The Mighty Ducks-Red Wings playoff opener on Wednesday
drew a local Detroit Nielsen rating of 19.3/28 on WKBD-UPN,
the team's "best ever" for a first-round, Game One playoff
telecast." The previous high was a 17.6/27 for a Jets-Red
Wings Game One in '96 (Steve Crowe, DET. FREE PRESS, 4/23).
WHAT ABOUT DALLAS? In Dallas, Tim Cowlishaw reports
that despite the Stars' successful season, the team averaged
only a 1.5 local rating on Fox Sports SW. Cowlishaw: "The
best team in hockey deserves better. What exactly were you
watching, may I ask? It wasn't the Mavericks. They averaged
a 1.2 on Fox Southwest this season, which could be applauded
as a victory for logic." The Stars' 1.5 rating did "more
than double" last year's 0.7 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/23).
CAN DISNEY MAKE MONEY? BLOOMBERG's Rick Westhead
examines Disney's acquisition of NHL TV rights from Fox and
reports that Fox, which was losing "as much as" $12M a year
on the NHL, was "shocked" when Disney Co. offered $600M over
five years for the rights. Fox Exec Producer Ed Goren:
"There are people who think Disney will make money in it,
but then again there are people around the country who
believe the president didn't have sex with Monica Lewinsky."
NHL Senior VP Steve Solomon: "Overall, I think Fox was a
terrific partner. But I do think there was a need to create
more awareness in the game" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/23).
