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Another year and more TV ratings records fall as the NHL appears to be gaining some serious steam on US televisions. Wednesday night’s Game 6 averaged over 8 million viewers (peaking at close to 10 million in the final half hour) in the US and over 4 million viewers in Canada. The game was the most watched show among viewers 18-49 on the evening in the US. The series garnered the highest ratings in the US since 1974, ironically, another series involving Philadelphia, and improved over last year’s game 6 by 38%.
Does this mean the NHL is on an upswing? It could… You can see if major American markets with marketable stars are in the final, it portends well for ratings. The buzz is there, the ratings are there… Gary Bettman will have a nice hand to play at the next round of TV negotiations... especially if this upswing continues.
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The Chicago Blackhawks are enjoying their Cup… except maybe the finance geeks in the front office. The Cup win triggered a lot of bonus money that will drive the ‘Hawks over the cap for the just concluded season. Some estimations have the overage as high as $4 million… meaning that next season's cap will be impacted…
Considering the ‘Hawks have 14 players signed from this year’s team… and may already be over the cap number for next year, without counting the penalty from this year… well, there may be some fancy accounting needing to happen in the Windy City…
This Wednesday - We have some great guests including Jeremy Roenick, and the Director of the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau E.J. McGuire… We're taking a look back at the 2009-2010 season, reviewing the Stanley Cup finals and taking a look ahead at the draft.
Wednesday 6/23 - I’ll be in the studio, and Pete will be reporting live from Las Vegas. He’ll be hanging with Snoop Dog and Mark Wahlberg at the NHL Awards Show site… I’ll be hanging in the studio with Charlie Saunier, giving up-to-the-minute draft news, talking about the wheeling and dealing going on in the back room and talking about the just released ’10-’11 schedule…
Thursday July 1st - The Season Finale of SlapShot Radio as we break down the signings on UFA day… it’s an unpredictable show as we discuss the Predators moves of the day, the big signings across the league and their impact. We also take a look forward to Predators Conditioning Camp and the 2010-2011 season.
The show starts at 6pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR… listen online or podcast at www.slapshotradio.com
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating with starting lineups and scratches during Pred home games, also I’ll be supplying information and explanations from the PA box.
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