Game 5 TV Ratings a HUGE BUST
Posted 3:19 PM ET | Comments 4
The NHL and NBC can not like this.. The Ratings from game 4 to game 5 went DOWN. A 2.1 for Game 4 went down to a mere 1.8 for the final game is not good for either the NHL or NBC.. The ratings are obviosuly down big time from last years Cup Finals..
The ratings were a bust the whole series through. I actually wonder if Bettman believes his own spin.
Doing things like having no post-game, not showing the anthems in game five (which were pretty great), and cutting away before overtime does not endear you to fans. Anyone who's not a die-hard probably tuned out NBC games long ago -- the frustration of these types of things makes it an unenjoyable experience. The sad thing is, parts of the broadcast are pretty good -- Pierre McGuire is great, Doc Emrick is a good play-by-play man, and I really enjoy Brett Hull. But there's too many issues that have annoyed NHL fans over the season -- throw in stupid game times (the finals were okay though) like 11 am Pacific, and that's a recipe for miserable ratings!
NBC needs to S*** or get off the pot. Take a page out of the CBC's book and do it right.I think they just have to force it down people's throats and the numbers will get better.
Now, here's a point: Does anybody think that if there were 2 US teams playing in the finals the ratings would be up? You are not going to get anybody from Canada watching NBC, so maybe having a Canadian team in the finals hurt the US ratings! Could you imagine if the finals had no US teams in it? NBC would have broken into re-runs of "Joey" after the first five minutes of game one!