend Links

Here’s a couple of weekend links to share for the weekend and one quick news note.

NHL ON VERSUS IS RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING

Sports Video Group has an interesting article up about the changes at Versus as they meld NBC into their hockey broadcasts. The story features quotes from director Jeff Simon. From the article -

“We’ve fully integrated the entire operation in terms of production, engineering, support,” says Jeff Simon, director of NHL on NBC. “It’s really considered just one organization that is on two different platforms. The rebranding of Versus is still down the line, but, if you’ve seen any of our early games, our graphic look is almost entirely NHL on NBC, and I think the things that we have done in the past on NBC in terms of the production and the style of the coverage is the same way on Versus.”

Under the hood, little is different in the production of the NHL on Versus, according to Simon. It’s mostly the same people, same equipment, and same studios that made the network’s hockey coverage a year ago. The biggest change, however, is the programming schedule, which offers about 100 NHL games, doubling the total that NBC Sports Group produced a season ago.

“We signed a 10-year deal with the NHL, which has cemented this relationship as a partnership, and now the games on Versus are nearly double,” says Simon. “When you put the platforms together and you throw in all of the Comcast regional sports networks, hockey is such a big staple of the company now.”

The article goes on to talk about how Versus is sharing resources with Comcast SportsNet and other regional providers when possible.

SBD INTERVIEW WITH JOHN COLLINS

NHL COO John Collins isn’t always a popular person even if the league has shown some gains since he arrived on the hockey scene. Sports Business Daily interviewed Collins for their In The Studio segment earlier this week. While there is a full video interview on the link, SBD also has a text synopsis of it. Here’s a few of the highlights from that synopsis -

Q: State of the NHL’s business?
Collins: Big new TV agreements, new European deals, “we’re locked and loaded.”

Q: Offseason highlight was new TV deal with NBC.
Collins: NBC’s selling Olympics, “SNF,” Super Bowl alongside NHL.

Q: Working closer with NBC on sales means …
Collins: NHL goes to “market with a lot more leverage.”

Q: Why do sports rights fees continue to increase?
Collins: Nothing else is live. “Sports is beginning to get fair value.”

Q: So sports has been undervalued?
Collins: Yes. Unlike scripted programming, you “know what you’re getting.”

Q: TV Everywhere?
Collins: How someone watches shouldn’t matter; “rights deals have to catch up.”

Q: How do you define NHL brand to potential partners?
Collins: Great fan base in U.S., but in Canada “a unifying force.”

Q: What did HBO’s “24/7” do for brand?
Collins: “Hockey culture has been so closed … team-oriented.” Series looked inside.

Q: What’s next for Winter Classic-style big-event strategy?
Collins: “The biggest opportunity really is the Stanley Cup playoffs.”

Q: So getting more eyeballs, attention, ad support?
Collins: “I think it could be treated almost like a March Madness.”

Q: Sports business stories you’re watching.
Collins: NBA labor, and what the NFL does next.

Q: NBC Sports Network: How do they build a 24/7 brand?
Collins: “I think they’re going to look at properties” over news/info.

Q: Telling stories around the properties they already have to start?
Collins: “That’s what they’ve done so well with the Olympics” and others.

NO HNIC PUNJABI THIS SEASON

And finally, The Toronto Star confirms that CBC has pulled the plug on Punjabi language telecasts of Hockey Night in Canada. The telecasts debuted in 2008, only to be pulled off for awhile last season due to a lack of sponsorship. The broadcasts were brought back due to viewer demand. But in the end, CBC couldn’t get enough corporate support to continue the Punjanbi telecasts this season.

 

Ratings Watch

Time for our weekly ratings watch. The Versus numbers continue to struggle on virtually all counts. While the lack of exclusivity is hurting many of their NHL broadcasts, things aren’t looking much better for their original programming. Game On continues to post record lows each week with college football staying as the nets high point. In case you missed it, Versus and NBC came up short in their bid of the FIFA World Cup as Fox won the rights. So for now, Versus will have to continue to build with what they already have with MLS on the way. And here’s a note on Versus exclusivity for the week. Monday’s game was exclusive in Denver while Tuesday’s was exclusive in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, ratings continue to be strong in Canada as both CBC and TSN posted some large numbers. CBC had over 1 million viewers for both of their broadcasts while Wednesday’s TSN matchup of Winnipeg/Toronto brought in over one million viewers. Last week’s TSN numbers were kind of low as competition appears to have hurt their numbers but Wednesday’s game helped make up for it.

