That's why Claude Giroux's overtime goal in tonight's 4-3 win for the Philadelphia Flyers over the Chicago Blackhawks had to come as a relief for the NHL, Versus, NBC and anyone in all-sports television and radio who cares about hockey.
The clutch goal prevented the Blackhawks from taking a 3-0 stranglehold against the Flyers and likely reducing the length of this year's Stanley Cup final to five or even the minimum four games (which would have prevented it from gaining another second of air time on NBC).
The NHL and its broadcast partners are even more interested in a long series this year because the 2010 final can boast a direct local market engagement of almost 6.5 million television households. It pits the third-largest media market in the country (Chicago, with 3.5 million television households) against the fourth-largest (Philadelphia, with 2.95 million).
It's the best Stanley Cup showdown in terms of the Nielsen's ratings company's Designated Market Areas since 2003 when the New Jersey Devils and the Anaheim Ducks brought together the New York and Los Angeles DMAs and ranks third all-time in terms of television households (behind New Jersey/Anaheim in 2003 and New Jersey/Dallas in 2000).
Given that it showcases two American cities that actually care about hockey, it's the strongest U.S. hockey market match-up since Detroit swept Philadelphia in 1997 and -- if it lasts at least six games -- will drive the best American television ratings since the New York Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup in a seven-game thriller against the Vancouver Canucks.
Yet that's only part of the story. The Chicago-Philadelphia Stanley Cup final and the Los Angeles-Boston NBA final make this spring a high-water mark for sports television and radio, combining to make up one of the largest aggregate local market engagements in the history of the NHL and NBA championship series.
The 6.5 million TV households available to the NHL, Versus and NBC are joined by the more than 8 million households in LA and Boston that are being targeted by the NBA and ESPN on ABC. That's almost 15 million U.S. television households directly engaged with the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals and all of the sports television and radio news and talk shows that come along for the ride.
It might not be the biggest-ever local market combination in sheer overall capacity (Denver, New Jersey, LA and Philadelphia in 2001 and Detroit, Raleigh, LA and New Jersey in 2002 rated higher in terms of cumulative television households at north of 16 million each year). There's no denying, however, that this year's showdowns -- third overall in aggregate DMA size -- are anchored in a final four that includes two of the very best American hockey markets and arguably the two greatest big basketball markets in the U.S.
It's not just quantity this year, it's quality of market demographics for the NHL and NBA. Chicago-Philly for hockey and LA-Boston for hoops are dream television match-ups on both counts.
ESPN on ABC will bring the best-of-seven final between the NBA's two heritage brands -- the Lakers and Celtics -- to those strong local markets and to an interested national television audience. Meanwhile, the NHL is basking in arguably its best-ever U.S. hockey market match-up.
Now if only more Americans could find the mid-week Stanley Cup games on Versus.
www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT
Facebook.com/TheSportMarket and Twitter.com/TheSportMarket
No comments:
Post a Comment