This makes sense when you have two TV partners, split up the playoffs by region, East and West. If you don’t have a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, have one network cover the East while the other takes the West. That is exactly what is happening with CBC and TSN in Canada. CBC will air the Eastern Conference Semifinals, New York Rangers-Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils-Philadelphia Flyers.
Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson, Glenn Healy and Elliotte Friedman cover Rangers-Caps while Bob Cole, Gary Galley and Scott Oake handle Devils-Flyers.
We have CBC’s coverage plans and keep scrolling for a bonus CBC press release that arrived in the Fang’s Bites inbox as I was writing this post.
THE 2012 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS CONTINUE ON CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA WITH NEW YORK VS. WASHINGTON AND PHILADELPHIA VS. NEW JERSEY
Conference Semifinal action begins Saturday, April 28
Conference Semifinal action gets underway on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA with exclusive coverage of the New York Rangers/Washington Capitals series beginning April 28 and the Philadelphia Flyers/New Jersey Devils series which begins on April 29. Both series are available on CBC-TV and streaming online at CBCSports.ca.
The puck drops on the New York/Washington series at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 28 as Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals travel to Manhattan to take on Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers. Play-by-play for this series will be handled by Jim Hughson alongside analyst Craig Simpson with Glenn Healy providing additional analysis from between the benches and Elliotte Friedman reporting from rinkside.
The second Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup between Philadelphia and New Jersey hits the ice on Sunday, April 29 at 3 p.m. ET as Claude Giroux and the Flyers play host to Martin Brodeur and the Devils. The broadcast team for this series includes Bob Cole calling the play-by-play from the booth with analyst Garry Galley and Scott Oake reporting from rinkside.
“With all of the excitement, suspense and stunning upsets that filled the opening round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada can’t wait to share more with hockey fans across the country,” said Julie Bristow, CBC’s Executive Director of Studio and Unscripted Programming. “NHL playoff hockey has become appointment viewing for everyone from intense fans to casual viewers and we will continue to provide them all with the world class, innovative coverage and analysis they expect from us.”
Each night during Round Two, Ron MacLean hosts CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA’s coverage of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs along with Kelly Hrudey and P.J. Stock, providing insight and analysis for all of the Conference Semifinal games. Don Cherry and Coach’s Corner returns in the first intermission while the second intermission features the Hot Stove and Andi Petrillo at the I-Desk.
Viewers on the go can download the Hockey Night in Canada mobile app providing instant access to news, analysis and game highlights. The ultimate “second screen” experience, Hockey Night Playoff Pulse, captures the heartbeat of a nation through in-game polls, pools and near-live access to the best three minutes from every game.
Hockey Night in Canada Radio on SiriusXM hosted Gord Stellick continues Monday through Friday from 3-6 p.m. ET on channel 157. Show podcasts are also available for download from the iTunes Store.
Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi continues with Harnarayan Singh handling play-by-play duties for Round Two with coverage of the New York/Washington series. The Punjabi broadcasts will be available on Rogers Cable channel 799, Shaw Digital TV channel 328, Shaw Direct classic channel 480 and advanced channel 429, TELUS Optik TV channel 131 and on Bell TV and FIBE TV channel 232 and will also be streamed live and on-demand on CBCSports.ca.
CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA: 2012 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
ROUND TWO – CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS BROADCAST SCHEDULE
All series best of seven. Schedule subject to change.NEW YORK RANGERS (#1) VS. WASHINGTON CAPITALS (#7)
Game 1 — Washington @ New York, Saturday, April 28 @ 3 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 2 — Washington @ New York, Monday, April 30 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 3 — New York @ Washington, Wednesday, May 2 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 4 — New York @ Washington, Saturday, May 5 @ 12:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 5* — Washington @ New York, Monday, May 7 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 6* — New York @ Washington, Wednesday, May 9 @ TBD, FULL NETWORK
Game 7* — Washington @ New York, Saturday, May 12 @ TBD, TBDPHILADELPHIA FLYERS (#5) VS. NEW JERSEY DEVILS (#6)
Game 1 — New Jersey @ Philadelphia, Sunday, April 29 @ 3 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 2 — New Jersey @ Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 1 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 3 — Philadelphia @ New Jersey, Thursday, May 3 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 4 — Philadelphia @ New Jersey, Sunday, May 6 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 5* — New Jersey @ Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 8 @ 7:30 p.m. ET, FULL NETWORK
Game 6* — Philadelphia @ New Jersey, Thursday, May 10 @ TBD, FULL NETWORK
Game 7* — New Jersey @ Philadelphia, Saturday, May 12 @ TBD, TBD*If necessary
And after a jump break, a CBC press release on Hockey Night in Canada’s ratings.
