Ratings for the Sabres-Stars Stanley Cup Finals are
"holding their own," according to USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke.
The first two games on Fox averaged a 3.4 Nielsen rating,
which is up 3% over the lone game it had last year. ESPN's
Game Three 2.9 cable rating from Saturday night is up 9%
from '98 (USA TODAY, 6/17). In Canada, CBC's "Hockey Night
in Canada" had 1.7 million viewers for Game Two, but its
Game Three audience "dipped" to 1.683 million. "HNIC" has
earned an average of 1.68 million for its Stanley Cup Finals
broadcasts (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/17).
GOT SOME GREAT HOCKEY GOING OVER HERE: In N.Y., Joe
Lapointe writes that "no matter the marketing rationale, it
is preposterous to extend a hockey season until the hot days
of mid-June," because "outside the hockey cult, in places
such as basketball-mad New York, does anyone else notice the
drama?" Lapointe adds that if the NHL is intent on
"attracting a broader television audience, it is self-
defeating to show the games from Dallas on the Fox network,
which frequently interrupts its horrid camera work with
lengthy commercial breaks and smutty promos for silly
sitcoms." Lapointe: "Hey, Fox! Hey, America! Open your
eyes! You're missing some great games!" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/17).
