May 26, 2010

Spotted at Sports Media News

NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS VIEWERSHIP CONTINUES TO CLIMB

Blackhawks Clincher On NBC Sports Up 33 Percent

NHL.com Ranks Second in Growth Among All Sites from March to April

NEW YORK (May 24, 2010) – NBC Sports’ coverage of yesterday’s decisive Game 4 between the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks, earned a 2.0 overnight rating and a 5 share, a 33 percent increase over last year (Detroit/Chicago, 1.5/4), as Chicago advanced to its first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years by completing a sweep of San Jose.  Hockey-mad Chicago delivered a 14.1/32.

Saturday’s Philadelphia Flyers/Montreal Canadiens Game 4 earned a healthy 1.6/4 (no comparison in 2009). The Philadelphia market delivered a 12.0/27.  Both games won every half hour against competition from the other networks.

Top Five NHL Markets of Weekend:
1.        Chicago – 14.1 (Sunday)
2.        Philadelphia- 12.0 (Saturday)
T3. San Jose – 4.4 (Sunday)
T3. Buffalo – 4.4 (Sunday)
4.        Buffalo  - 4.2 (Saturday)
5.        Pittsburgh – 3.6 (Saturday)

Top Five Non-NHL Markets of Weekend:
1.        San Diego – 2.8 (Sunday)
2.        Sacramento – 2.5 (Sunday)
3.        Richmond – 2.2 (Sunday)
4.        San Diego – 2.0 (Saturday)
T5. Indianapolis -1.9 (Sunday)
T5. Las Vegas – 1.9 (Sunday)

FIRST TWO ROUNDS ON VERSUS MOST-WATCHED IN HISTORY
VERSUS’ coverage of the first two rounds of 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs was the most-watched first two rounds on cable on record with an average of  775,000 viewers for the 54 telecasts (Stanley Cup Playoff cable viewership became available by Nielsen for the 1994 playoffs).

The 1.0 HH rating and average viewership (1.041 million) for the second round were up 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively, over last year’s Conference Semifinal (.8 HH rating and 816,000 viewers). Throughout the duration of the Conference Semifinal, VERSUS ranked as a top 10 cable network in primetime viewership (8-11 p.m.) among Adults 18-49 and 25-54 and was one of the top five most-watched cable networks among Men 18-49 and 25-54.

NBC and VERSUS have combined for the most-watched first two rounds since 1997 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2).

DIGITAL STRATEGY PAYS DIVIDENDS

The NHL is engaging and connecting with more fans than ever on its digital platforms and the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs has continued that trend. Some highlights:

· For the first 40 days of the playoffs, video starts on NHL.com are up 148 percent over last year

· Unique visitors to NHL.com are up 31 percent

· Page views are up 50 percent
· Mobile page views are up 183 percent
· April was the most trafficked month in the history of NHL.com in terms of unique visitors surpassing 17 million
· NHL.com ranked as the number two site in terms of percentage change in unique visitors from March to April according to comScore (see chart below).
comScore’s Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
April 2010 vs. March 2010

1. MLB.COM – 67%
2. NHL.com Network – 35%
3. Buzzle.com – 19%
4. chachha.com – 16%
5. The Mozilla Organization – 15%
6. The Home Depot, Inc. – 12%
T7. Vevo – 11%
T7. Ford Motor Company – 11%
T7. Examiner.com Sites – 11%
T7. Conduit.com – 11%

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