Partly the matchup but the main thing is Versus. When it was on ESPN you could be channel surfing and get some promotion of the games throughout the day. You go to versus when hockey isn't on and all you see is fishing and hunting. There is no way to generate any excitement. Gary Bettman is the George McPhee of sports commissioners.

Partly the matchup but the main thing is Versus. When it was on ESPN you could be channel surfing and get some promotion of the games throughout the day. You go to versus when hockey isn't on and all you see is fishing and hunting. There is no way to generate any excitement. Gary Bettman is the George McPhee of sports commissioners.

I agree...How long do we have to suffer through Bettman's stupid decisions?

Is it just me, or are we the only sport who's championship isn't broadcast on non-cable stations?

Its almost as if the NBA sent Bettman to the NHL to destroy it. First he needlessly expands the league. The influx of cash from expansion drives salaries thru the roof. At the same time he allows the league to continue its "clutch and grab" style (along with a diluted talent pool due to expansion) which eventually drives down viewership. Rising salaries and diminishing viewership creates financial hardship. Then he cancels an entire season further hurting the league. And when the league finally returns, he signs with OLN when they should have given ESPN a year for free!
It seems like he had a plan to destroy the NHL... or perhaps he's just a moron.

ESPN to NHL:

"Poker > than you. LOLZ!"

Pretty sad when a major sports league is rejected by the biggest sports network and replay's of card games gets higher ratings. Just shows how savy Bettman is in his marketing of the NHL.

What a failure.

How many bars carry Versus? OLN/Versus was disastrous for the NHL. How do you generate new fans when Hockey is only shown nationally on stupid Versus?

People will generally watch what is promoted. Cripes, who would voluntarily start watching POKER on TV if ESPN didn't cram it down our throats.

The major media's assumption that hockey won't sell is ensured by the attitude of the major media that either ignores or is even inexplicably hostile to hockey. Major media decides hockey is unpopular, chooses to not cover it and thereby ensures that it STAYS unpopular.

Getting back to poker, let me ask? How many people watched poker on TV 10 years ago? Just about zero. But ESPN has saturated the airwaves with it in bars and homes all over the country and now more people watch poker than all but one or two major sports.

The major problem is that there are just a handful of people in the US that decide what they want us to watch. And obviously, they don't want to sell us hockey.

Take a survey. (Better yet Tarik, you should have this poll on the WP website for a week). I believe you will find your answer. Ask the casual sporting fans if they know where Versus is on the TV dial...then ask then where ESPN is...

One, I'm not buying the "ESPN crams it down our throats" argument. Televised poker is pretty darn big. I love watching it and the reason televised poker (and its many clones) are on TV is because it gets solid ratings.

Two, part of the blame for the NHL struggles is "The OLN" (Versus is a dumb name). I have a satelite dish ... bought the Center Ice package this year ... but I can only get the OLN on the very top channel tier, so I go without. At my parents' house, they get the regular 80 channel cable package ... but I scrolled the lineup at their house on Wed night to watch the Ottawa-Anaheim game ... yup, no OLN.

And three, as a hockey fan, I would be more drawn to the finals if the hated Detroit Red Wings were in it. Anaheim-Ottawa is a little tough to get excited about, even if it's darn good hockey.

I understand what you folks are saying about not being able to find versus. but how do you explain a 33 percent drop from last year's game 2? It was also on versus/OLN, right?

never in my life has the neilson company asked what i watch.... never...

ESPN has mastered the fine art of selling the drama of any humdrum thing in the 24 four hour entertainment cycle. I've had the misfortune of sitting in a bar while they were televising dominoes championships fer crying out loud! If they thought it would bring in any eyeballs (which I'm sure it would), they'd promote Amish Rake Fighting to the hilt. Imagine the "personalities" they could come up with for the contestants.

I mean ESPN was showing the Spelling Bee of all things. Since when is spelling a sport? They would show this instead of a Stanley Cup final game? Regardless of the matchup, it's still a sport. And NBC screwed the hockey fans again for favoring a HORSE race over an overtime playoff game that decided who was going to the Stanley Cup! It's irresponsible is what it is. Bettman won't fight to make the sport more popular. Unless we find a way to breathe more life into the sport in the public eye, we are going to be stuck with only ONE channel that willingly shows the sport and not everyone can get it! I'm infuriated.

I don't watch poker and am really not interested...but I freely admit, that's just me. It's popular and people seem to enjoy watching it.

There's a part of me that hopes that TV poker goes through its phase and begins its slow decline just like reality television seems to be doing now. Remember when "Survivor" was the hottest thing on TV?

