NHL Down Again For ABC Can Game Seven Reverse The Trend

NHL Down Again For ABC; Can Game Seven Reverse The Trend?

Published June 9, 2003

NHL Finals A Boon In L.A. Market

ABC earned a 3.2/6 overnight Nielsen rating for Saturday's Mighty Ducks-Devils Game Six from 8:00-10:45pm, down 24% for the comparable Avalanche-Devils Game Six in '01, which earned a 4.2/7 on a Thursday night (THE DAILY). In L.A., Larry Stewart writes "no other market got a higher rating" than L.A. Saturday, as the game earned a 7.3/10 in L.A., compared to a 6.1/11 in Detroit and 5.6/9 in N.Y. (L.A. TIMES, 6/9).

REVIEWS: In Toronto, William Houston wrote ABC's coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals is "the best hockey broadcast by an American network that we've seen." The coverage "has an expansive look. It conveys the impression that the [NHL's] championship series is a big deal" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/7). But in Miami, David Neal wrote ABC "was miserable with the replays of [Devils G] Martin Brodeur bumbling his stick just perfectly to turn a slowing dump-in into a goal." In addition, ABC "has collected some of the best hockey analysts and shackled them. The network clearly keeps the explanations from getting too deep into the Xs and Os because, well, this is a wider audience than for the usual hockey broadcast. ... Even if they're worried about the casual fan, why not give a decent explanation of what each team is doing defensively and needs to do offensively?" Neal added that ABC's promos are "fine until [they encroach] on the quality of a broadcast" (MIAMI HERALD, 6/8).