Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NBC Sports Network Hurting

10/01/2012 at 2:36pm EDT

from John Ourand of SportBusiness Journal at The Sporting News,

In the six weeks after the Olympics (Aug. 13 to Sept. 23), NBC Sports Network’s prime-time audience dropped 38 percent from the same six weeks of 2011. During that same six-week post-Olympic period, NBC Sports Network averaged 93,000 prime-time viewers. Its total day audience dropped 26 percent, to 48,000 viewers.

Shows promoted during the Olympics—and launched just afterward—have not found audiences. The MLB show “Caught Looking” has averaged 22,000 viewers for its first five original telecasts. The network’s morning highlights show “The Lights” has averaged 10,000 viewers for its telecasts.

For comparison’s sake, Versus’ most-watched shows in August 2011 came from genres that NBC has de-emphasized: mixed martial arts and Professional Bull Riders events, which regularly averaged more than 200,000 viewers.

Even network stars like Bob Costas have drawn tepid interest post-London. An original “Costas Tonight” drew only 40,000 viewers on Aug. 29. That’s down 63 percent from the viewer figure of the three previous episodes (which averaged 109,000)....

The prospect of losing NHL games due to the lockout further complicates the channel’s fall schedule.

“Live events are what draws viewers to sports networks,” Adgate said. “If the NHL doesn’t play, NBC Sports Network won’t have a lot of compelling live events.”

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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