Here are a couple of items for you. The NBA and NHL postseason are causing some conflicts and programming conflicts.
First, the NHL has an advisory for Versus viewers in case tonight’s Pittsburgh-New York Rangers game goes over the 10 p.m. start time for Detroit-Colorado.
OVERTIME SCENARIO FOR VERSUS’ EXCLUSIVE STANLEY CUP CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS DOUBLEHEADER TONIGHT
In the event tonight’s New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game extends beyond the scheduled 10 p.m. ET starting time of the Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche game, VERSUS will adjust its exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Conference Semifinals.
— Cable viewers in the Detroit and Colorado markets will be switched automatically to the beginning of Detroit Red Wings vs. Colorado Avalanche semifinal Game 4.
— Cable viewers in the rest of the country will join the Detroit vs. Colorado game in progress at the conclusion of the New York vs. Pittsburgh game.
— Satellite viewers on DirecTV and Dish Network will be able to watch the Detroit vs. Colorado game in its entirety on an auxiliary channel. (DirecTV – Ch. 659, Dish Network – Ch. 452).
So you have the scenario in case the Penguins-Rangers game goes into overtime.
Now for the NBA, Comcast could not have asked for a better time to take over FSN New England and the rights to the Boston Celtics. The ratings for the regular season were the highest in five years. And the first round of the playoffs is also setting records. From Comcast SportsNet:
Comcast SportsNet Game 5 telecast earned a season high 7.7 rating and reached an estimated 354,000 households in New England. Game 5 achieved an 8.0 rating with men (25-54) and was the second most watched program by men trailing only American Idol. Celtics-Hawks Round 1 is averaging a 6.2 rating through the first five telecasts, up 82 percent over the regular season.
A 7.7 rating is approaching what the Red Sox get on NESN. Each playoff game has been trending up and if the series goes to a 7th game and carried on CSN, one can imagine that the ratings could reach the stratosphere. Of course, if ABC picks up the game, WCVB would reap the benefits and the ratings would be much higher.
For the regular season, the average rating for Celtics games on Comcast SportsNet was 3.4 so the interest going into the playoffs is peaking.
And tomorrow night, ESPN2 will have a scheduling conflict as it picks up Game 6 of the NBA’s Washington-Cleveland series. The game starts at 7 p.m. Friday. ESPN2 was originally scheduled to air a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, but that has been bumped to ESPN Classic and the Speed Channel. Friend of Fang’s Bites, Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette has more on the switch.
I’ll have an update later.
