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Bruins/Canadiens Series Hot On Both Sides, NESN Ratings Up

April 11, 2011 By

As the Bruins and Canadiens get ready to start their first round playoff series this week, ticket demand is already high. It is the most in-demand series, ticket-wise, of all the first round matchups. Ticket prices in Montreal are the highest, and the games in Boston the second highest. Click on the image for ticket information for Bruins/Canadiens.

On the Television side, NESN sent out a release today announcing that they set a new regular season ratings record by garnering a 3.1 average household rating – a 41% increase from the 2009/10 season. NESN’s previous best was a 2.5 household rating in both the 2008/09 and 1995/96 seasons. The numbers were also up in key demographic categories, including Adults 18-34 (2.1, up 99%), Adults 25-54 (2.9, up 54%) and Men 25-54 (4.3, up 55%).

All of NESN’s Bruins-related studio programs experienced double digit ratings gains over last season, including W.B. Mason Bruins FaceOff LIVE (+16%), Ace Ticket Bruins Overtime LIVE (+68%), The Big Bad Bruins Show with Kathryn Tappen (+18%), and The Instigators with Mike Milbury (+122%).

Here’s the rest of the release:

Expanded Playoff Pre-Game Coverage

NESN will deliver regionally exclusive coverage of every game during the Bruins first round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens.  Each game night will begin with W.B. Mason Bruins Face-Off LIVE, which will expand from 30 minutes to one hour for every first round game. Host Kathryn Tappen will be joined by analysts Gord Kluzak and Barry Pederson, with Naoko Funayama reporting from ice level.  NESN’s pre-game coverage for Bruins home games will continue to originate from the network’s TD Garden set location.

Bruins post-season coverage on NESN gets started early this week with special editions of The Bricks and The Instigators. NESN’s Andy Brickley will host The Bricks: 2011 Post-Season Special on Tuesday, April 12 at 5:30 PM and preview the Bruins first round matchup against long-time rival Montreal. On Wednesday, April 13 at 5:30 PM, The Instigators with Mike Milbury will feature Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley as they discuss and debate the NHL’s best in 2010/11 and make their Stanley Cup predictions.  

Bruins vs. Canadiens Conference Quarterfinals on NESN 

Thursday April 14 Game #1 at TD Garden 7:00 PM
Saturday April 16 Game #2 at TD Garden 7:00 PM
Monday April 18 Game #3 at Montreal 7:30 PM
Thursday April 21 Game #4 at Montreal 7:00 PM
Saturday April 23 Game #5 at TD Garden 7:00 PM*
Tuesday April 26 Game #6 at Montreal TBD *
Wednesday April 27 Game #7 at TD Garden TBD *

 * = If Necessary

Filed Under: NESN, TiqIQ

NESN’s Executive Vice President Is Out

March 31, 2011 By

Happening now, we’re just learning through Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that NESN’s Executive Vice President of Programming and Executive Producer Joel Feld is leaving after five years on the job.

Feld has overseen changes in game production with the Red Sox and Bruins as well as steering the channel towards some non-sports related programming including the horrible “Dirty Water TV”. More to follow as the news becomes available.

UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: We have the official statements from NESN including quotes from Feld and NESN President and CEO Sean McGrail.

NESN Statement:
Joel Feld has decided to leave NESN after more than 5 years of service as the network’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer.

“Over the past five years Joel has made significant contributions to NESN’s growth and success,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO. “We are very grateful for the passion and leadership he brought to work every day and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Statement from Joel Feld:

“Leaving NESN is one of the most difficult career moves I’ve ever had to make. The talent and production team – behind and in front of the camera – are the best in the business. The standards and work ethic they bring to the office every day made my job a whole lot easier and more fun than I ever could have imagined when I came to Boston in 2005. I’m especially grateful to the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins organizations who provided me a professional opportunity that people dream of their entire lives. I will treasure the experience and good memories for the rest of my career and wish continued success for NESN and all the great people I’ve had the privilege to work beside.”

NESN says a search for Feld’s replacement will begin immediately. No word if anyone will fill Feld’s position in the interim.

Filed Under: Media News, NESN, Noteworthy

NESN Sets New Bruins Regular Season Ratings Record

March 25, 2011 By

From NESN:

Last night’s 7-0 Bruins win over the Canadiens garnered a 6.6 household rating on NESN according to Nielsen, which is the highest rated regular season game in the network’s 27 year history covering the Bruins. NESN’s previous regular season ratings record was a 6.2 household rating for the March, 18, 2010 game when the Bruins played the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden.

Against a very competitive network prime lineup, which included the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Bruins ranked #1 in the Boston DMA in Men 25-54, #2 in Adults 18-49 and #3 in Households and Adults 25-54.

