Tuesday's game between Flyers, Pens broke TV records
by Travis Hughes on Dec 16, 2010 4:28 PM EST
in Philadelphia Flyers News
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PrintA lot of people, both in Philadelphia and nationally, watched hockey on Tuesday night. So much so that Versus broke records for the game, which saw the Flyers snap the Penguins 12-game winning streak.
From a Versus press release:
VERSUS averaged 750,000 viewers for the Pittsburgh Penguins/Philadelphia Flyers telecast on Tuesday, December 14, making it the most-watched regular-season game in network history and surpassing the previous high set by the same two teams in this year’s season-opener on October 7, 2010 (730,000 viewers). The telecast, which peaked at nearly one million viewers between 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET, was the most-watched NHL regular-season game on cable since December 2003 (!!!).
Locally, VERSUS was the #1 rated cable network in both the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia markets on Tuesday night. Both markets saw drastic increases over their 2009-10 regular-season averages with Pittsburgh receiving a 11.2 HH rating (up 50%) and Philadelphia delivering a 3.5 HH rating (up 42%). The game was also the highest rated regular-season game ever on VERSUS in the Philadelphia market, beating the previous record set by the New Jersey/Philadelphia game on March 23, 2009.
Emphasis ours.
Note, of course, that an 11.2 rating in Pittsburgh and a 3.5 rating in Philadelphia doesn't mean that more people were watching hockey in Pitt. We have more households (and more people). I'm not doing the calculations to figure out how many people that is in each city, though.
Anyway, not groundbreaking news, but cool nonetheless. I heard a guy on XM Home Ice today complaining that he's sick of hearing about Pennsylvania. "Cliff Lee, Sidney Crosby, the Flyers, the Penguins, more Flyers." That guy better get used to it.
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Espn also promoted the hell out of that game all day, mentioning the 12-game winning streak during the SportsCenter radio updates and the Bottom Line crawler. But then the next day, all they talk about is how great the Penguins PP is and how they let this one slip away. The only replay that showed a Flyers goal was the game winner, and they went out of their way with the Slo-Mo to show that the deflection actually went of Orpik’s stick.
From Parts Unknown...
Currently behind enemy lines, plotting to blow up an Igloo.
In the same SportsCenter though, they called us the 3rd best team in the league, behind Detroit and Vancouver.
Versus called the Flyers the best team in the league
I’m not complaining
inter arma enim silent leges
by CoburnsCuddleBuddy on Dec 16, 2010 5:12 PM EST up reply actions
They show something other than Monday Night Football? I barely watch football (and the less Chris Berman I see the better), basketball isn’t even on my radar, and hell, I don’t give a damn about baseball.
Aside from the extremely random Soccer games and MNF, I forget the channel even exists.
"In fact, it is probably safe to say, the statement "I am a hockey fan" is the same as "I hate gary bettman."- bfrank27
I like that they let a game in which they never led “slip away”
by The Gang Wins the Cup on Dec 16, 2010 7:44 PM EST up reply actions
ESPN is too busy talking about every brett farve, lebron james, the cowboys, and the new york yankees to cover hockey.
by Phuck The Penguins on Dec 16, 2010 4:57 PM EST reply actions
Anyone else notice that every time there is a new “ratings record” the Flyers are involved?
You know…
Just sayin’…
Didnt we play in Last Years Winter Classic?
before Ovie too!
We also got an HBO special before either the Pens or the Caps
What more can they do?
by Prometheus74 on Dec 16, 2010 10:08 PM EST up reply actions
I can think of 3 national ads off the top of my head without even thinking
Bedroom fantasy
Elevator fight with Rangers Fan
Hockey on airport Tarmac
And as far as headlines are concerned, we always make the press. It may not always be good news but we are always in the stories from the Biggest Canadian and American papers to the blogs
by Prometheus74 on Dec 17, 2010 12:59 PM EST up reply actions
I’m guessing the XM guy was calling in from New York?
Sorry buddy, you’ve officially become non-competitive in all four sports.
I forget, but that wouldn’t shock me.
The Knicks are playing well… I think? The Jets and Giants will be done (for the most part) after this weekend, too.
