NBC Sports Network Faces Off NHL All-Star Weekend Presentation
Cable Network, Up 13% In Ratings, to Provide 10 Hours Of Coverage from Ottawa
Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 1/26/2012 3:52:00 PM
NBC Sports Network, which is lighting up the Nielsen lamp with a double-digit viewership gain this season, has dropped the puck on 10 hours of coverage of the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend from Ottawa, Canada.
The national cable network, previously known as Versus, televised the NHL Fantasy Draft Pre-Show on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (ET), followed by the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft at 8 p.m. The network will then air the 2012 Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday at 7 p.m. showcasing the league's top stars as they demonstrate their skating, puck-handling and shooting skills, before showcasing the 59th NHL All-Star Game on Sunday at 4 p.m., live from Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.
The NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft will once again feature two captains, Daniel Alfredsson of the All-Star Weekend host Ottawa Senators and Zdeno Chara of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins, and their alternate captains -- New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul, respectively -- selecting their All-Star teammates. NBC Sports Network will televise the proceedings as each squad will fill out a roster of three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards.
In the first year of NBC Sports Group's, 10-year, $2 billion media rights deal with the pro puck league, NBC Sports Network has averaged 330,000 viewers over 44 NHL contests, up 13% from the 31 contests it had aired at the same stage of the 2010-11 campaign, according to Nielsen data.NBC Sports Network, which netted its best-regular NHL audience with the 874,000 viewers for the season-opener between Philadelphia and defending champion Boston on Oct. 6, has garnered 467,000 watchers with its time-period exclusive games on Wednesdays and Friday nights. That's up from 17% over last year's exclusive telecasts. Network officials say the service has recorded its top local household ratings in Boston, Chicago, Philly, St. Louis and Tampa.
For its part, NHL games on NBC, backing out the Winter Classic, have averaged 1.36 million viewers, up 9% from the same number of games last season.
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