News Article: Playoff Viewership tanking

[awegrzyn]

You assumed that eliminating a metro area with 20 million people would produce more people?

No one here can take a joke.

 

[MrLunatik]

No Shit.

More Canadian teams, fewer big market US teams, more cord cutters

Hell the 100-200k they are down in the US, could almost all be cable cutters.

Edit: just to add to my final point, cable subs have be declining 4.5-5% per year each of the last 4 years (and 4.9-5% the last 3)... this means the drop off from 2023-2024 was about 3.5 million viewers

 

[awegrzyn]

Easier to fool? That’s a red flag take.

Easier to fool? That’s a red flag take.

NBA obviously knows how to make their game easier to find. NHL took a position to maximize TV contracts by splitting it up amongst a bunch of different providers. It’s certainly a contributing factor in fewer total eyeballs. Unclear, honestly, if it’s a bad monetary strategy.

What's a a red flag take? What's a red flag when you confront facts?
Pretty sure hockey fans would have highest IQ on average out of the major sports. It's a niche sport.
Also, don't read red flag takes in the future if they bother you.

 

[BB79]

Edit: just to add to my final point, cable subs have be declining 4.5-5% per year each of the last 4 years (and 4.9-5% the last 3)... this means the drop off from 2023-2024 was about 3.5 million viewers

I'm surprised it's taken this long. I sliced the cable in 2012 and haven't looked back. Back then it was $100/month, 1,000 channels and nothing to watch but mostly ads. I dread to think what they charge now.

 

[Summer Rose]

I'm surprised it's taken this long. I sliced the cable in 2012 and haven't looked back. Back then it was $100/month, 1,000 channels and nothing to watch but mostly ads. I dread to think what they charge now.

We were up to something like $170 a month when we finally cut the cord in the summer of 2021. That was with DirecTV. Really, really, really bad value for the money when all we used it for was to watch Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Rays games.

My dad still has I think Dish Network in the Phoenix area. Not sure what he pays. Obviously, being my dad, he's much older than me, and is of a generation conditioned to kind of think that some form of traditional pay television is just an ubiquitous thing you pay for regardless of whether you like it or not. As far as I know, he still watches TV all the time at least, so he might actually be getting decent value for the money. As I posted in another thread (or maybe this thread), he's one of those older people who gets most of his information by watching TV, and doesn't think to look things up on the internet like I do. The topic at hand that I posted about people like him is that he'll find out when the next game of a team or competition he wants to watch by watching TV and seeing it advertised on it.

Now we can pay $20 a month for FDSun for the Bolts and Rays, and I have ESPN+ which is something like $15 so I can watch most Utah games. Much better, but we get screwed over when they're on a nationally exclusive broadcast. I got YouTube TV for the playoffs this year, which is $84 per month, but I can cancel it once the playoffs are over. I'm not going to keep it for the few occasions when the Bolts, Rays, or Utah are on a national-only broadcast.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

The NHL would be well served to encourage HOCKEY fans, not just fans of the local team. Instead they actively cultivate an attitude that if it happens anywhere else it's complete trash.

 

[MoneyManny]

Easier to fool? That’s a red flag take.


What's a a red flag take? What's a red flag when you confront facts?
Pretty sure hockey fans would have highest IQ on average out of the major sports. It's a niche sport.
Also, don't read red flag takes in the future if they bother you.

Lol why the hell would hockey fans have higher IQ than fans of other sports? That take is wild.

 

[MoneyManny]

I was coming in here to say this. I bet viewership isn't down at all, people have just had enough of the NHL and their network allies and are finding other ways to watch. This league just never learns.

I'd like to see the view numbers for the top pirate streams.

This thread feels like someone that assumed people stopped consuming music by looking at the industry's sales numbers after Napster became popular.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

I'd like to see the view numbers for the top pirate streams.

This thread feels like someone that assumed people stopped consuming music by looking at the industry's sales numbers after Napster became popular.

I personally pay for cable, mostly because those pirate boxes become a part-time job but it is infuriating how often games are blacked out, for instance, when I travel out-of-province. Why? Don't the advertisers get the same money regardless of where I am?

And your Napster analogy is perfect. The recording industry fought tooth and nail against music downloads, even sending out $3,500 lawsuits to random kids to try to preserve their antiquated retail model. Now they make WAY more money from streaming because they finally dragged themselves into the 21st century. NHL has to wake up and stop fighting reality and give us better options and it will be better for them too.

 

[MoneyManny]

I personally pay for cable, mostly because those pirate boxes become a part-time job but it is infuriating how often games are blacked out, for instance, when I travel out-of-province. Why? Don't the advertisers get the same money regardless of where I am?

