And The Winner Is.........

MONTREAL--Chalk up one for the home team.

RDS, despite fierce discussions over Friday and Saturday, managed to maintain it's right to put an on-ice broadcaster in the coveted spot between the benches for today's Game 4 between the Canadiens and Flyers.

RDS has "No. 1" position for the game and theoretically first dibs on pretty much everything. But the 3 p.m. start time was an NBC request - CBC figured it would lose about one million viewers compared to a nighttime game - and lobbied to have their analyst, Pierre Maguire, get the between-the-benches position.

NBC was actually third in the pecking order behind RDS and CBC. In the end, RDS analyst Joel Bouchard gets the prime position, while CBC's Glenn Healy and Maguire will be stationed at two other vantage points for the highly anticipated match.

So, Canadian insecurities aside, the American networks don't always dictate the show.

Comments

[Brian C]

Who cares, an afternoon game on a long weekend, the province of Quebec and fanatics will watch, the rest of us, will be outside enjoying the start of summer.

Question: How many people on in the south will be watching that includes Buffalo.

[Johnnyk]

Good, NBC is clueless about hockey.
You can't just show up and dictate,

[Arthur Bailey]

Why a day time game? Yes, it is Saturday, but I had things to do, so I missed the game.

I wonder if the Habs would have won if it had been an evening start.

There is so much I hate about the NHL right now.

[guelphdad]

Actually Johnny they can. Do you think if NBC wasn't calling the shots that we'd have an afternoon game and lose out on Hockey Night in Canada again?

I wish the NHL would realize stuff like that loses audiences. Sure there are more people in the states but read recently Versus is pulling in 775000 for an all time high hockey audience, while 4.25 million viewers tuned in to TSN for the Bruins/Flyers game 7 and that was only 5th highest all time.

Really, stuff like this means I can give the NHL a pass.

[Ichallengeyoupierre]

I agree...but please hope for Pierre McGuire to get a GM job so we don't have to listen to the MONSTER anymore.

[Dave Russell]

"Destroying the NHL one fan at a time" by Gary Bettman and the Networks.
I didn't watch either. I bet a bunch of would be fans didn't watch. This strategy brought to you by the same people who, after having the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup (Hockey, on ice, in Florida! Can you believe it?) allow a lockout to occur the season after. Recipe; build fan base, see fan base, ticket sales and merchandise sales evaporate in the Florida sun.
Dave R, Philadelphia PA

[Braco]

"4.25 million viewers tuned in to TSN for the Bruins/Flyers game 7" big numbers, realy big numbers, one F1 race has 75-80 millon viewers so this joke called WWE is for WWE viewers only!!

[other mark]

Yes, brilliant move by the NHL brain trust and their partners in all things stupid... NBC. Show a pivot playoff game at 3pm on a Saturday, just when all the true hockey fans (who have endured 8 months of crappy weather) finally get to go outside. And why was this done you ask? So that NBC wouldn't have to move one of their excellent prime time shows to a different time slot? No. This was done because this is the only time that NBC deems suitable for hockey. Wake up Bettman; in the eyes of American Television, hockey ranks approximately as high as reruns of "Different Strokes". You will never build a U.S. presense with that kind of exposure. However, you will alienate your true fans if you continue to ignore their preferences.