Entries with the tag: media

Hockey Media Approval Ratings: John Buccigross

Our first ESPN hockey outcast on the HMAR.  John Buccigross joined ESPN and ESPNews in 1996 as a SportsCenter anchor.  He became the full time host of the now missed NHL2Nite.  He is still one of the only people they let touch hockey highlights at the network.

Bucci’s shtick has died down quite a bit since he stopped hosting NHL2Night.  He’s, in fact, one of the least annoying SportsCenter personalities, I may say.  He is, to paraphrase himself, to SportsCenter what Johnny 5 is to up-and-coming hip-hop/rock combo Flobots.  That said, I felt that the network wasted him at big events in favor of John Saunders and Steve Levy.  I’ve traded E-Mails with Bucci, and he is a genuinely nice guy.

So, what do you guys think of what Bucci is doing?

VERSUS Schedule Changes

This’ll be a popular one. VERSUS has decided to change some of its scheduled games in February and March.

Let’s take this on a date by date basis so we can be as clear-cut as possible.

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VERSUS’ Brings the Bells and Whistles to “the ATL”

With a three year extension in place to keep NHL games on the network until the 2010-11 season, the VERSUS network will reach fairly deep into it’s bag of tricks (I assume every television network has one) to present the 56th National Hockey League All-Star Game Live from Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday.  The network will use cameras that might make your run-of-the-mill film geek’s (i.e. me) head explode.  You can also expect mic’d up goalies, cameras in the net, and a bunch of other extras that the league has been using for years on broadcasts, but certainly fill up a press release.

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With Winter Classic Behind it, Revamped NHL On NBC Looks to Move Forward

If the Winter Classic taught the NHL and NBC one thing, it’s that hockey fans are attracted to the spectacle.  That, and for real.no more Darren Pang.  That’s why even the most cynical, hockey-chondriac media critics are upbeat that the NHL can do some acceptable business with it’s retooled lineup and flex scheduling policies. 

For those of you who are unaware, NBC will use a similar policy to what it does for late-season NFL games, except it won’t mean that I have to stand in Giants Stadium until 1 AM on a Monday Morning watching the Redskins clean up what’s left of the G-Men.  Instead, and I feel you puck-heads should be aware of this, NBC will air one game in it’s timeslot (Usually 12:30-3:00 PM ET or 3:30-6:00 PM ET) and basically move all the games deemed not-worthy (i.e. Crosby doesn’t play for or against you) to three hours before or after NBC’s slot. 

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Come Into the HDNet Light

One of the great benefits of having an HDTV is, you know, actually having it set to HD.  Apparently, when my home switched over from Comcast Digital Cable to Verizon Fios, the man who came and installed it said that our TV was not set up for HD.  He flipped a simple setting and all of a sudden...I get it!  I get why HD is so awesome.  It’s clearer, brighter and makes the idiot box 100 times better. 

But nothing turned my opinion of HDTV than watching the Buffalo-Ottawa game on HDNet, the NHL’s official High-Definition TV partner. 

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A Hockey Night Pipe Dream

American hockey diehards have long wished for that great day where our sport can be fully accepted as one of the major sports in this country.  We want it to become so big that it will be worthy of the diehard coverage that football or baseball or basketball gets on the various networks. 

We all have our own dreams of what a “Hockey Night in America” would look like, and here’s mine.

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Handicapping the Flex Schedule

NBC begins it’s NHL “Flex Scheduling” arrangement later in January, when they pick between a Bruins-Rangers tilt and the Stars-Ducks game.  NBC was so certain they wanted the Rangers and Boston, that they announced their choice five days early, during the Winter Classic. 

So I thought, heading into eight weeks of this little experiment (NBC is guaranteed to air Rangers-Canadiens on Super Bowl Sunday), I would try predicting what the league and network will go with.  I will use the following criteria when making judgments:

1. Market Quality (Big Markets = Ratings)
2. Star Power (Crosby, Jagr, Ovechkin = Ratings)
3. Game Quality (When in doubt, a good game can draw you in)
4. Competition (If ABC’s airing an NBA game involving the same city, the NHL won’t jump in there)

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The NHL’s Top 10 Play-by-Play Men

There’s some debate about the relevance and need for play-by-play men in a modern, HD world.  Especially after the CBC saw an upswing in ratings when they broadcast some Canadian Football League games without commentators. 

However, I think with the following 10 fellas, you’ll gladly keep the volume turned up, as these guys keep the game exciting, informative, and most importantly: fun.

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An Honest Critique of the NHL on Versus

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever quite gotten through 100% of a review of the NHL’s cable television carrier, VERSUS, without mentioning one of the following three things:

1. “...despite the fact that VERSUS is only in 73.8 Million Homes, compared to ESPN’s 100 million”
2. “I know no one cares about the National Hockey League, but...”
3. “Frankly, I don’t know what channel the games are on.”

So having gotten those three points aside, two and half years in, I’d like to give an honest assessment of “The NHL On Versus”.

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