Both game 2's were on a Wednesday, and both were on Versus/OLN. It really has to come down to the matchup. I find the Sen's to be a bit stoic, I mean look at their coach. The Ducks are West coast, don't even have much local hype/support... so I'm sure this was Bettman's worst case scenario. Plus you have a hockey game that is 0-0 deep into the 3rd period and people tune out... I would consider myself a hardcore hockey fan and that was a little tough to take. There were a couple opportunities here and there... but, ughhhh it is just lacking in star power and action. I hope it gets better. As for the NHL, I like shootouts (adds excitement and I hate a tie)... but they really need to kill off a couple teams. Phoenix and Florida come to mind. Add a Canadian team or two, beg borrow and steal to get back onto ESPN... and promote the heck out of Crosby, Ovechkin, and the other young guns...

Personally I dont care much for Versus. I think the broadcast team of Emrick and Olzyc is a joke. If Im watching the game its on mute.

I mean who has a vested interest in the Ducks outside of Anaheim.

I had a friend with a Nielson box. He lived with his folks at the time (because he was a bum). Each "person" counts for tens of thousands of viewers. So i used to go over, watch the Caps, and do what he did: you're supposed to enter the number of people watching with you at any given time, so I said there were 4 people watching the game. Tens of thousands were counted on my click alone. That made me realize that Nielson ratings were BS. I used to get so mad at him for giving crap shows ratings. I hold him personally responsible for American Idol. That @#%&^@@#.
Who has the boxes? What are they watching? Who are they? Are they in Anaheim? Etc... Personally, I've been busy so I record the games. How do they count people without Nielson boxes? Is Comcast cable actually compiling stats on my viewing habits?

Until that gets sorted out, we'll never know how many people are really watching. But I'll tell you this: If its on VS its so far off the radar most people don't even know its on. We're talking about a channel the majority don't get, and one that airs Ted Nugent killing animals. Who's looking for Hockey there? I have yet to see Stanley cup commercials on any other channels, but I also haven't been watching tv except for the Cup. Has anyone else seen commercials on other channels?

the argument that if ESPN promotes something, that people will watch is ludicrous. people, believe it or not, have minds and can think for themselves, and if they aren't compelled to watch something on TV, they'll change the channel. i myself am not a poker fan AT ALL, but have been sucked in on a few occasions by the drama that builds.

but THIS ISN'T ABOUT POKER. it's about - as some have said - a matchup between teams that for most american viewers is less than compelling. i live in LA and i can guarantee you that the ducks are an OC (orange county) phenomenon. the "Kobe trade me" story is ten times the story in LA that the ducks winning game two was. and as for ottawa, a good solid team with no major star power, and, more importantly, a canadian team.

guarantee you if it was crosby's penguins versus the red wings, the ratings would be crushing last year's comparables.

I think we should get a better idea on Saturday, NBC, primetime, HD. Lets see what kind of numbers we get. Frankly, I think the only way to get huge numbers would be crosby vs ovechin, espn/nbc hd and primetime! and some marketing/ads! An/Ott has been a great product this year it deserves more!

The first few years of ESPN were just as lean and obscure as these past two years years of OLN/Versus have been. ESPN showed bull riding, rugby, midget mud wrestling, all sorts of ridiculous fodder as they struggled to fill the "sports network" idea they had created.

In terms of overall subscribers, ESPN had a huge leveraging tool: it was owned by CapCities/ABC, and the parent wasted no time strong-arming the cable companies into carrying the new channel. ABC basically told the cable companies that if they did not add ESPN to their basic cable tier, they would not be allowed to use show any ABC network programming.

Versus, on the other hand, is owned by Comcast, so if you are (un)lucky enough to live in a Comcast area, the channel should be easy enough to find. If you are not, well, the rest of the cable companies may or may not be in a rush to put the channel on a cheaper programming tier.

If you have (or managed to find) Versus and still think this year's coverage has been bad, think back to how bad last year was. Jerky camera angles, poorly-prepped talking heads, worse (or no) marketing. Versus has made great strides since their first NHL broadcast two Octobers ago. The league decided to take a chance on a rebranded channel, rather than accept a "just another sport" offer from ESPN. Even after hiring about 90% of the ESPN/nhl2night crowed, you have to expect the first few years to be lean. (Thankfully, they neglected Darren Pang ... although Eddie Olczyk is not much of an alternative.)

If you are too lazy to pick up a newspaper or call your cable provider to find Versus, the rest of the games are on NBC.

Surprised to see that nobody has mentioned that it's so late in the year and hockey is still being played. I am outside with the kids until dark when the weather gets warm like it does now, etc etc. The season should be shortened. Cup finals should be played out BEFORE Memorial Day weekend.

