Antiquated NFL Blackout Rule Looms Over 2009 Season

Dating back to a time when team owners felt TV viewership cannibalized ticket sales, the NFL blackout rule is now a legacy, antiquated rule that the league should revisit. The rule essentially states that if a team does not sell out (or reach a certain number of tickets sold) a home game, the networks black [...]

NHL Not Extracting Full Value from Winter Classic Concept

Yesterday the NHL officially confirmed Fenway Park would host next year’s Winter Classic between the Bruins and Flyers. It’s another great choice – historic venue, great hockey town, two traditional teams with tremendous followings – all the makings for another successful event in attendance, ratings, and publicity. The game has become big enough and has [...]

Why Even Fight, Customers Not Demanding Two Olympic Cable Channels

For a moment, put aside the fact that the USOC completely dropped the ball by announcing the launch of its Olympic TV Network without having the IOC on board, without previously working with other NGB’s to secure rights, and without some handshake agreement with NBC – the TV czar of all things Olympics. Even without [...]

TV Everywhere, Anywhere, Somewhere…

Programmers and cable operators, other than CBS of course, tout it as the savior, putting the proverbial “genie back in the bottle”. But the $64,000 question is if the TV industry is already too late to the game and if this plan is what can save them?
One key concept from Chris Anderson’s “The Long Tail” [...]

Inherent Flaws in Sports Nielsen Ratings

Not exactly a shocking headline, but with the playoffs bringing TV ratings to the forefront it’s relevant. Every news outlet that reports TV ratings for sports events documents both the rating and number of viewers, usually adding the annual change in each number.
Maybe it’s a pet peeve of mine, or I’m making too big a [...]

NHL, NBC Fail Local Fans

NBC ended what had become a tradition for many teams during Stanley Cup road games, hosting a viewing party at the team’s arena, when it prohibited Detroit from holding one during Game Six of the Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. NBC didn’t comment, but its clearly an attempt to protect its ratings, and the NHL did [...]

Listen to NHLPA, Versus is Not NHL’s Problem

Everyone is quick to bash the NHL for its deal with Versus, and point to the fact that it’s not on ESPN as the biggest problem with the league. ESPN brings a lot to the table, with its almost 100 M household reach, strong programming lineup, multimedia platform, and brand name. However, the NHL putting [...]

Two Major Digital Deals Accelerate Live Sports Streaming Issue Into Forefront

This week ESPN struck a deal with MLBAM  for additional mobile and online video highlights, the ability to sell content through iTunes, and most importantly, rights to stream its national telecasts via ESPN360. Only days earlier the NBA authorized teams to stream games online in their local market, a first for any major sport. Both [...]

Life After Phelps For NBC

Many times the best marketing job and the best promotions can only take television ratings so far. Networks need something special to make the leap to the next level. Enter Michael Phelps. He single-handedly made NBC Must Watch TV for the first time in a decade, boosting Olympic ratings to record setting nights for a [...]

New King of Tennis

Never count out the champion until they are completely dead. The Spurs remained the favorites until beaten, the Yankees are always lurking until the last out of the playoffs, Tiger is a threat until the 72nd hold on Sunday. Roger Federer took that concept to a new level on Sunday, refusing to die, before finally [...]