The US Nielsen ratings are sourced from The Voice of TV, Puck The Media  and TVSportsratings on Twitter. The Canadian BBM ratings are sourced from Canadian Sports Media Blog, Toronto’s Remote Control blog among others.

VERSUS RATINGS

FRI. OCTOBER 14, 2011

7 PM Game On 13,000 viewers

SAT. OCTOBER 15, 2011

3 PM College Football Report 21,000
3:30 PM CFB: Columbia/Penn 64,000
7 PM College Football Report 92,000
7:30 PM CFB: Stanford/Washington St. 433,000
10:30 PM College Football Report 74,000

MON. OCTOBER 17, 2011

5 PM College Football Talk 37,000
6 PM Pro Football Talk 41,000
6:30 PM NHL Live 55,000 34,000 A18-49
7 PM Colorado/Toronto 218,000 115,000 Up 5% from last year (COL/NYR)
9:30 PM NHL Live 103,000 64,000 Up 23%
11 PM NHL Overtime 53,000 36,000

TUES. OCTOBER 18, 2011

6 PM NBC SportsTalk 15,000 6,000
7 PM NHL Live 62,000 25,000 Down 66% from last year
7:30 PM Pittsburgh/Minnesota 286,000 141,000 Down 15% (BOS/WSH)
10 PM NHL Live 130,000 85,000 Down 17%
10:30 PM NHL Overtime 55,000 41,000

CANADA RATINGS

MON. OCTOBER 10, 2011

CBC Battle of the Blades 873,000

TUES. OCTOBER 11, 2011

TSN Minnesota/Ottawa 473,000

WED. OCTOBER 12, 2011

TSN Vancouver/Philadelphia 589,000

THURS. OCTOBER 13, 2011

TSN Winnipeg/Chicago 408,000

SAT. OCTOBER 15, 2011

CBC 7 PM Regional (TOR/CGY, OTT/WSH, WPG/PHX, COL/MTL) 2.12 million
CBC 10 PM Vancouver/Edmonton 1.17 million

SUN. OCTOBER 16, 2011

CBC Battle of the Blades 1.2 million

WED. OCTOBER 19, 2011

TSN Winnipeg/Toronto 1.4 million

 

FSN & DirecTV Launch PR Campaigns Ahead of Carriage Deadline

Fox Cable Networks and DirecTV have each launched PR campaigns as a carriage deadline approaches. The 19 Fox Sports Net regional networks are included in this battle. According to Broadcasting & Cable, the current deal ends on November 1. DirecTV CEO Mike White claims in a statement that Fox is asking for an exorbitant increase.

News Corp. “has demanded that DirecTV customers pay nearly 40% more for the same channels they already received. If a new deal is not reached, we will be forced to suspend the channels as early as Nov. 1.”

White adds that “we respectfully ask for your patience as we work to achieve a fair agreement as quickly as possible.”

The folks at Fox have rebutted DirecTV with a statement of their own.

“DirecTV sent us a proposal on Tuesday afternoon. They have given us no chance to respond before taking an unnecessarily aggressive posture and going public. It is disappointing that they have chosen bad faith tactics over meaningful negotiation.”

Fox says it has proposed to allow DirecTV to continue to carry its networks for the current price and terms while negotiations continue. “Unfortunately, DirecTV has decided that unless they get their way, they are going to pull the plug on their customers Nov. 1.”

So, now the public relations battle begins. Each side is setting up a website to help their cause. DirecTV has launched “Our Promise To You“, while Fox plans to launch a website later this afternoon, keepmynets.com.

This is the second carriage battle to occur in the last month that directly affects NHL fans. NHL Network was pulled off of AT&T U-Verse at the start of the month and is still off the air.