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Broad Street Hockey - SBN's Philadelphia Flyers blog. 2010 Eastern Conference Champions.
by Travis Hughes on Dec 16, 2010 5:28 PM EST up reply actions
Using 2010 figures, that’s just over 103,000 households in Philadelphia and just over 129,000 households in Pittsburgh. For a Flyers regular season game, that’s very good in the Philadelphia DMA. To put a 3.5 into a little bit of perspective, game 82 against the Rangers averaged a 3.6 on CSN. Last year’s Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final definitely helped a lot of people in the Philadelphia DMA find Versus for the first time, because according to that press release, the previous all-time regular season high in Philadelphia was roughly a 2.46, which is right around what they’ve averaged over the past couple of years on CSN.
Contributor at The Brotherly Game, SBN's Philadelphia Union blog
Great work.
Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
SB Nation Philly - Associate Editor
by Geoff Detweiler on Dec 16, 2010 5:42 PM EST up reply actions
I knew somebody would do the work for me. Thanks Ben!
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Broad Street Hockey - SBN's Philadelphia Flyers blog. 2010 Eastern Conference Champions.
by Travis Hughes on Dec 16, 2010 5:45 PM EST up reply actions
Designated Market Area
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Broad Street Hockey - SBN's Philadelphia Flyers blog. 2010 Eastern Conference Champions.
by Travis Hughes on Dec 16, 2010 11:39 PM EST up reply actions
We may hate ESPN for not broadcasting hockey anymore (they started their franchise broadcasting beach volley ball and the Hartford Whalers), but the fact of the matter is this, Versus is not reachable by many US Citizens on their cable network. Not sure on the percentage, but I know it is nothing close to the 100% ESPN can reach. Comcast is strong in the North East, but not so much everywhere else. This is half the reason that Comcast picks to show more Patrick Division (yeah, I know, but you get the point) and Adams Division games than the Western Conference games. The truth is, we want ESPN to pick up the games again, NBC doesn’t give us enough national exposure.
But NBC Sports Channel *will* be seen
See my fanpost from the summer. The corporate synergies between Comcast and NBC Universal are formidable (this is why FCC forced some compromises on Comcast). It may be that the “Versus” name is kept, but I would guess instead we’ll see it renamed NBC Sports Channel or SNBC, with Dick Ebersole or one of his proteges running it. At that point, there will be a serious corporate war on getting the channel on basic cable on Time Warner and other rival systems that will be similar or more likely exceed the recent war for the NFL Network.
For Flyers fans, the Comcast merger with NBC is all good (not sure this is true for everyone else, however, like those interested in net neutrality, etc.).
Maddox, Glavine, Smoltz, Avery. Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, Lee. We win.
Philly is killing TV ratings this year. The Eagles have been constantly setting regular season marks for primetime games and now the Flyers are setting the bar higher for the NHL as well. I imagine the Phillies will continue this trend
Being a philly fan isn't something you become...you are born with it. If it was a choice, nobody would choose to suffer like we do. And I wouldn't have it any other damn way.
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You have a great .sig, but soon, maybe one that isn’t true (thus the reason your post is true)?
Maddox, Glavine, Smoltz, Avery. Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, Lee. We win.
Funny you mention that, I actually had a conversation about this with one of my friends (I live in Baltimore btw). Over the past couple of years, Philadelphia has become one of the more premier cities in sports, and in some cases just in general. The whole Cliff Lee thing raises it to another level, and his picking us over NY really summarizes the whole idea. I’m sure having Vick has played a hugely significant role because of his insane star power. The Flyers will always be overshadowed in the national media by the caps and pens, and maybe that’s a good thing. I for one would not enjoy the nitwits at ESPN analyzing the Flyers’ every move and game. It actually makes it sweeter when we beat the pretty boys (crosby, ovechkin). But we play them a lot, so we are on TV a lot more and draw more people. All of this still won’t take away from the pain of the Flyers’ playoff losses, the Eagles’ NFC championship and super bowl losses, and the Phillies’ horrible years. I don’t want to change it, but I might have to in the future, with the way thing’s are looking.
Being a philly fan isn't something you become...you are born with it. If it was a choice, nobody would choose to suffer like we do. And I wouldn't have it any other damn way.
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by Daniel Solomon on Dec 16, 2010 9:17 PM EST up reply actions
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