Hockey is no longer a major sport in the US

[Sava]

Originally posted by mactbone
I remember the glitch in '93 where you could get the goalie stuck on the bottom net if you looped behind him. Hockey's a pretty fun creation - I wonder if people play it for real?

[Jon Miller]

I have never heard of OLN.

JM

[Ninot]

I remember the glitch in '93 where you could get the goalie stuck on the bottom net if you looped behind him. Hockey's a pretty fun creation - I wonder if people play it for real?

Wow, I hate you, but love you, all at once.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Sava
Well, I think the number of homes where OLN is available is misleading.

The numbers are true... they are not misleading.

There are around 109 million TV households in the US.
(3% of homes don't have a TV)

of those, about 69% have access to basic cable.
That's around 73 million homes.

About 50 million subscribe to "premium" cable.
(no real definition of what falls under premium)

The 61 million figure I gave for OLN means that 61 million homes can actually watch it/subscribe to it.
Granted, I'm sure many of the people that have access never bother to look at it. However, around 55% of all homes in the US could have turned on the game.

[Jon Miller]

There is a difference between a well known cable channel like ESPN, and OLN, which I would bet most people haven't heard of..

JM

[Flubber]

According to Bettman

-- OLN is in 70 million homes
-- Revenue is at an "all-time" high

Bettman holds state-of-the-union address
Gary Bettman

Canadian Press

6/5/2006 7:02:16 PM

RALEIGH, N.C. (CP) - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman defended his TV deals in the United States despite ratings that plunged this season in the face of a much better product on the ice.

Bettman spent much of his 30-minute, state-of-the-union news conference Monday evening responding to criticism of the OLN television deal in particular.

OLN has the first two games of the Stanley Cup final before NBC takes over for Games 3 through 7.

''The issue people point to if they're looking to take a shot at us is how we're doing on (U.S.) national television,'' Bettman said prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final. ''This year we changed partners, on the cable side we gave up some distribution in order to get better coverage. That's a trade that I would make again if I had to or had to make that change again because we love the way OLN is covering us.''

The biggest criticism of the U.S. cable TV deal is that OLN is hard to find on the dial in this country and certainly not available in most hotels and sports bars.





But Bettman pointed to the fact that OLN has grown from being in 64 million U.S. homes last summer to 70 million homes today. The NHL's former cable TV partner ESPN is in 90.7 million homes while ESPN2 is in 90.2 million homes, not too mention its place as the No. 1 sports network in the world and a fixture in sports bars.

''We needed a partner that was going to treat us with greater importance than we were getting,'' said Bettman. ''That's what we're getting with OLN and it will grow. I just think people need to be patient.''

The league has a two-year deal with OLN but Bettman is giving no hint of wanting to leave the network.

''We see the relationship with OLN as a long-term relationship,'' he said.

Other issues addressed by Bettman:

- The NHL's own investigation in the alleged gambling ring involving Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet is still ongoing. ''It was slowed down dramatically because of certain people that could not be interviewed until we got approval from the authorities,'' said Bettman, who added that Tocchet remains on leave of absence from his Coyotes job.

- The sale of the St. Louis Blues may finally be approaching completion after a tentative agreement was first announced in March.

''Transactions that go into the hundreds of millions of dollars don't happen overnight,'' said Bettman. ''Those corporate lawyers tend to get bogged down. (New owner) David Checketts and his partners met with the (Board of Governors) executive committee on Friday and if everything continues as it appears to be it will be on the agenda for the June 21 Board meeting for the Board's consideration.''

- The salary cap as previously reported will rise from the current $39 million to about $43 million or $44 million, Bettman said thanks to revenues that will be ''at an all-time high for this league.''

- The NHL's free agency period is expected to begin July 1 as expected. There was talk the NHL Players' Association would possibly ask for a delay if it contemplated possible changes to the way the salary cap was calculated.

''My guess is there won't be a delay, my guess is that it will start on time. That could change but I doubt it,'' Bettman said.

- The NHL's competition committee will meet again this summer and look at possibly other rule changes.

''I like the rule change that you can't change your players when you ice the puck and I'd like to also see that considered for when the goaltender freezes the puck,'' said Bettman.