NESN’s pre and post-game shows as well as NESN Daily also earned strong numbers.

WB Mason Bruins FaceOff LIVE       1.4 HH rating

Ace Ticket Bruins Overtime LIVE      5.3 HH rating (season best)

NESN Daily                                        2.7 HH rating

Filed Under: NESN, Ratings

NESN To Air Both Bruins/Maple Leafs and Hockey East Championship

March 17, 2011 By

I apologize for the lack of regular links this morning – work emergency.

With both the Hockey East Championship game and the Bruins/Maple Leafs on the schedule for Saturday night, NESN will activate NESNPlus for that evening, so that both games can be broadcast live.

The Bruins vs. Maple Leafs game will be seen on NESN throughout New England while live coverage of the Hockey East championship game from TD Garden will be available on NESNplus throughout New England. Outside New England, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will carry the Hockey East championship game on NESN National while DirecTV and Dish Network will carry the game nationally on NESNplus.

Here is the schedule for NESN and NESNPlus on Saturday night:

NESN Schedule for Saturday, March 19th

6:30 PM – WB Mason Bruins FaceOff LIVE
7:00 PM – Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs (L)
9:30 PM – Bruins Overtime LIVE (L)
10:00 PM – NESN Daily (L)
10:15 PM – Hockey East Championship Game (replay)

NESNplus and NESN National Schedule for Saturday, March 19th

6:30 PM – Hockey East FaceOff LIVE
7:00 PM – Hockey East Championship Game (L)
9:30 PM – Bruins Overtime LIVE (L)
10:00 PM – NESN Daily (L)
10:15 PM – Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs (replay)

Find a complete list of NESNplus channels at NESN.com/NESNplus.

Filed Under: NESN

NESN Ratings Updates

March 7, 2011 By

A couple updates from NESN on ratings for recent programming:

NESN Keeps Winning with Bruins Hockey

NESN garnered a 4.5 household rating in the Boston DMA for Saturday night’s Bruins OT loss to the Penguins, the network’s second best Bruins rating of the season. NESN’s best rating of the season was Thursday, March 3 against Tampa Bay when NESN garnered a 4.6 household rating. NESN’s season average is now a 3.0 going into Tuesday night’s highly anticipated contest against divisional rival Montreal. Coverage begins at 7 pm with WB Mason’s Bruins FaceOff LIVE hosted by Kathryn Tappen with Mike Milbury and Gord Kluzak.

Strong Red Sox Spring Training Ratings

NESN’s first three Red Sox spring training games of the season averaged a 2.4 household rating, up 85% over the first 3 spring training games televised by NESN in 2010, and the best 3-game spring training game average since the spring of 2007. NESN is scheduled to broadcast 13 spring training games in March. The next game is on Wednesday, March 9 at 7 pm when the Red Sox host Baltimore at City of Palms Park.

Filed Under: NESN, Ratings

Celtics Topping Bruins In Winter Ratings Battles

February 7, 2011 By

This week, Sports Business Journal has a look at the local TV ratings for the NHL and NBA teams  at the midpoint of their respective seasons.

SBJ is normally a subscription site, but today only the site is free for all.

Locally, the numbers are interesting, and impressive. Both the Celtics (CSSNE) and Bruins (NESN) are in the top five of their leagues for ratings numbers – actually, both teams are fifth in their leagues.

In his article on the NBA ratings (Rise and fall of LeBron’s teams) John Ourand has the Celtics picking up a 4.81 average rating on CSNNE, reaching and average of 118,00 households (which is actually third in the NBA).

The teams ahead of the Celtics in terms of ratings are the Spurs (10.1), Jazz (6), Heat (5.4) and Lakers (4.9).

Looking at the NHL ratings (NHL viewership trends tied to hockey tradition, Northern exposure),  Ourand reports that the Bruins have a 2.77 average rating on NESN, trailing the Penguins (9.05), Sabres (6.51), Red Wings (4.03) and Blue (3.29). Boston averages 68,000 households, which is fourth in the NHL. The Bruins ratings on NESN are up 36% over last year, which is the second largest increase in the NHL, behind the Blues, which are up 41% over last year.