Oh, and Bettman really really really STINKS. He has been the #1 factor for the decline of the NHL.

I doubt that the Edmonton-Carolina series was better than Anaheim-Ottawa. The NBC game on Saturday night should be a better gauge though it is going up against basketball, baseball, and one of the pay movie channels is showing The Da Vinci Code. Still "mainstream" exposure should help. That, and someone needs to get me a Nielson box. I can't tell you how many good shows have been cancelled due to this antiquated way of determining viewing numbers. But, that's another story.

Can't the NHL advertise the league on other stations (that is not VS)? I don't know too much about advertising, but run the funny NHL commercials on primetime - target NEW people.

I never just stumble across hockey info... I always have to go out and specifically look for it. So, of course I don't expect the average person to do that hence the reason they don't know anything about the NHL.

its sad that there are so many great (and obvious) ideas being posted here on how to extend the NHL's reach but the NHL front office can't come up with these (obvious) ideas on their own. Promote the sport in primetime on major networks. If they're making 'record profits' they can afford some high end advertising. But Bettman's job is secure because he saved the owners a bunch of dough, isn't it? The man is singlehandedly taking down hockey in this country. Now he 'isn't opposed' to putting teams back into traditional markets like Quebec and Winnipeg, cities so small they make Baltimore look huge. Comcast/VS was a boneheaded idea because of the itsy bitsy marketshare and the fact that other providers are COMPETING with Comcast and so don't want to make the channel readily available.

In reality, of only 400,000 people are watching hockey finals then hockey is slipping below the surface and we all better watch as much as we can now. Bettman's inflated numbers aren't fooling anyone.

Here's a theory:

The same number if not more are watching. I watch the Versus telecast on CCHD. A Comcast combined Golf Channel/Versus HD channel.

Does this factor into the ratings? How about the INHD simulcast? I don't think it does. And if you have an HDTV, as many Americans do now, you'll watch the HD version.

Tarik, can you get an updated number of households for Verus? ESPN? ESPN2? Comcast has been aggressive in getting Versus a better distribution.

FIOS in MoCo has Versus on Channel 75. This is not particulary high up on a modern "cable" tier. However, Mrmoa is absolutely correct. VS does not promote hockey the way it promotes it premier event Le Tour or the Ted Nugent montrosities. The hockey has been excellent. To the person, who thinks it is still cluth and grab did not see the CAPS playoff games in the 80's. Our players were mostly finesse and got mauled in those playoffs.

The versus argument is certainly valid, but the real NHL fan will make the effort to find the games on whatever channel it is on. The ratings suggest that not even the real NHL fan is watching, much less the casual fan who would otherwise watch on ESPN or NBC. Why? I agree w/ on ice. Its freaking June. Teams who didn't make the playoffs haven't played in two months. Its off the radar screen of those fans (including me). The season is too long and the playoffs are way too long. Three days between games?? That's a joke. Plus now they are competing w/ the NBA conference finals.

Versus will eventually get more exposure, and enough of the "I can't find it on my schedule" BS. Any avid sports fan can figure out how to find a station and tune in. Did fans complain that the Caps could have been more popular locally during the 80's if not for the fact that their games were televised on a UHF channel? Heh, maybe some people did.

My concern is that Versus / Comcast uses hockey to promote ad nauseum its real bottom feeder, LCD "sports" like cage-fighting, thus further marginalizing, in my view, the hockey product.

Having only two playoff games in essentially two weeks doesn't help.

Hockey always has been and always will be a second tier sport- and I say this being a long time hockey fan.

I watched neither game - it's late May/early June for crying out loud - time to be outside enjoying life instead of being parked in front of a TV.

Maybe the Post could lay off the high school lacrosse stories for a few days and actually write an article or two and maybe a few more people would know the finals are actually happening. I know they are too cheap to send someone to cover the event, but does that prevent some background articles to be written where you could also start profiling the top draft picks the Caps might be interested in?

Is it just me, or are we the only sport who's championship isn't broadcast on non-cable stations?

Posted by: Murshawursha | May 31, 2007 10:43 PM

No, it's just you. Try being a boxing enthusiast. Versus gets Stanley Cups finals. Boxing fans tuning in on the same channel get crappy club fights orridiculous mismatches.

That said, boxing beats the crap out of regular season hockey in the ESPN/ESPN2 ratings, and on only a fraction of the budget. If boxing's better fights were available on the network instead of prospect level fighters and faded former stars, then boxing would be in damn good shape and hockey would be an afterthought (if it's not already).