Buffalo Tops All-Star Game Ratings

Buffalo was the highest rated local market for the 2008 NHL All-Star Game with a 3.3 rating and the only market in the United States where Versus was the #1 rated channel for that time slot. However, that's down significantly from 7.1 rating from the 2007 All-Star Game that featured three Sabres in the starting line-up. In 2007, an additional 2.7 rating was registered on CBC; CBC's rating in Buffalo for this year's game is not yet available.

Here are ratings for some markets with Versus cable network ranking in parenthesis:

1) Buffalo: 3.3 (#1)
2) Pittsburgh: 3.0 (#3)
3) Detroit: 2.8 (#4)
4) Philadelphia: 2.2 (#3)
5) Minneapolis-St. Paul: 2.1 (#2)
6) New York: 1.0 (#11)

NHL All-Star Game Rating

Sports Business Daily reports that the NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta drew a bigger rating than the 2007 Game in Dallas, but it was a still a poor figure compared to the past. The rating in Atlanta is especially troubling.

Last night's NHL All-Star game on Versus earned a 0.76 rating in the metered markets, which is up from a 0.54 last year. Host city Atlanta's preliminary rating was a 0.25, which is down from a 0.54 for host-city Dallas last year.

The 2007 All-Star Game actually garnered a .7 national rating last year, so the increase in fairly small. The figures for local markets will likely come out tomorrow.

League Wide Comparison

On December 18th, the owner of the Washington Capitals, Ted Leonsis, posted a look at American TV ratings around the NHL. Now that we have Buffalo's figures, here's a comparison. Keep in mind that Buffalo's figures are from January 18th, while the other teams are current as of December 18th. (Data for Carolina, Nashville, Boston, and Colorado was not available.)

1) Buffalo Sabres: 8.50
2) Pittsburgh Penguins: 5.08
3) Detroit Red Wings: 4.64
4) Minnesota Wild: 2.62
5) St. Louis Blues: 2.43
6) Philadelphia Flyers: 2.30
7) New York Rangers: 1.08
8) Columbus Blue Jackets: 1.04
9) San Jose Sharks: 0.90
10) Tampa Bay Lightning: 0.66
11) Chicago Blackhawks: 0.60
12) Washington Capitals: 0.50
13) Dallas Stars: 0.41
14) New Jersey Devils: 0.36
15) Los Angeles Kings: 0.31
16) Anaheim Ducks: 0.27
17) New York Islanders: 0.25
18) Phoenix Coyotes: 0.23
19) Atlanta Thrashers: 0.18
20) Florida Panthers: 0.17

Sabres/Devils Rating and Season Average

The Sabres shootout loss to the Devils on January 12th earned an 8.3 rating for MSG. Considering that the Devils have historically played a sleep-inducing brand of hockey, it was a home game, it was game #9 of what would eventually be a 10 game winless streak, and it was competing with the second round of the NFL playoffs, that's a very good number.

Also of significance from Pergament's article, the Sabres have averaged an 8.5 local rating on MSG so far in the 2007-2008 season. While that's technically an increase, a reporting error lead to ratings figures being artificially lower last season, so the true rating number is merely an estimation. It seems safe to figure that Buffalo drew between a 9.0 and 10.0 in 2006-2007. The lower figure this year, however, doesn't include the gigantic rating for the Winter Classic or any other nationally televised games that tend to draw big numbers. The fact that the Sabres still have the highest rating in the NHL among American teams despite struggling on the ice is a testament to the NHL's popularity in Buffalo.

Winter Classic Ratings

The Winter Classic on NBC earned a 38.2 rating 58 share locally. In Pittsburgh the game drew an impressive 17.7 rating with a 30 share. Nationally, the match-up between the Pens and Sabres earned the highest rating for an NHL regular season game since February of 1996 with a 2.6 rating and 5 share.

The figure in Buffalo is even more impressive when you consider there were 82,000+ people in attendance at Ralph Wilson Stadium and HSBC Arena. In a market as small as Buffalo, that's likely ~5 ratings points. Additionally, the Ice Bowl was an "event", which have been notoriously difficult to properly rate since s many people throw parties and get together to watch the game.

All in all, it's a step in the right direction for the NHL. TV Week lists the top ten rated markets:

Top 10 Metered Markets:

1. Buffalo, N.Y., 38.2/58

2. Pittsburgh 17.7/30

3. Minneapolis 5.1/11

4. Denver 3.7/7

5 (tie). Providence, R.I., 3.5/7

5 (tie). Las Vegas 3.5/6

7. St. Louis 3.3/5

8. Boston 3.2/6

9. Sacramento 2.9/6

10 (tie). Richmond, Va., 2.8/5

10 (tie). Hartford, Conn., 2.8/5

ESPN To Carry The NHL Again?

