There were huge ratings for Canada vs. USA in the gold medal game. Wow - off the chart viewer ship. Really fantastic numbers across the board in the US and in Canada. Astounding. Wonderful. Well-deserved. We are all happy and I am hopeful than NBC is happy as well. See this New York Times blog post for a great perspective of the numbers.
Ted's Take
Great that a hockey game has garnered that much attention. But if the final hadn’t included both North American teams, which few predicted, the numbers would have been less than stellar.
Since someone brought up Versus, I can’t watch our game tomorrow and after calling sports bars in our area can’t find one that can air it. With the playoffs approaching I am really concerned about not seeing the Caps away playoff games. I hope the league & owners can put pressure on DirecTV and Versus to resolve this in the next few weeks. It’s so unfair since Versus got the exclusivity deal with the NHL only to have a lot of fans blacked out on DirecTV.
I hope the NHL can get back on ESPN and off Versus. Many viewers with Direct TV can’t get Versus because of Comcast and Ed Snider’s greediness !
Teddy, Sure it does. “Washington Capitals Win The Stanley Cup”!!
Lets Go Caps!
Wow indeed! My hope is that some day a Stanley Cup game 7 can draw that kind of number.
MR.LEONSIS,
I just want to thank you for turning the hockey team I have loved for the last 30 years and turning it into the finest franchise in the NHL. I appreciate the way you have allowed george mcphee to build a strong competetive team. I can’t possibly thank you enough. You are the classiest owner in all of sports.
Thank you,
Rick
That’s astonishing. So what were the top “ice dancing” ratings, NBC? Who gets more ratings now?
NBC should be ashamed at the way they treated hockey fans during the Olympics. I already refuse to watch NBC game of the weeks due to Milbury’s presence.
Two points. First, if the Olympics were still using amateurs for hockey, the ratings may not have been much lower. The Olympics are all about nationalism. Would a US team of amateurs been any less supported in a gold medal game than a team of professionals? I don’t think so. Second, the big story could just as easily have been a season ending injury to Ovechkin or Crosby or Miller or who knows who else. The NHL is extremely lucky that didn’t happen.
Now it’s time to push to ban fighting with 1 game penalties for fighting – wasn’t it a thing of beauty, Ted?