Saturday, January 14, 2006
NHL Saturdaze
Hey, America! It's your lucky day! Beginning today, you can watch the new-look NHL on your own NBC affilliate. It's called "NHL on NBC," and you won't need cable to watch it. You won't even need a satellite dish. That tinfoil-covered coat hanger perched on top of the old Zenith will work fine. If you're lucky enough to have a high definition TV and have figured out how to bring in the local HD signal, then you're REALLY lucky; NBC will broadcast one of its regional games each week in scrumptious high definition! And trust me on this one: hockey looks awfully good in HD.
Recognizing the regional appeal of NHL teams (and taking a cue from ABC's regional coverage of NCAA sports), NBC is broadcasting three games simultaneously on each of six Saturdays between now and the end of the season.
I love that the NHL has returned to broadcast TV after a lengthy absence. And I love that nobody's promised to bring back the infamous glowing puck (though NBC has promised to mike players and rig the poor netminders with a "goalie cam" setup). But a closer look at NBC's schedule tells me NHL fans are getting a bit of a raw deal (not unlike Dish Network yanking OLN over a contract dispute), and will alienate NHL fans around the country. Or, if not fans across the country, then at least me. It'll definitely alienate me.
First of all, NBC has chosen not to schedule any games featuring Canadian teams. So, no Ottawa Senators (3rd best team in the league as I write this), no Toronto Maple Leafs (14th best team in the league, but more importantly the most valuable franchise in the entire NHL, according to Forbes magazine), and no Vancouver Canucks (arguably the most hated of the Canadian NHL teams by American fans). Fine, I can live with that. At least it's a consistent programming policy.
You would think NBC would try to schedule each of the remaining 24 teams at least once, since 18 games means 36 available spots -- more than enough to accomodate one game for each American team, right?
Nope.
Nine American teams, nearly 40% of them, will not appear on NBC as part of this broadcast package at all. Because of this scheduling oversight, America won't get to see three American teams that are currently in the top 10 of the league standings: the Carolina Hurricanes (first in the league as I write this), The Nashville Predators (sixth), and the Buffalo Sabres (eighth). Nor will they see six teams that are languishing at the bottom of the standings, but which still have a strong regional following: the New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals, and Columbus Blue Jackets.
So who will we get to see?
Well, we'll see the Philadelphia Flyers, N.Y. Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Dallas Stars -- all top 10 teams -- four times each. We'll also see the Colorado Avalanche, currently 13th in the league, four times. I can live with that, I guess, since I am an Avs fan, but the fact remains that the Avs are pretty solidly entrenched in the muddled middle of the standings and have only in the last few weeks shown any signs that they'll get beyond the first round of the playoffs, if they get there at all.
Pittsburgh Penguins rookie sensation Sidney Crosby will grace television screens across the nation three times, even though his team is third-worst in the league. But the other (and possibly better) rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals will not be seen at all. And, at 27th in the league, the Caps are actually a better team than the Penguins.
The Boston Bruins, in a freefall this season and the 25th best team in the league, will be seen three times as well. The Bruins are, in fact, the only Northeast Division team that will be broadcast on national TV at all. The Sabres were shut out, and the rest of the teams in the division are Canadian.
And this kills me: The St. Louis Blues, hands down the worst team in the league this year, will play twice on NBC Saturdays. Lucky us!
The N.Y. Islanders, Minnesota Wild, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Atlanta Thrashers will be broadcast once each. The Lightning, in case you've forgotten, are the defending Stanley Cup champions. Tampa Bay is currently the 16th-best team in the league, which (if you're the Avalanche) should get them at least two, maybe even three, games on NHL Saturdays. Right? Wrong.
But here's what pisses me off most about this deal: The Southeast Division, with five American teams in it, represents 27.8% of the teams NBC could have scheduled. But only the Lightning and the Thrashers get a nationally televised game. That's just 5.6% of the available spots in the broadcast schedule this spring. Ridiculous!
And before you jump to NBC's side and tell me they (in collaboration with the NHL, of course) selected teams with the largest fan bases, etc., let me remind you that NBC's approach all along has been to regionalize the broadcasts. And the way I see it, the entire southeast part of the country -- home to 5 NHL teams (I'll swap Washington and Nashville for purposes of this discussion) gets to see just two of its teams play over the course of six weekends. Instead, they get to see the Flyers, Red Wings, Rangers, Stars and Avalanche. Maybe there is some regional interest in Dallas, but none of the others are southeast regional teams. So what's the point of having regional broadcasts in the first place if you're not going to show regional teams in their home markets?
The NHL says it is committed to developing interest in professional hockey in nontraditional markets, but this deal with NBC looks to me like a big step back. Count me among the millions who (before the playoffs, anyway) probably won't be watching much of the NHL on NBC this year.
Recognizing the regional appeal of NHL teams (and taking a cue from ABC's regional coverage of NCAA sports), NBC is broadcasting three games simultaneously on each of six Saturdays between now and the end of the season.
I love that the NHL has returned to broadcast TV after a lengthy absence. And I love that nobody's promised to bring back the infamous glowing puck (though NBC has promised to mike players and rig the poor netminders with a "goalie cam" setup). But a closer look at NBC's schedule tells me NHL fans are getting a bit of a raw deal (not unlike Dish Network yanking OLN over a contract dispute), and will alienate NHL fans around the country. Or, if not fans across the country, then at least me. It'll definitely alienate me.