CBC will have plenty of reasons to celebrate and possibly see how it can keep the Hockey Night in Canada franchise that has been a part of the network for over 60 years. This season was the most-watched for Hockey Night in Canada as its early primetime game averaged more than 2 million viewers for the first time ever.
That’s the highest average since metered measurement of viewership began in the 1989-90 season. CBC says its highest audience for the 2011-12 regular season was for the Toronto-Montreal game on March 3 when an average audience of 2.5 million Canadians tuned in.
And CBC saw an audience of 2.4 million for the NHL All-Star Game and 2.5 million for the All-Stars Skills Competition the night before.
So CBC is getting some record numbers in anticipation of the upcoming Canadian TV rights negotiations which will get heated between CBC and CTV with Rogers waiting in the wings.
Here’s the CBC press release.
CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA SEES RECORD AUDIENCES FOR 2011-12 NHL REGULAR SEASON BROADCASTS
Prime East Saturday Night games garnered the highest average audience ever recorded for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada with more than 2 million viewers each week
CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA reached new audience heights with its coverage of the 2011-12 NHL regular season. Leading the way was the Saturday Prime East broadcasts, with an unprecedented average audience of more than 2 million viewers per game – this is the highest average for these games since metered measurement began in 1989-90. Across all games throughout this past year, more than 25.8 million viewers tuned-in to some part of CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA’s regular season game coverage, representing 77% of the population or three in four Canadians.
Saturday afternoon broadcasts of CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA also saw a new average audience record with nearly 590,000 viewers, representing a 15% increase over last season. In addition, Saturday Prime West game broadcasts finished the season with an average audience of more than 1 million viewers for the third consecutive year.
“These unprecedented audiences are a reflection of the unwavering passion of hockey fans across the country and the continually increasing popularity of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada,” said Julie Bristow, CBC’s Executive Director of Studio and Unscripted Programming. “Our broadcast and production teams are the best in the business and these results couldn’t have been accomplished without their hard work and dedication.”
“We’re proud of the important place CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada’s holds in Canadian culture and we’re honoured to be invited into so many homes across the country every week,” said Jeffrey Orridge, Executive Director Sports Properties, CBC. “We’ve been bringing hockey to Canadians for nearly six full decades, and as a dedicated partner of the NHL we’re thrilled to continue to play an important role in the ever-growing popularity of the game across Canada.”
Highlights of the 2011-12 NHL regular season on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA include the highest average audience for a single game this year with more than 2.5 million viewers for the March 3, 2012 game between Toronto and Montreal. The 2012 NHL All-Star Game averaged more than 2.4 million viewers, while the NHL All-Star Skills Competition averaged more than 2.5 million viewers – both represent record average audience figures for each event.
On the digital side, CBC.ca/Sports averaged 1.15 million unique visitors per month during the 2011-12 NHL regular season, an increase of 17% over last year. This increase was highlighted by 1.75 million unique visitors in March 2012, the most since June 2010 (FIFA World Cup) and an increase of 75% over March 2011. Total CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA live streams saw a 58% increase over last season while average live streams per game were up 28% over 2011.
Sources
Television audience numbers: BBM Canada, Total Canada, 2011/12
CBC.ca/Sports visitor numbers: comScore, Oct. 2011-Mar. 2012 and Oct. 10-Mar. 2011
Streaming numbers: Adobe SiteCatalyst, Oct. 6, 2011-Apr. 7, 2012 and Oct. 7, 2010-Apr. 10, 2011, CBC Research Toronto
And TSN’s press release on its playoff coverage is next.