- The NHL's unbalanced schedule, which saw teams play eight games within their own division but none against some teams from the other conference, will be kept for next season. The 2006-07 playoffs will also end earlier than this year. A possible Game 7 in this final would go June 19.

''We would be done in June single digits if it weren't for the Olympics, that cost us at least two weeks,'' said Bettman.

- The NHL in Winnipeg: ''We're not looking to relocate any franchise and we're not looking to expand ... but I do agree that the ability of a Winnipeg with the right building and ownership to not just survive but be competitive under the new system isn't something I would rule out although we haven't investigated it. But I don't want to get anybody's hopes up because we're not planning on going anywhere.''

- Bettman sounded less than pleased with the issue of compensation for clubs losing an executive under contract to another club, the most recent controversy coming when Ottawa and Boston battled over Senators assistant GM Peter Chiarelli becoming the new Bruins' GM.

It ended up costing the Bruins a conditional draft pick in the 2007 NHL entry draft. The Los Angeles Kings also had to cough up a second-round draft pick for hiring Philadelphia Flyers pro scout Dean Lombardi as their new GM.

''That's something that has troubled me on two fronts: one, we have a procedure in terms of how you're supposed to do these things and it hasn't always been adhered to by the clubs, and that tends to cause a little bit a problem when it's not adhered to; and two, there's the issue of whether or not it's a good idea at all. I don't have a problem with clubs holding their personnel to their contracts if they choose to, but this issue of what happens if you open the door a little and the problem is causes. This is something I'll probably address with the board of governors (June 21).''

In the end, Bettman was happy with the league's comeback from a one-year lockout. The game is better even is the TV ratings in the U.S. aren't.

''Things are good, our vital signs are strong, we have tremendous optimism about the future of our game,'' he said in his opening statement.

''We've learned that you don't need to spend all the way to the cap's upper limit to succeed and we think that's positive because a lot has been made about market size and the teams that have reached this final. If these playoffs demonstrate anything it's that market size has become irrelevant. The hockey played by the Carolina Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers is fast, entertaining and exciting and we are delighted to have these two teams competing for the Cup.

''It's about the hockey, it's not about the markets.''

[rah]

Hockey not being popular in large markets like chicago doesn't help. Witz won't broadcast home games on TV. It's gotten so bad that they had to Pay a radio station to broadcast their games. Attendence is in the toilet. There are not many hardcore fans in Chicago anymore. Most of them have gotten disgusted and stopped paying attention. (of course, the pathetic play by the home team hasn't helped either, but that can be attributed back to Wirtz also)

[Ming]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
There is a difference between a well known cable channel like ESPN, and OLN, which I would bet most people haven't heard of..

JM

Yep... to most people, it's probably just a number on their cable or direct system

However, if you are a hockey fan, you KNEW the Stanley Cup finals were on somewhere. And if you wanted to watch it, you would have found it. The simple fact is, most people didn't give a damn.

It will be interesting to see what happens when they shift to NBC for game 3 and the remainder of the series.
Then there will be no excuse when the ratings continue to suck

[Winston]

Hockey!?

Cue Terra Nullius in 3.. 2..

[Sava]

Originally posted by Ming



The 61 million figure I gave for OLN means that 61 million homes can actually watch it/subscribe to it.

Yeah. This is where I think the figure can be misleading. People can't watch it if they don't subscribe to it. Does the figure you have include every household that actually gets the channel? How can you possibly know this?

What constitutes "premium" cable? As you said, there is no definition. Dish Network, for instance, only offers OLN on their top package... America's Top 180. We could go around and look at the various satelite and cable providers, but considering OLN is a new network, we can assume that it is not as available as most other channels.

My household would be considered part of the "premium cable" category... but yet, I don't get OLN. I think a many people in that category probably don't get OLN either. I know WideOpenWest cable in Naperville doesn't carry OLN. Neither does Comcast. You need to specifically request it. Both would also be considered premium cable... I assume most people would just need HBO or whatnot to be considered premium, right?

But this is silly... I'm not here to argue about numbers. I don't even know where you are getting these figures. They are irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. The point is, the NHL made a deal to put their games on a network that most people can't watch because this OLN network is not part of most cable and satelite providers' basic packages. ESPN and ESPN2 is.