And your Napster analogy is perfect. The recording industry fought tooth and nail against music downloads, even sending out $3,500 lawsuits to random kids to try to preserve their antiquated retail model. Now they make WAY more money from streaming because they finally dragged themselves into the 21st century. NHL has to wake up and stop fighting reality and give us better options and it will be better for them too.

I received threatening letters from Metallica and Dr Dre back then personally, it felt kinda surreal as a Canadian teenager lol.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

I received threatening letters from Metallica and Dr Dre back then personally, it felt kinda surreal as a Canadian teenager lol.

Yes. Metallica were early pioneers of letting people record their shows. They would even set up a side stage for fans that want to do it. My understanding is Lars turned into an IP mafia member and shut it all down and started going after their true fans.

I once went to see the Lumineers because my wife made me. Terrible show. They had like 5 songs and everything else was cover songs. Maybe a thousand people in attendance. And even then, the guy shut down the show several times because people had their phones out recording. What's wrong with idiots like this? You don't want free online exposure? Lunacy.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Excellent numbers in Canada.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I personally pay for cable, mostly because those pirate boxes become a part-time job but it is infuriating how often games are blacked out, for instance, when I travel out-of-province. Why? Don't the advertisers get the same money regardless of where I am?

And your Napster analogy is perfect. The recording industry fought tooth and nail against music downloads, even sending out $3,500 lawsuits to random kids to try to preserve their antiquated retail model. Now they make WAY more money from streaming because they finally dragged themselves into the 21st century. NHL has to wake up and stop fighting reality and give us better options and it will be better for them too.

The music industry has finally caught up to pre-Napster revenue in nominal terms. In real money terms it's about 60% of Pre-Napster. I suspect their profit margins are better dealing with a digital product.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

I think hockey’s problem is I think people want to see splash/cool highlight scoring plays with the star players at their best. You get that occasionally, but it’s not a guarantee as you see with NFL or NBA. These tweets explain it well:

 

[Coopers Gum]

I'm surprised it's taken this long. I sliced the cable in 2012 and haven't looked back. Back then it was $100/month, 1,000 channels and nothing to watch but mostly ads. I dread to think what they charge now.

That's probably the last time I really "watched" cable, back when I lived with my parents as a young warthog. When I visit them these days and they watch TV, it is so unbearable, it's INSANE. Commercial breaks used to be 1 time through a half an hour show, now they're every five minutes.

More to the point of the thread though, I used to have ESPN+, but canceled it. Could never seem to watch a game I wanted, so I said f*** it, not getting my money's worth. Back in the day, I used to have NHL Gamecenter. But I'll be damned if I ever get cable. So I'd say viewership reflects that.

 

[Summer Rose]

That's probably the last time I really "watched" cable, back when I lived with my parents as a young warthog. When I visit them these days and they watch TV, it is so unbearable, it's INSANE. Commercial breaks used to be 1 time through a half an hour show, now they're every five minutes.

More to the point of the thread though, I used to have ESPN+, but canceled it. Could never seem to watch a game I wanted, so I said f*** it, not getting my money's worth. Back in the day, I used to have NHL Gamecenter. But I'll be damned if I ever get cable. So I'd say viewership reflects that.

I believe the current regulations on how much advertising is permitted on television in the United States is 16 minutes per hour of programming, which means that your "hour long" episode of a show is actually 44 minutes long. That's a lot. Live sporting events are exempt from this restriction. News shows might be too, but I'm not entirely sure about that one.

I like a few foreign shows, and it's a world of difference. Top Gear is a favorite of mine that I'll use as an example, and it's produced by BBC. The BBC's funding comes from the UK's television licensing scheme, where if you want to watch television you're supposed to pay an annual fee. I think it's in the neighborhood of the equivalent of US$250. However, as a result, Top Gear's episodes are an hour long, and you actually get all 60 minutes with no interruptions for commercial breaks whatsoever. Many countries in Europe have a scheme similar to the UK for the television license fee.

Another fun example is Sweden. Don't quote me on the exact numbers, but I believe the restriction is something like a mere 5 minutes of advertising and live sporting events are not exempt. I've heard through the grapevine that when the NHL is shown on Swedish television, during the built-in TV timeouts that the NHL has and intermissions, they do things like just show you a picture of the league standings during the breaks, since they're not allowed to show you more than 5 minutes of commercials per hour. Of course, anyone who's actually from Sweden can feel free to correct me on this or clarify things better.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

That series has been great so far this year. The Kings weren't that far off from actually sweeping the Oilers. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Kings win in 7. I think the only series that most people could care less about is Carolina New Jersey.

The Kings are a mentally broken team. I’d be surprised if they won another game.