Another article of local interest from SBJ: Massachusetts sets pace in team lottery games

Filed Under: Comcast SportsNet, NESN, Ratings

NESN Announces Red Sox Spring Training Plans

January 27, 2011 By

NESN just released plans for their 2011 Spring training coverage. Highlights are below:

NESN’s 2011 Red Sox Spring Training Game Broadcast Schedule

DATE PROGRAM TIME
Friday, March 4                 Red Sox at New York Yankees (Tampa) 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 5             Florida Marlins at Red Sox 1:00 PM
Sunday, March 6                                                           Red Sox at New York Mets (Port St. Lucie) 1:00 PM
Wednesday, March 9 Baltimore Orioles at Red Sox 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 12           Florida Marlins at Red Sox 1:00 PM
Sunday, March 13             Red Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates (Bradenton) 1:00 PM
Monday, March 14            New York Yankees at Red Sox 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 19           Red Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates (Bradenton) 1:00 PM
Sunday, March 20                                                         St. Louis Cardinals at Red Sox 1:00 PM
Friday, March 25 Toronto Blue Jays at Red Sox 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 26 Minnesota Twins at Red Sox 7:00 PM
Sunday, March 27 Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles (Sarasota) 1:00 PM
Wednesday, March 30 Red Sox at Houston Astros (Houston,TX) 8:00 PM

 Additional programming highlights include:

NESN’s coverage line-up also includes:

· Red Sox LIVE from Fort Myers presented by Jordan’s Furniture – 16 hours of live coverage over 13 days with Tom Caron, Peter Gammons, Heidi Watney & Don Orsillo

· The Dennis & Callahan Morning Show – 15 hours live from Fort Myers
John Dennis, Gerry Callahan and Jon Meterparel

· Red Sox Spring Training Baseball on NESN – 13 games beginning Friday, March 4
Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy & Heidi Watney

· NESN Daily – On location reports featuring the latest news from Fort Myers
Heidi Watney and Don Orsillo

· Special Edition of Red Sox GameDay LIVE from Houston – March 30 at 7:00 PM ET
Tom Caron, Don Orsillo, Jerry Remy and Heidi Watney

· NESN.com – Daily posts, live blogs of every game and fan participation
Tony Lee, Don Orsillo, Tom Caron and Heidi Watney

In addition, on January 31st, (this coming Monday) at 9:00PM,  NESN will air their Red Sox Town Hall event. The event is described as “a special town hall style meeting for fans on Monday, January 31 at 7:00 pm. The 2011 Red Sox Town Hall presented by Bigelow Tea will feature a lively and interactive conversation between fans and Red Sox executives.  It will be held at WGBH’s Calderwood Studio, and televised in its entirety on NESN at 9:00 pm.

The Red Sox executive panel is expected to include Chairman Tom Werner, President/CEO Larry Lucchino, Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein and Manager Terry Francona. NESN’s Tom Caron and Heidi Watney will serve as hosts for the one-hour event.”

Filed Under: NESN

Fox Sports And NESN Announce New Digital Partnership

December 16, 2010 By

NESN sent around the following release this afternoon. Looks like FOX is attempting something similar to what ESPN.com has done with local sites that have a tie-in to the national site.

December 16, 2010 – FOXSports.com on MSN and NESN announced today a new digital content sharing partnership that will make NESN.com the exclusive provider of New England and Boston sports news on one of the most popular sports web sites in the country. The agreement allows FOXSports.com the right to both publish and directly link to NESN’s sports news content and provides for significant cross promotional opportunities between the two sites.

“The FOX Sports Local websites are the fastest-growing regional sports websites in the country,” said Mike Hall, NESN’s Director of New Media. “We are proud to join the FOX Sports family of local websites to help extend their reach in the northeast while helping NESN to continue to grow our site as the premier destination for fans of New England sports.”

“Providing our readers with the latest news in New England sports greatly enhances FOXSports.com and complements the coverage from all of our existing local sites. We’re excited to partner with the leading sports website in that market,” said Kyle McDoniel, Vice President of Business Development for FOXSports.com.   

Filed Under: NESN

NESN Airs Carl Crawford Presser

December 10, 2010 By

At 10 a.m. Saturday, NESN will break its infomercial programming to air the press conference introducing outfielder Carl Crawford to the media and Red Sox fans. Crawford was signed earlier this week as a free agent.

NESN will air the program live with Tom Caron hosting.

Filed Under: Ken Fang, NESN

Doing Your Friday Megalinkage Early For A Change

December 10, 2010 By

At least early for me. Hoping to get these done to free myself for the evening. Lots of stuff to get to.

Your Weekend Viewing Picks give you sports and entertainment viewing suggestions.

Let’s do your links now.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with NFL Films president Steve Sabol about the new HBO Sports documentary, Lombardi which premieres Saturday night.

Mike Snider of USA Today got an inside look at the Madden NFL video game development meetings.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says if you’re looking for some drama during ESPN’s Heisman Trophy Presentation regarding Auburn QB Cam Newton, then you’ll be looking in the wrong place.