First of all, NBC has chosen not to schedule any games featuring Canadian teams. So, no Ottawa Senators (3rd best team in the league as I write this), no Toronto Maple Leafs (14th best team in the league, but more importantly the most valuable franchise in the entire NHL, according to Forbes magazine), and no Vancouver Canucks (arguably the most hated of the Canadian NHL teams by American fans). Fine, I can live with that. At least it's a consistent programming policy.
You would think NBC would try to schedule each of the remaining 24 teams at least once, since 18 games means 36 available spots -- more than enough to accomodate one game for each American team, right?
Nope.
Nine American teams, nearly 40% of them, will not appear on NBC as part of this broadcast package at all. Because of this scheduling oversight, America won't get to see three American teams that are currently in the top 10 of the league standings: the Carolina Hurricanes (first in the league as I write this), The Nashville Predators (sixth), and the Buffalo Sabres (eighth). Nor will they see six teams that are languishing at the bottom of the standings, but which still have a strong regional following: the New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals, and Columbus Blue Jackets.
So who will we get to see?
Well, we'll see the Philadelphia Flyers, N.Y. Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Dallas Stars -- all top 10 teams -- four times each. We'll also see the Colorado Avalanche, currently 13th in the league, four times. I can live with that, I guess, since I am an Avs fan, but the fact remains that the Avs are pretty solidly entrenched in the muddled middle of the standings and have only in the last few weeks shown any signs that they'll get beyond the first round of the playoffs, if they get there at all.
Pittsburgh Penguins rookie sensation Sidney Crosby will grace television screens across the nation three times, even though his team is third-worst in the league. But the other (and possibly better) rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals will not be seen at all. And, at 27th in the league, the Caps are actually a better team than the Penguins.
The Boston Bruins, in a freefall this season and the 25th best team in the league, will be seen three times as well. The Bruins are, in fact, the only Northeast Division team that will be broadcast on national TV at all. The Sabres were shut out, and the rest of the teams in the division are Canadian.
And this kills me: The St. Louis Blues, hands down the worst team in the league this year, will play twice on NBC Saturdays. Lucky us!
The N.Y. Islanders, Minnesota Wild, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Atlanta Thrashers will be broadcast once each. The Lightning, in case you've forgotten, are the defending Stanley Cup champions. Tampa Bay is currently the 16th-best team in the league, which (if you're the Avalanche) should get them at least two, maybe even three, games on NHL Saturdays. Right? Wrong.
But here's what pisses me off most about this deal: The Southeast Division, with five American teams in it, represents 27.8% of the teams NBC could have scheduled. But only the Lightning and the Thrashers get a nationally televised game. That's just 5.6% of the available spots in the broadcast schedule this spring. Ridiculous!
And before you jump to NBC's side and tell me they (in collaboration with the NHL, of course) selected teams with the largest fan bases, etc., let me remind you that NBC's approach all along has been to regionalize the broadcasts. And the way I see it, the entire southeast part of the country -- home to 5 NHL teams (I'll swap Washington and Nashville for purposes of this discussion) gets to see just two of its teams play over the course of six weekends. Instead, they get to see the Flyers, Red Wings, Rangers, Stars and Avalanche. Maybe there is some regional interest in Dallas, but none of the others are southeast regional teams. So what's the point of having regional broadcasts in the first place if you're not going to show regional teams in their home markets?
The NHL says it is committed to developing interest in professional hockey in nontraditional markets, but this deal with NBC looks to me like a big step back. Count me among the millions who (before the playoffs, anyway) probably won't be watching much of the NHL on NBC this year.
posted by Bill Purdy, 1:25 PM
1 Buffaloes were bitter enough to post comments:
As I read this I start to think "regional" could mean "most exciting/popular" to the people at NBC. Then I got to the paragraph about who WON'T be on NBC:
Brodeur
Ovechkin
Luongo
Staal
Kariya
Biron
Federov
Gretzky's team
...And that's only the US teams!
Sorry, my original theory obviously has holes.
I can understand televising Forsberg vs. his old team yesterday, but I don't understand televising the absolutely horrendous Blues for the nation to see. This team is so bad, they would struggle to reach .500 in jr. hockey.
I think NBC failed to realize that the new NHL means diversity (not parity) and EVERY team has something to give/show to the nation, other than St. Louis. And their failure to show any Canadian teams is basically a slap in the face/insult to anyone who dares to call themself a hockey fan.
The new NHL: alienating fans at a record pace!
Brodeur
Ovechkin
Luongo
Staal
Kariya
Biron
Federov
Gretzky's team
...And that's only the US teams!
Sorry, my original theory obviously has holes.
I can understand televising Forsberg vs. his old team yesterday, but I don't understand televising the absolutely horrendous Blues for the nation to see. This team is so bad, they would struggle to reach .500 in jr. hockey.
I think NBC failed to realize that the new NHL means diversity (not parity) and EVERY team has something to give/show to the nation, other than St. Louis. And their failure to show any Canadian teams is basically a slap in the face/insult to anyone who dares to call themself a hockey fan.
The new NHL: alienating fans at a record pace!