"Even with massive cross-promotion, ESPN/ABC will face
a tough road making money on the NHL," according to Jill
Goldsmith of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, who reports that the
league's "ratings among men 18-34 have fallen 41% since the
first year of the Fox deal" in '95 (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER,
8/26). Bornstein dismissed last season's 1.4 average rating
on Fox: "Let's not make too much of last season. Over the
last seven years, we have seen tremendous growth in the
popularity of the NHL" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 8/26).
Bornstein: "We believe in the growth of the NHL, we believe
that its best years are ahead of it" (THE DAILY).
AD SALES: Bornstein, when asked how ABC/ESPN could make
money on the deal after Fox reported losses of up to $20M
per year: "Maybe we just add and subtract differently than
the Fox people do, but we intend to make -- and anticipate
making -- money on this from the first year on out." More
Bornstein: "This deal makes sense on advertising alone" (THE
DAILY). But the AP's Josh Dubow reports that "improving
ratings enough to make money will not be as easy as cross-
promotion." Dubow: "Assuming ABC gets the maximum number of
games allowable in the contract, it would need to average
more than $50,000 for each commercial spot to break even.
According to advertising sources, Fox was able to charge
$45,000 for its one Stanley Cup final game and considerably
less for its regular-season games" (AP, 8/26). Fox's David
Hill, on ABC making a profit on the deal: "If they do it,
God bless them" (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 8/26).
TV TIME: ESPN reported on the NHL deal more than 30
minutes into its early and late editions of "SportsCenter."
ESPN's Kenny Mayne said that "either the bosses didn't spend
every last penny on the football arrangement or Barry
Melrose gave back some of his dough for the good of the
team." Mayne added that Bornstein "was so excited after"
the deal "that instead of shaking hands with [Gary Bettman]
at the signing, he cross checked him" (ESPN, 8/25).
HEARD ON THE STREET: On the NYSE yesterday, Disney
shares ended up $.69 at $34.06 (THE DAILY).
ALL HAIL COMMISSIONER BETTMAN! In Edmonton, Cam Cole
writes under the header, "Bettman's Brinks Job Defies
Explanation." Cole: "Anyway, we have not come to mock Gary
Bettman. We have come to praise him. How the devil he did
it, I cannot imagine" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 8/26). Bettman:
"If you do the math, it's real easy. When you look at what
our advertising rates are and our CPM is, and our ability to
sell advertisers ... we are a very efficient buy because of
our demographics. The math works out that we are worth at
least what we are getting, if not more." Bettman: "When you
do the numbers, and you look at the programming we're
providing, something like 1,300 hours of programming, when
you look at our strong demographics, this is more than a
fair deal. ... We got an increase because we had been
undervalued over the last few years. And now we are
beginning to get the value we are entitled to" (THE DAILY).