Andy Strickland reports a rumor that ESPN will resume coverage of the NHL, including the playoffs, next year taking over for NBC:

Expect the NHL to announce that Versus will remain the cable carrier for NHL games heading into next season. A mutual option must be agreed upon by the January 1st 2008 deadline. No official agreement has been made but sources tell me not to expect the NHL and Comcast to part ways.

You can also expect to hear an announcement from the NHL that either ESPN or ESPN 2 will replace NBC and begin televising games next season. Sources tell me that the news is looking very positive for ESPN.

The biggest thing for ESPN is that they once again are televising the Stanley Cup playoffs and more importantly the finals.

An announcement will likely come sometime during this season’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

Potentially good news.

New Time Warner Channels

In addition to the NHL Network, Time Warner is adding Versus HD.

On October 31st, customers will be able to watch the NHL Network on Channel 171 and Versus HD on Channel 771.

The NHL Network launched in the U.S. on October 1st. Fans can watch live NHL games, (subject to local blackout restrictions) highights and other league programming on the network. They'll also be able to enjoy sporting events, including NHL Hockey, in high definition on Versus HD.

Time Warner To Add NHL Network in Buffalo

After purchasing the rights to carry NHL Network nationally, Time Warner's Buffalo division has announced they will be adding the channel in the near future despite speculation that they would not.

Stay tuned for The NHL Network on Time Warner. Robin Wolfgang, the spokesperson for the cable company, said today the channel will be added to the system shortly.

"We know our customers like hockey and it seemed like a good option," said Wolfgang.

The NHL Network is carrying 40 games this season, including three involving the Buffalo Sabres. Two of the three games are also on Versus and the third is on local rights-holder MSG. The NHL Network feed will be blacked out here for those games.

It may cost subscribers more money to get the channel here. If subscribers already get T-W's sports and movie package for $5 monthly, they will continue to pay that rate, Wolfgang said.

However, T-W is creating separate sports and movie tiers, with each costing $4 monthly, Wolfgang said. New subscribers to each tier can choose to pay $4 for one tier or $8 for both, Wolfgang said.

It only made sense to add the channel in the NHL's most successful American TV market.

Time Warner to Carry NHL Network

Time Warner Cable has purchased the rights to broadcast the NHL Network, which includes 50 NHL games carried in HD. The TW employee I spoke to said it would be added to the digital sports tier within the next week. It's uncertain whether the HD games will be picked up in Buffalo, so contacting Buffalo Time Warner can only help. A TW spokesman on the issue:

Mark Harrad, a Time Warner Cable spokesman, told TVPredictions.com last night that it's up to each local Time Warner operator to determine whether to air the NHL Network's high-def broadcasts.

"We have the rights to offer their HD content. It will depend on the individual divisions, if they want to devote the bandwidth to carry these games," Harrad said.

Additionally, MSG will be showing Sabres home games in HD on channel 700 in the Buffalo area.

It's almost as if Time Warner is pretending they care...

MSNBC On Sabres TV Revenue

There's been a lot of speculation about exactly how much money the Sabres deal with MSG brings in the team. MSNBC, in an article about the franchise's turnaround off the ice, provided a bit of insight, but along the lines of what we already knew:

Golisano & Co. have signed a local TV deal with MSG Network through the 2016-2017 season believed to be in the high seven figures annually, in which the Sabres bring in money by selling advertising and where they control production (whose costs they bear). Under previous owner John Rigas, founder of cable firm Adelphia Communications, the team’s broadcast territory through Empire Sports Network barely made a dent in the Empire State. Today, their games can be seen as far away as Albany, helping to mint new fans.

Obviously, with the Sabres generating income by selling advertising, the exact figure won't come out barring a major leak from someone in the know. That said, Larry Quinn admitted that the blunder causing MSG's ratings numbers to be underreported cost the team a significant amount of advertising revenue last year. It's unknown exactly how widespread the underreporting was, but it's safe to say the ratings were artificially low by 30-50%. This season will be the first time advertisers are paying for the full rating prowess that the Sabres bring. They're the top rated cable show in Buffalo reaching prime demographics.

