Versus' Davis Talks About Record NHL Ratings, Continuing Growth

Davis Talks Versus' Ratings, Plans

Q: You were predicting that this would be the highest-rated game in the network's history. What gave you that kind of confidence?

Davis: The momentum we had through the regular season and all through the Conference Semifinals and Finals. Not only did we do it, we blew it away. It shows there's a buzz around this country around hockey. Hockey's electric. And most importantly people are finding hockey on Versus.

Q: How much is that attributable to the switch with NBC from broadcasting Games One and Two of the Finals to Games Three and Four?

Davis: NBC, us and NHL are all good partners working together on things. I wouldn't attribute it to us having Game Three and Four versus One and Two. Look, we were going into this game down 2-0 instead of 0-0. The fact that NBC promoted (the games on Versus) was helpful, but people have been finding hockey on Versus all season long.

Q: You also saw significant ratings increases over the entire season. What drove that?

Davis: It's momentum we've seen all season long. We had the highest rated opening night. That momentum stemmed from last year's postseason and carried over. The network is also more established. We devised a strategy of how we could do more pregame, more postgame and over the years it's begun to grow. Fans are loving it. It's caused them to find (hockey), follow it and stay with it during the season.

Q: What do you plan to do to continue this upswing next year?

Davis: We're in conversations with the NHL what to do differently. We've been talking about a huge kickoff similar to last year's. We've been working on the schedule to make sure we have a good mix of matchups. Those recipes work and you don't fix something that's not broken.

Q: Do you see any areas for improvement or anything you'll do to continue the momentum?

Davis: There's nothing major we have planned. We'll regroup after the season. Right now, we get through the Stanley Cup Finals, then we can come up with bells and whistles, changes and tweaks. It's a top priority for us to make sure our distribution continues to grow. One of the things I'm confident is that as the interest around Versus grows and demand increases the people will demand it more.

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