DEL CEO Gernot Tripcke Says League's TV Ratings 'Certainly Have Room For Improvement'

Austrian-based TV channel ServusTV has been the German Hockey League's (DEL) broadcast home since the start of the season, "but recent ratings are lacking behind expectations," according to Alexander Krei of DWDL.de. Viewing numbers of DEL games on ServusTV have been between 20,000-30,000, "numbers that the channel would like to multiply by 10." DEL CEO Gernot Tripcke said, "This [the current numbers multiplied by 10] had been the peak numbers that Eurosport received over the last couple years for its free-to-air broadcast of DEL games." He added, "That is the potential that hockey should have. I'm very confident that ServusTV will reach those numbers as the channel becomes -- through the help of the DEL -- more widely known in Germany." Speaking about the current ratings, Tripcke said that "they certainly have room for improvement," however, the league "is satisfied as it has received positive feedback" (DWDL.de, 11/12).