The following was written by colleague Scott Huntington
The schedule for the 2018-2019 NHL season is now out, providing NHL fans with plenty to dissect as they anticipate the upcoming season.
Among the notable aspects, the Chicago Blackhawks are getting a ton of games, even after a lackluster previous season. Additionally, it’s evident the Los Angeles Kings are feeling the consequences of playing at the Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Lakers have priority. As the Lakers have nine Wednesday night games at home next season, the Kings will only place once on Wednesday for the entire season.
NBC also announced that they are moving away from “Wednesday Night Rivalry” and instead emphasize a wider variety of teams, including small-market and Canadian teams. It seems to be in response to many fans complaining that networks significantly favor large-market teams with popular ratings.
The Blackhawks Rise Again
If last year’s performance dictated the schedule, it would be unlikely the Blackhawks would have many televised games at all. NHL fans know very well, though, that the Blackhawks are a TV darling. There’s a reason why some NHL fans refer to NBC as “National Blackhawks Channel.”
The Blackhawks are averaging 20 games on the network’s schedule since 2014. Their appearances were a cut a bit last year, down to 17. Despite a lackluster season that saw the Blackhawks miss the playoffs, the team is back up to 19 games for the 2018-2019 season. Their schedule includes the Winter Classic at Notre Dame. As a result, the Blackhawks have one more game on NBC this upcoming season than the Washington Capitals, who won the Stanley Cup last season for the first time ever.
It’s fair to criticize NBC for oversaturating a single team that wasn’t even good last year, though it’s hard to argue against the fact that the Blackhawks attract strong ratings for the network. Ideally, the network would diversify their content, though with profits as a guiding force it’s understandable that the Blackhawks continue to appear frequently on NBC.
A Staples Center Conundrum
The Staples Center is a great place to play and watch a sporting event. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Kings take a backseat to the Los Angeles Lakers in scheduling. LeBron James’ arrival to the Lakers is likely to further the Lakers’ command of the arena.
The Kings are a playoff-caliber roster, especially after adding Ilya Kovalchuk in the offseason. Still, the scheduling difficulties with Staples Center results in only one Wednesday game the entire season for the Kings. This one is more to blame on the Staples Center’s logistics than NBC, though it’s worth wondering if the Kings will start looking for their stadium if the scheduling situation is hurting their ratings so much.
A Different Wednesday Night Rivalry
Many sports fans like to complain about major networks and their biases toward bigger markets. Ratings do tend to dictate content, after all. Nonetheless, NBC is appealing to these complaints by hosting more smaller-market, West Coast and Canadian teams than prior Wednesday Night Rivalry programming. The network is certainly not neglecting to show the Blackhawks and other big draws, though the Wednesday Night brand specifically will follow a less ratings-contingent approach.
The name itself, Wednesday Night Rivalry, was often a source of joking and criticism from fans. Often, the teams playing had no historical or present rivalry that’s evident. The alteration in Wednesday night NHL programming seems like a good choice in paying attention to fans, especially in accepting that the previous programming format valued ratings ahead of diverse programming and viewership.
NHL fans will no doubt pore through the new schedule with excitement, perhaps unless they’re a fan of the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and others with extremely minimal games on NBC throughout the season.
