The NHL on Versus

"The NHL on Versus" (formerly known as "The NHL on OLN") is the National Hockey League's cable programming in the United States for the regular season, playoffs, and Stanley Cup Finals.

History

The NHL's television deal with Versus was made at the conclusion of the player lockout that caused the cancellation of an entire season. At the time, Versus offered a two year, $130 million contract (with a network option for a third year) that delivered guaranteed money for Commissioner Gary Bettman (ESPN, which previously held the rights, wanted a revenue-sharing deal similar to NBC's). Versus was expected to use NHL coverage to show it was a legitimate suitor for Major League Baseball and National Football League packages that were to be negotiated later in 2005, but they did not land agreements with either league. In 2007, the NHL signed an agreement to extend the NHL on Versus to the 2010–2011 season. Versus paid $72.5 million for 2007–2008 and will pay inflationary increases over the next three years.

Terms of the deal

Under the terms of the contract, Versus will show 54 or more NHL games each season under the agreement, generally on Monday and Tuesday nights. They will also provide nightly coverage of as many Stanley Cup Playoff games as possible (generally two per night in the first two rounds; the Conference Finals are usually played on alternating days), and Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Coverage

The network broadcasts at least 54 games during the regular season (usually two games per week, sometimes three or just one), plus the All-Star Game, Skills Competition, and YoungStars game.

At the end of the year, the network has blanket coverage of the playoffs, culminating in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals. Versus also shows the NHL Awards Show and first round of the NHL Draft.

Versus schedules a few doubleheaders during the regular season (consisting of a game in the Eastern Time Zone, and then a Mountain or Pacific Time Zone game). Playoff coverage usually involves doubleheaders throughout the first two rounds, except weekends prior to 2007–08, when NBC often televised multiple games during its broadcast windows.

Versus has been the main pioneer of using microphones on players, and was the first network to have a head coach (San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson) interviewed on the bench in the middle of the game.

The "Game of the Week"

Included in the schedule is a "Game of the Week" for selected dates. In this "Exclusive" time period, which was created in 2006–07, no other National Hockey League game may be broadcast in the United States and, in most cases, no other game is scheduled unless it involves two Canadian teams.

Regional carriers are allowed to air games outside Versus' exclusive window. This is usually for about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Like NBC, games aired on "The NHL on Versus" usually feature teams based in the United States, with the exception of playoffs. In the case of playoffs, Versus will occasionally simulcast TSN or CBC, although this mostly occurred in 2005–06; Versus has since made a greater commitment to offering its own production whenever possible.

The selection of teams for "The NHL on Versus" is somewhat more diverse (possibly due to there being more game slots to air) than its broadcast partner, NBC. Because of inordinately high ratings in the Buffalo, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania markets, Versus has made note to air a significant number of games featuring the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. The New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, and Boston Bruins also get selected regularly, frequently at or near the maximum of nine appearances per team during the regular season.

Any regular season game selected by Versus airs exclusively on that network. During the playoffs, Versus' first-round and second-round games may be subject to blackout in the participating teams' regional markets (although they have exclusivity for two second-round games per series). Versus regains full national coverage for its Conference and Stanley Cup Final telecasts.

Personalities

"Hockey Central"

Versus also provides postgame coverage of every game they broadcast. The postgame show is known as "Hockey Central", airing from their Stamford, Connecticut studios.

=Ratings=

2005–06

Versus' games rated substantially higher than any non-Tour de France programming that Versus had ever aired in comparable timeslots (rating between 0.2 and 0.3 during the regular season). Still, these numbers were quite small compared to ratings for most other sports on national cable channels reaching at least as many homes as Versus.

Versus' playoff viewership did not increase as much as it or the league might have hoped. Versus reached a viewership of 610,836 households for Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. This figure was 39% fewer households than what ESPN drew for the Stanley Cup series opener two years earlier (though ESPN has a larger reach than Versus). Game 2 was seen in slightly fewer households (605,501).

2006–07

Versus averaged a 0.2 Nielsen Media Research household rating, about level with the 2005–06 regular season NHL numbers and its 2006 prime time average.

Versus' coverage of the 2007 All-Star Game garnered a .7 rating (474,298 viewing homes and 672,948 total viewers). Ratings were down 76% from ABC's ratings in 2004, the last time the game was played, and down 82% from ABC's coverage in 2000. However, some of that significant drop can be attributed to the game being played on a weeknight (Wednesday) as opposed to the traditional weekend game, and the fact that Versus is a cable television network unlike ABC which is a broadcast network. The 2008 All-Star Game was scheduled for a Sunday.

2007–08

2007–08 NHL audiences on Versus in the United States remain small, but have increased over the previous two seasons. Versus is averaging 246,154 viewers a game, up 24 percent from last year at this time. Over the past year, channel distribution has increased to 73.6 million households from 70.8 million. Conference Finals ratings are now averaging a 1.2 HH rating. Game 2 between the Flyers and Penguins drew a 1.7 HH rating, 2.3 million viewers; an NHL record on Versus.

"- Globe & Mail"

ee also

*The NHL on NBC
*The NHL on ABC
*The NHL on FOX
*The NHL on ESPN
*Hockey Night in Canada
*The NHL on TSN
*La Soirée du hockey
*List of Stanley Cup Finals broadcasters
*55th National Hockey League All-Star Game
*2006 NHL Entry Draft
*2007 NHL Entry Draft

External links

* [http://www.versus.tv/nhl/.com/nhl/ Official Website]