Joshua Weinstein of Variety looks back at sports television’s biggest rights deal in 2010, the CBS/Turner agreement with the NCAA for the men’s basketball tournament.

Michael Malone at Broadcasting & Cable mentions some changes in the Univision news and sports divisions.

John Eggerton at B&C writes that a March hearing date has been set for the carriage dispute between Tennis Channel and Comcast.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that four US cable and satellite providers will carry CBC’s first 3-D presentation of Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine writes that the Foxwoods sponsorship deal with MSG Network could have far reaching effects throughout sports.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be profiled on Sunday’s edition of 60 Minutes.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid gets behind the mystery of why Chris Berman had a mustache earlier this year.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL’s doctors are nervous about the league having an official helmet.

Darren talks with the chair and CEO of sports powerhouse IMG. 

Sports Media Watch notes that ABC’s college football ratings and viewership were down from last season.

SMW says on the other hand, ESPN says it had its highest viewership for college football in more than a decade.

SMW says the ACC Championship Game’s ratings were up on ESPN, but still very low overall.

And SMW tells us that the Big 12 Championship Game’s ratings suffered a drop from last year.

Amanda Rykoff writing for espnW has some observations from her first Baseball Winter Meetings.

Amanda also notes that the Winter Meetings aren’t an Old Boys Club anymore.

Awful Announcing notes that the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett is keeping an eye on the wardrobe of TNT’s Craig Sager.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox’s offseason moves are good for NESN’s ratings in the summer.

Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald notes how coach Bill Belichick has his weekly segment down pat on Patriots All-Accessw.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has his take on the ESPN production of Jets-Patriots on Monday Night Football.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times recaps Auburn QB Cam Newton’s interview on ESPN which aired Thursday.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick reminds us that we watch the game for the event, not the announcers. Thank you for that, Phil.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Bills fans in New York’s Capital Region won’t be able to watch their team on Sunday.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun asks readers which announcers seem to have a bias against the Charm City.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Capitals analyst Craig Laughlin was not swearing on live TV the other night and explains why.

Dan says the Caps are just barely beating the Wizards in the local TV ratings.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with the producer of the joint NFL Films/HBO Sports documentary, “Lombardi”.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald feels it could make for interesting TV when Bill Simmons joins ESPN’s team to call tonight’s Heat-Golden State game.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes that the Miami Heat have launched their own store on Facebook.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some various sports media stories in today’s column.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News has a quick preview of Jerry Jones’ appearance on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Fox won’t be using Pat Summerall to call January’s Cotton Bowl and will use it as a dry run for the following month’s Super Bowl XLV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with ESPN’s Tom Jackson about the Texans as his Super Bowl pick.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman discusses the end of ESPN’s critically acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series.

Mel also has his sports media notebook.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes the Queen City will be getting a live local sports morning show in January.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Gazette talks with the man who will call the Michigan State-Michigan outdoor hockey game on Fox Sports Detroit on Saturday.

Jeff Arnold of AnnArbor.com says Fox Sports Detroit plans to give the outdoor game a big event feel.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some thoughts on Don Meredith’s passing.

Bob has Fox’s announcing assignment for this Sunday’s Green Bay-Detroit game.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has his weekly winners and losers in sports business and media.

The Chicago Tribune live blogged the funeral services for Cubs third baseman and radio announcer Ron Santo.

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar notes that the NHL likes being on Versus despite some huge warts.

Dan says the St. Louis Billikens are preparing for what they believe is their first nationally televised over the air broadcast against Duke.

West

Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out that the Chargers narrowly averted another blackout this weekend.

John Maffei at the North County Times says two sports documentaries tomorrow are definitely “Must See TV”.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says Don Meredith helped to make color analysts, colorful.

Jim notes that the Miami Heat have helped the NBA’s TV ratings.

Mike Perrault of the Desert Sun (CA) writes about a new Golf Channel series that will chronicle the comeback of a former homeless man who was once a prominent golf instructor.

Diane Pucin from the Los Angeles Times notes that Dodgers announcer Charley Steiner will receive an honorary doctorate.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Steiner will also be the mid-term commencement speaker at his alma mater this month.

Tom has a look at the new espnW site.

Tom has more on espnW in his media column.

Tom also has his extensive news and notes in his blog.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail has a look at the local sports radio ratings.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star looks at CBC’s first foray into 3-D TV with Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.

Kimiya Shokoohi of the Vancouver Metro also writes about the CBC’s 3-D production.

And that will conclude the megalinks. They’re actually done before 3 p.m.! That’s bonus for you and me.

Filed Under: ESPN, FOX, Ken Fang, Media News, NESN, Networks, TNT
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