NHL/hockey TV ratings 2024-25
- Thread starter LadyStanley
- Start date
Bumping this… only to ask:
WHERE THE HECK ARE THE NATIONAL TV SCHEDULES?!?!?
WHERE THE HECK ARE THE NATIONAL TV SCHEDULES?!?!?
They aren't solidified until September, but you can already see what games will be on National TV by using deduction. Any big Eastern Conference teams on a Saturday is your cue for ESPN. The big game on Wednesday night will be TNT.
Golden_Jet
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2005
- 26,274
- 13,597
-Should sticky this thread since we're getting closer.
-Canadian national broadcast schedule has been out:
--SN: Mark your calendars: Highlights from Sportsnet's national NHL schedule
--APV: Watch Prime Monday Night Hockey - Amazon Prime Video
-U.S. national broadcast schedule during this media rights deal has come out on Sept. 16, Sept. 9 and last season, Aug. 30.
As alluded to by SEPH (other than ESPN on Saturday) you can piece together a majority of the schedule just by dates/times. NHL on TNT Wednesday is mostly obvious, Black Friday (e.g. PIT@BOS), Winter Classic and their likely late season Sunday games, as well.
ABC you have a general idea of the Saturday games, potential Saturday night games but always needs confirmed, unlike TNT where you can project closer to 100%.
ESPN is the one you really have to wait for, can project some of the October Tuesdays, and it's obvious when the Frozen Frenzy will be. After that there's some that stick out as likely but otherwise would be throwing darts to guess ESPN and certainly the ESPN+ schedule.
-Canadian national broadcast schedule has been out:
--SN: Mark your calendars: Highlights from Sportsnet's national NHL schedule
--APV: Watch Prime Monday Night Hockey - Amazon Prime Video
-U.S. national broadcast schedule during this media rights deal has come out on Sept. 16, Sept. 9 and last season, Aug. 30.
As alluded to by SEPH (other than ESPN on Saturday) you can piece together a majority of the schedule just by dates/times. NHL on TNT Wednesday is mostly obvious, Black Friday (e.g. PIT@BOS), Winter Classic and their likely late season Sunday games, as well.
ABC you have a general idea of the Saturday games, potential Saturday night games but always needs confirmed, unlike TNT where you can project closer to 100%.
ESPN is the one you really have to wait for, can project some of the October Tuesdays, and it's obvious when the Frozen Frenzy will be. After that there's some that stick out as likely but otherwise would be throwing darts to guess ESPN and certainly the ESPN+ schedule.
That’s the part I didn’t realize. I knew the schedule was announced after ESPN and TNT announced their NBA schedules (which happened this month). I guess I just forgot it was that much later.
As for the basics, yes. Pretty easy to glean that Wednesdays at 7:00 and 9:30 is TNT and Saturday matinees after February 1 are ABC. That pattern has been there since the NBC contract.
LadyStanley
Registered User
TNT has 20 non-exclusive games (of their 59) ...
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LadyStanley
Registered User
I always like this graphic since it's a good way to teach people about non-exclusive games.
Every U.S.-based team over 13 appearances goes into non-exclusive territory. Hence, there's 20 combined appearances over the 13 exclusive national appearances per U.S. team and that equals the 20 non-exclusive games on TNT. Shows the math when trying to explain it to people. Also why TNT has "59 regular season NHL games" as opposed to 59 "exclusive" games, 20 of those are non-exclusive for half the participating markets of each respective game.
Technically speaking if you are including non-exclusives then every single game is on national tv between ABC, TNT, ESPn, ESPN+ and NHLN.
But man Disney isn’t even giving the Columbus the “local price gouge” of max ESPN+ appearances.
But man Disney isn’t even giving the Columbus the “local price gouge” of max ESPN+ appearances.
Anisimovs AK
Registered User
How Seattle is getting *any* game on ABC is probably the more interesting question.
But CTZ & ETZ in late window games at night is much more a 'thing' than PTZ in early games on weekends. Both in terms of viewership & complaints.
I don't see it as a big deal. We wake up for college football that starts at 9am local without issue, and for NFL that starts at 10am locally on Sunday during football season. 9:30am our time for that Kraken-Flyers game isn't going to be an issue. In other words, that's roughly a normal time for when sports start on the weekends for us.
Circling back, the bigger issue is that the Kraken were in the least-viewed game on each of ABC, ESPN and TNT last season.
So it's a bit surprising to come back the next season and go; "yeah, we only have 19 network windows to work with, we definitely need Seattle in one of them!"
Just to note it, only two Pacific Division teams are on ABC this season. VGK and ... Seattle.
Kirk Van Houten
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- May 7, 2019
- 1,500
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LadyStanley
Registered User
Any NHL game that starts before noon local time requires player approval.
AHL has their "school" day games that sometimes starts as early as 10am.
AHL has their "school" day games that sometimes starts as early as 10am.
Anisimovs AK
Registered User
The Seahawks have 3 games that start at 10:00am, and lets not act like Pac-12 teams had multiple (if any) game starting at 12pm et/9am pt.
That is weird. Seattle's regular season ratings are poor, even locally. Idk why they are getting an ABC game. And I guess my team, the Blue Jackets, can just go f**k itself according to the networks.
Yeah, I live here. I didn't mean just our local teams (local time,) sports in general. 9am, 9:30am, 10am, isn't absurdly early for us. It really isn't borderline too early. It just isn't. Doesn't matter to me personally since I watch sports all day, regardless. But we have a ton of "watch sports on TV" people in Western WA that actually prefer and would want 9/10am starts, so they have the afternoon/rest off the day to go do something. Have heard it my entire life -- have some friends like that too, e.g. one of my friends is really into motorsports and every weekend texts: "sucks that NASCAR race is at 12:30pm, wish it was at 10am, takes up the whole day." and things like that.
Agree on the rest.
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LadyStanley
Registered User
LadyStanley
Registered User
Classic reason why the western US is always a lower value live sports broadcasting proposition than the Midwest, East, and South. College sports is proof enough of that.
Too many other lifestyle options and an outdoor culture (hiking, kayaking, fishing, camping, surfing, etc); even in winter time (skiing, snowboarding, etc) that we just don't get the high ratings.
This is why I stopped watching football; it just took over the whole Sunday for NFL and Saturday for college, and I'd rather be active on one of the few true days off.
I always wondered if DVR/Tivo recordings counted towards ratings; as that is how I plan my sports watching; if I can watch it at the end of the day after kids go to bed and all our activities are over then it works for me; but not sure if the networks count that (me skipping past commercials probably is a reason why it doesn't).
LadyStanley
Registered User
Seems like they got things straightened out regarding TV rights in Arizona. Shared rights.
-NHL on TNT avg viewership Tuesday-
Devils-Rangers: 146k
Golden Knights-Avalanche: ??? (Haven't seen a # for this yet)
Previous #'s for TNT's annual preseason doubleheader:
-2023-
Bruins-Rangers: 305k
Avs-VGK: 190k
-2022-
Bruins-Rangers: 268k
Stars-Avs: 140k
-2021-
Bruins-Flyers: 232k
VGK-Kings: 133k
Devils-Rangers: 146k
Golden Knights-Avalanche: ??? (Haven't seen a # for this yet)
Previous #'s for TNT's annual preseason doubleheader:
-2023-
Bruins-Rangers: 305k
Avs-VGK: 190k
-2022-
Bruins-Rangers: 268k
Stars-Avs: 140k
-2021-
Bruins-Flyers: 232k
VGK-Kings: 133k
