It would be pretty sad if they can't get decent numbers. That England/Italy game should get 3+ million viewers.
NY Red Bulls get shown on the MSG channel unless its nationally televised on ESPN. Don't know what type of deal they have between each other though. -edit- "Days after the 2011 MLS campaign kicked off, the New York Red Bulls and MSG Networks have come to terms on a new three-year TV deal. The agreement extends MSG’s relationship with the soccer club, which had been exploring other options. The previous deal saw the Red Bulls contributing $250,000 in production costs per season, while MSG invested $750,000. Per terms of that three-year pact, MSG retained all ad sales and sponsorship dollars. Terms of the new agreement were not disclosed. When the 2008-10 contract expired, the Red Bulls were said to be considering a more lucrative deal whereby they would produce their televised games and then sell them to a local outlet (My9-WWOR) for as much as $50,000 a piece. Ultimately, the club elected to stay with MSG, which has been the TV home of the Red Bulls since 1996." http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/msg-re-ups-red-bulls-126120
I would love to get the same amount of people to watch this Seattle/Portland match as have seen the Movie they borrowed this score from. Can anyone guess that Movie?
That's pretty awful. Two of the biggest media markets in the country and they draw flies. As usual, it was an afternoon game and did very poorly on TV. Hopefully NBCSN gets the hint next year and puts MLS in prime time.
I'll echo what Johnathan Tannenberg said on Twitter...promoting history without historical clips seems kind of stupid.
What I find interesting about this is that they have a different voice over (with different footage) for those of us in Cascadia (perhaps the entire West Coast?) than they did in the one you presented. I first suspected they were doing something specific for the Pacific Time Zone when they listed the game at 2pm. I am so accustomed to all times being Eastern Time Zone I immediately wondered why the game would start at 11. After I checked I realized they did something specific. Now, after watching the advert you provided, I realize the narration is different as well (and I think some of the video - I'll have to double check with the next Euro2012 game). For example, when watching the ad on ESPN the narration out here goes something like "from splitting defenses to splitting logs" when they show Timber Joey and his chainsaw. I'll see if I can find it on YouTube, but don't hold your breath. Either way, ESPN is plugging it hot and heavy (at least out here).
wonder if MLS will opt to delay kick-off time for the Timbers-Sounders match when/if the England-Italy game runs long due to extra periods and/or PKs? Either way, it's good scheduling by MLS to piggy back the Timbers-Sounders match (at 5pm ET on ESPN) and then the NY-DC match (at 7pm ET on NBCSN) after the weekend of Euro2012 quarterfinal matches (at 2:45 pm ET).
There have typically been room between the end of the Euro games and the end of the time slot. I also think there is a small pre-game window within the MLS time slot. That could prevent a lot of crossover time. Either way, the Euro lead-in on ESPN for SEAvPOR and then a later time slot for NYCvDC on NBCSN should produce higher-than-average ratings.
Agreed, the England-Italy game should be over by 4:35pm or so (if it ends with a winner in regulation). Two 15-minute extra time periods would push that end time to after 5pm, and then if a PK shoot-out is needed, that could potentially cut into the planned "kick-off" time for the Portland-Seattle match. I'd imagine MLS would have no problem delaying their kick-off (if needed) to a bit later in the hour. In a way, I'd imagine MLS (and ESPN) might want the Euro 2012 QF match to remain tied and hold that viewing audience into the 5pm ET hour -- as opposed to the audience being given 30 minutes or so to go somewhere else after the the conclusion of the England-Italy game if it ends in regulation. it certainly could benefit the audience for the Portland-Seattle match (as it is on ESPN immediately after the EURO QF), but I don't think the 7pm ET MLS match (NY-DC) match will get much of a tv audience "bump" given that it is on a different national network.
To add a little more color, the estimated TV homes in each of these markets http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/public factsheets/tv/2010-2011 DMA Ranks.pdf Miami - 1.54M Providence - 0.62M Jacksonville - 0.68M Richmond - 0.55M Atlanta - 2.39M Greensboro - 0.69M
They should have gone with their gut and have gotten their games on WWOR. Channel 9 has a history in this area of putting on local sports. The Rangers (before local hockey went MSG exclusive), The Mets (before SNY), Jets and Giants pre-season. Granted ever since WWOR went the "MYTV" route it seems to have become less relevant to the local area than it was at one time, however you have to assume that being on broadcast tv rather than cable would have exposed Red Bulls games to a greater number of potential viewers than anything they could get on NBCSN, They are betting on NBCSN to build up the brand and treat it right. So far NBCSN seem to be treating the property right, let's hope the audience build up happens. Re: WWOR----remember the Channel 9 News? At one time it was the best in local tv journalism. This was back when both WPIX 11 and WNEW 5 were both local indy channels--before FOX and CW.
Potential viewers. Maybe not actual viewers. The age-old question is whether it's better to hope for x number of "general interest" viewers on an OTA network with wide distribution where you know 95% of the audience simply isn't going to watch, or whether it's better to be on an actual sports network that sports fans know and trust and regularly go to. I don't know that anyone knows the actual answer, but Chicago has some games on OTA TV (digital, but still) and has had games on Channel 50 and Comcast Sports Net over the years. I wonder what the actual difference in audience has been. I have no idea. The actual soccer audience is probably going to find you either way. And if you're chasing that elusive and of-uncertain-actual-value casual fan, at some point you wonder whether that's cost-effective and if it really gets you any new fans at all. I don't know that anyone has cracked the code on that.
yea I remember the channel before the CW merge. Nowadays channel 9 has become kind of irrelevant (imo, Idk if thats the reality) and CW has become geared completely to the teen to young adult demographics except for some baseball games. Also cable has become almost the norm in households so I don't think it would make much of a difference in audience numbers. Its mentioned that Red Bulls were looking at other offers but stayed on w/ MSG, likely because it was the best offer at the time.
ESPNDeportes is averaging somewhere around 50k+ in Spanish households (it ranges between 50K to 75K households). ESPNDeportes national reach is limited (only 11 million homes)...
We will see the highest rated MLS regular season game of the season and possibly the highest rated regular season game ever on ESPN this Sunday...800k is in-play....
i wouldn't get your hopes up. It'll probably end up around 450K with a good chunk of those viewers just people who left their tv on.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Nielsen does not count tv's that are just left on. Every 42 minutes the box will request input from the viewer to make sure they are actually watching the tv.
I think it's possible. Euro quarterfinal lead-in, highly promoted and on the main channel. Those are all part of a recipe for success.
Should be doing as much of this as possible. Should try to follow the late EPL games, should try to follow the LaLiga matches, even if they are on different channels. Make it a habit for soccer fan to turn the channel after watching the Euro games. It's like the drive-in. Go for the early movie, stay for the bonus late show.
I wish to god Direct would give English packages ESPND. Don't tell me you're the home of soccer fan without having an essential destination available.