NBC Does It Again
On Sunday night in prime time, the preliminary round hockey game between USA and Canada went far beyond expectations. The most anticipated Olympic event to take place thus far in the 2010 Winter Games (According to Nielsen, 30.6% of all internet postings related to the Games were linked to hockey) was an instant classic; a thrilling, high-scoring affair which resulted in the American upset of Canada in the Olympics for the first time in 50 years.
But this game, which sent the entire nation of Canada spiraling into a severe state of depression, was replaced on the main American network by–wait for it–Ice Dancing, the middle of three rounds, in conjunction with an exhilarating combination of tape-delayed Bobsled, Skiing, and Speed Skating.
NBC moved USA vs. Canada to the far-less prominent cable channel MSNBC, which is available to less than 70% of the households who have access to the main network. Even then, 8.2 million people tuned in to the game. Logically, we can say that the game would have seen at least a 30% increase if it was played on NBC, bringing the number up to 10.7 million viewers. And remember, that’s just the hockey fans that went looking for the game. That means 2.5 million hockey fans who wanted to watch the game, missed out.
It gets worse for NBC. Based on a formula I developed using TV Rating information for programs played simultaneously on both networks, I determined that had USA vs. Canada been played on NBC, it would have attracted about 18.5 million additional viewers, bringing the total to approximately 26.7 million viewers, which bests the 25.4 million posted by NBC during the 8 o’clock time slot Sunday night.
Perhaps most importantly, that also means 16 million casual viewers (or as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sees them, potential hockey fans) who would have seen some of the NHL’s biggest stars competing on an International stage in one of the most exciting hockey games in recent history, did not.
The prospect of increasing the hockey fan base is the only reason the NHL allowed their players to participate in the first place, and now it’s going to take quite a bit more effort to get them to participate in the Sochi games in 2014.
Thank you NBC.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Apparantly they know what’s best for Americans… Not only are they politically inept, but they can’t even understand that you don’t switch the channel when hockey is on. Period.
Nice article Garret!
February 24th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Yes, thank you, NBC. Although I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the last, what was it? 36 seconds of the game, I would have tremendously appreciated being able to see all of it. I would have to believe that it was hands down, one of the most anticipated games of the Olympics, and many of us weren’t able to see it…grrrr.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
I SAW IT!!!!