While Fox's NHL playoff ratings have dropped this
season, ESPN's NHL playoff numbers are down 30% on the main
network and off 29% on ESPN2, "as hockey continues to fight a
losing battle" against the NBA "and other sports it must
compete against on weekends," according to Leonard Shapiro of
the WASHINGTON POST. Shapiro writes that hockey "remains a
tough sport to televise," and that the "influx of European
stars hasn't made selling the game any easier to potential
fans." In DC, the Capitals averaged a 0.4 rating this season
on HTS, and have so far averaged a 1.3 for three playoff
games aired on HTS. Meanwhile, the Wizards averaged a 1.6 on
HTS during their regular season, while the Orioles are
currently averaging a 2.2 (WASHINGTON POST, 5/8).
FOX PLANS TO BE BACK: In Hartford, Dom Amore notes the
sluggish ratings on Fox and writes that "not even the hippest
of networks has been able to get people grooving to hockey"
(HARTFORD COURANT, 5/8). In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes
that Fox is battling the notion that "hockey, for all its
speed and power, is a doomed sport, with little interest
beyond the core of devoted fans in each NHL city" (SUN, 5/8).
In Toronto, Rob Longley reports that the NHL will be back on
Fox next season, but that the network "will tinker" with its
production. Fox "is looking at producing fewer games each
week -- down to three from six -- and possibly switching back
to Sunday from its current home on Saturday" (TORONTO
SUN,5/8). In a conference call, Fox Sports Exec Producer Ed
Goren said he was not concerned about a possible all Canadian
Ottawa-Edmonton Stanley Cup final. He said such a matchup
"would only be awful if it went four games and out. ...
Christmas in June would be a seven-game series that ends with
an overtime" (Steve Zipay, NEWSDAY, 5/8).
