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Thursday, December 14, 2000
NHL wants Lemieux on the air
Associated Press
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The NHL and its TV partners are counting on NHL Rules! and
Mario Lemieux to draw more viewers.
Both just might work.
Lemieux, a Hall of Famer who owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, is
returning to the ice after nearly three years away. When he'll
actually lace up the skates for an NHL game is as uncertain as how
good he'll be.
Nonetheless, the league has been talking to ESPN and ABC -- who
are in the second season of a five-season, $600 million deal --
about getting Lemieux on the air when possible.
"We want to capitalize on the story. At the same time we want
to do it within the constraints of our league rules in terms of our
television packages," NHL chief operating officer Jon Litner said.
"We want to work with ESPN and ABC to maximize Mario's return
to the league. That has come up in our conversations with both ESPN
and ABC and the Penguins."
Lemieux could make his debut as soon as Dec. 27, against
Toronto, though it might not happen until January.
It's a pretty safe bet that ESPN will televise his first game
back.
"We talk to the league regularly, so we have as much an idea as
they do about his return, so we can prepare for it and broadcast it
and make something special out of it," ESPN senior VP of
programming Mark Quenzel said. "It will change our thinking on
Penguins games."
Ratings have been relatively steady this season on ESPN (from
1999's 0.54 to a 0.53 to date) and down a third on ESPN2 (from 0.27
to 0.2). Each rating point represents 800,000 television households
for ESPN, 735,000 for ESPN2.
ABC's hockey telecasts start with the All-Star game in February.
The network is slated to show regular-season games on five
successive Saturdays.
ESPN and ESPN2 started NHL Rules! programming last season in
a bid to draw more fans to the sport. The shows, six of which are
on the schedule this season, use replays, telestrators and ESPN.com
interaction to teach about rules and strategy.
Graphics pop up over the scoreboard in the corner of the screen
to provide definitions of terms used by the announcers.
"It's a partial answer to a significant problem -- understanding
of the game," Quenzel said. "You are trying to strike a balance
and you always worry about alienating the very educated hockey fan
when you do this kind of thing."
There were 24 definitions during the latest broadcast, Tuesday
night on ESPN2, a 2-2 tie between Philadelphia and Nashville. Most
were needed, succinct, and would help a non-fan or casual fan, such
as "INTERFERENCE -- impeding the progress of an opponent who does
have the puck, penalty" or "PINCHING -- when a defenseman moves
from the blue line deeper into the offensive zone in an attempt to
keep the puck in that zone."
An explanation of icing during Tuesday's game dragged on too
long, and viewers were stuck watching a replay while the game's
first goal was being scored.
That left an announcer to say: "Well, while that icing was
important, this goal was pretty important, too."
Still, NHL Rules! is a good idea -- ESPN tried it once with
tennis this year and is contemplating other sports -- and might just
be paying dividends.
Ratings have risen considerably in some markets where there
aren't NHL teams, including New Orleans, Kansas City and San
Antonio.
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