We can sit here and argue about numbers until we are blue in the face (or until our fingers fall off, hehe)... so fine, OLN is available to every household in America... you are right. Okay... fine. There... you win.

But it doesn't change the fact that people can't watch the games unless they call their cable/satelite provider and specifically add OLN to their service. Which, sad to say, is a pain in the ass. And most people just aren't going to do that.

Eventually, OLN might be part of more basic packages... but for now, it just isn't.



(and your numbers are misleading)


/me runs away

[Flubber]

Sava

Gary Bettman is quoted as saying OLN is in 70 million households-- I presume he would know.


Plus EVERYONE needs OLN in the summer-- How else can you watch the Tour de France.

[Ming]

Sava... Bettmans number is more up to date than mine (I did claim it was old)

But when he says that 70 million households has access, we are talking about 70 million homes where you could walk up to the TV and turn it to OLN and watch the game... I'm sorry you don't get it, but you obviously aren't in one of the 70 million households that does get it

[joncha]

This was in yesterday's Globe and Mail.

The NHL's rosy glow isn't coming from U.S. TV screens

DAVID SHOALTS

Raleigh, N.C. — If you listen to Gary Bettman, the National Hockey League is humming along merrily, with the cash registers singing. Why, there is even a light in the tunnel that leads to the black hole its U.S. television contract fell into.

“Things are good, our vital signs are strong and we have tremendous optimism about the future of our game,” the NHL commissioner said last night at his annual Stanley Cup press conference. “We saw extremely strong [television] ratings in Canada. We are delighted with the treatment we are receiving from OLN in its first season as our national cable rights-holder in the United States.”

A look around the league shows things are just a tad less rosy than the commissioner's glowing picture.

On the way into Bettman's press conference at the RBC Center, a couple of reporters stopped by the Carolina Hurricanes' ticket window. It seems there were some good seats still available for last night's first game of the Stanley Cup final between the Hurricanes and the Edmonton Oilers. “A few hundred,” according to the fellow at the wicket.

The NHL may be delighted with the treatment it received from OLN (that means unlike bad old ESPN, the OLN executives return the league's telephone calls), but surely it cannot be delighted with the network's ratings.

Games on OLN, a second-tier cable network that reaches about 70 million homes in the U.S., averaged a 0.45 rating, which translates to about 300,000 viewers. In the last year of its deal with the NHL, in the 2003-04 season, ESPN's average rating was 0.7, or 500,000 homes. ESPN and its sister network, ESPN 2 are available in about 90 million homes in the U.S.

NBC, which held the NHL in such high regard it refused to pay any money up front for its package, had a 1.1 rating for the games it has shown so far, compared to the 1.5 ABC had in 2004. Bettman declined to say if this deal will turn a profit for the NHL this season, saying the advertising sales will have to be tallied and costs deducted when the Cup final is over.

Bettman's glossy spin on the state of the NHL is hard to reconcile when you consider its games are routinely clobbered in the U.S. television ratings by poker or Arena Football or even high-school girls basketball.

This is a commissioner who sold himself to the governors 13 years ago as a fellow who would extend the NHL footprint by expansion into non-traditional (read cities who didn't know a hockey puck from a bagel) markets. Then, they would all get rich together on the resulting U.S. network television contract.

Everyone knows how that turned out. The league has never been less relevant in the United States than it is now. The NHL claimed record attendance every month of the season, yet reporters saw no shortage of empty seats in American arenas.

But Bettman claims he is content the league is on the right track with its television plans. The OLN deal has one more year to run and Bettman says the league plans to stick with the network.

“We needed a partner to treat us with greater importance than we were getting,” Bettman said. “That's what we're getting with OLN and it will grow. I just think people need to be patient.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060605.wshoaltscol0/BNStory/NHLPlayoffs/home

[Datajack Franit]

Greedy sport= who the hell cares

[Sava]

Originally posted by Flubber
I presume he would know.

I don't think Bettman knows his ass from a hole in the ground.



Though, I honestly don't know the OLN numbers. I can't say if he's wrong or not, but I wouldn't trust Gary Bettman as a reliable source.

However, judging from how available OLN is in the Chicago area (Wide Open West cable service, Comcast, and RCN cable) and on Dish Network and DirectTV... I seriously doubt that 64% of households actually subscribe to that channel. Smells like bull**** to me.