Stop me if you’ve read a piece like this before.
The NHL playoffs have actually been outstanding to watch. They’ve outdone the NBA’s playoffs for drama and in some ways are better than the early rounds of last year’s NFL postseason. Plus, as far as we know, hockey doesn’t have its own version of troglodytic asshat Ben Roethlisberger dragging the image of the sport into a toilet.
Still, despite a great postseason, few are watching hockey nationally and the post-Olympic bump that was supposed to help has been a molehill, not a mountain. It’s a sad statement on how most of this country really feels about hockey and unfortunately that statement is, “Who cares?”
The saddest part of this for poor Mike Freeman is that his willful ignorance shines through because, as Steve Lepore from Puck The Media also shares with us, it’s not just the NHL markets where viewership is picking up.
Below is a summary of the U.S. markets experiencing the biggest increases for the first round on VERSUS, NBC and VERSUS/NBC combined (metered market ratings, according to Nielsen Media Research):
NHL QUARTERFINALS ON VERSUS
Birmingham - up 200%
Norfolk - up 200%
Chicago - up 133%
Louisville - up 100%
San Antonio - up 100%
Knoxville - up 100%
Cleveland - up 100%
Dayton - up 100%
San Diego - up 100%
Richmond - up 100%
Raleigh - up 100%
Kansas City - up 100%
Greenville - up 100%