Since we know that Empire's rights fee was $9.5 million annually, I'd be surprised if the Sabres don't pull in well over $10 million from their local TV contract alone for the 2007-2008 season.

The Winter Classic - 42,000 Tickets Sold in 25 Minutes

Everyone seems to be outraged about the ticket situation for the New Year's Day AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic, which we now know will be the highest attended game in NHL history. The "average Joe" segment is outraged that so few tickets were available to die hard fans, Bills season ticket holders are outraged that they had no priority rights to purchase ducats, Pittsburgh fans are outraged that Buffalo fans hacked their highly encrypted password 'Crosby' and bought up their block, Sabres season ticket holders are outraged that there's only 1 ticket on average set aside for them as "extras", and outrage has been set aside for mass confusion from everyone in regards to the bizarre decision to give Toronto Blue Jays season ticket holders preference.

The bottom line, which seems to be being missed by nearly everyone, is that Buffalo sold all 42,000 available tickets in 25 minutes. That figure doesn't even include the 30,000 tickets reserved for Sabres season ticket holders. This is incredible display by the most rabid NHL fan base in the United States. For a league that takes more than it's fair share of flak, this is a fantastic way to show the NHL is not nearly as dead as advertised. Given the right market, the right amount of exposure, and competent marketing, the NHL is capable of hosting a successful event on a very busy sports day (traditionally dominated by college football) because they have the most passionate group of fans in professional sports.

The national ratings will be poor. I'd be highly surprised if it even cracks a 2.0. Don't be fooled by the ratings though, this level of interest is a great sign for hockey.

The NHL released the following statement:

Demonstrating once again that our fans are the most passionate in sports, more than 42,000 tickets to the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic were sold in the first 30 minutes of availability this morning. Due to the overwhelming demand, plus our commitment to Sabres and Penguins season ticket holders, the Buffalo Bills and sponsors of the event, we are currently sold out. If additional tickets become available, we'll release the information at a later date.

Sabres Home Games To Be in HD

Tim Graham reports that Sabres home games on MSG will be broadcast in high definition.

So I had the chance to ask around at the arena today, and learned the Sabres will televise their home games only in HD. Although road games will remain in standard definition for now, more and more away dates will be upgraded in future seasons.

Now we wait on Time Warner.

Sabres Appear Seven Times on Versus

Versus released its schedule for the upcoming NHL season and there is a noticeable Buffalo presence. Here are the games:

Oct. 15 – 7:00 Toronto vs. Buffalo

Nov. 26 – 7:00 Buffalo vs. Washington

Dec. 10 – 7:00 Boston vs. Buffalo

Jan. 29 – 7:30 Buffalo vs. Tampa Bay

Feb. 25 – 7:00 Philadelphia vs. Buffalo

Mar. 4 – 7:00 Buffalo vs. Philadelphia

Mar. 10 – 7:00 NY Rangers vs. Buffalo

Toronto is an interesting choice and should garner a huge rating locally. Fairly surprising that a Penguins/Sabres tilt isn't on tap.

Sabres To Host Outdoor Game

It has been widely speculated that the Sabres will host the "Ice Bowl" on New Year's Day at Ralph Wilson Stadium which will be televised on NBC. Multiple sources including the local NBC affiliate, WGR550, and the Buffalo News have indicated that the game will be a go so long as a few logistical issues get worked out in the near future. NBC released its "flex schedule" for the upcoming season this afternoon which allows it to choose between different games depending on how the particular match up looks at the time. The choices on January 1st? Pittsburgh @ Buffalo or the Penguins visiting the Sabres. It's the only day on the schedule without another option, so it's looking like the outdoor game is a done deal.

It will be interesting to see the rating as half the city will be in attendance. That said, it will be a major event for Buffalo and will likely still pull a big number.

Cup Clincher Pulls Big Rating

The Ducks Stanley Cup clinching victory over the Ottawa Senators drew a big rating in Buffalo. From Alan Pergament:

Buffalo might be the only market in America that gets higher ratings for the Stanley Cup finals than the NBA Finals on ABC despite the hype brought about by James’ legendary performance. The ratings in Buffalo for the Stanley Cup finals were five to 10 times the national ratings. Anaheim’s seriesclinching victory had an 11.7 rating here, about five times the national overnight rating.

The game drew a 2.5 rating nationally. The LA market peaked at an impressive (relatively) 10.4 figure. The overall average was a 6.0 (12 share) which, after taking the West Coast time zone issues into account, isn't that bad. Buffalo was in all likelihood the highest rated American market for all 5 games.