NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

The ratings for the first 4 weeks of NBC Heads-Up have been released by Nielsen Media Research for publication by Medialifemagazine.com and zap2it.com.

2007 average (for 4 episodes in April): 1.05% rating, 3 share, 1.172 million households, 1.418 million viewers (ages 2 and over)

Compare those numbers to:

2006 average (6 episodes): 1.35% rating, 4 share, 1.464 million households, 1.742 million viewers (ages 2 and over)

2005 average (6 episodes): 1.40% rating, 4 share, 1.517 million households, 1.787 million viewers (ages 2 and over)

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2007 vs 2006: down 20% in average households, down 19% in average viewers (ages 2 and over)

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Also, considering that online poker "school" advertising on TV poker in the U.S. has all but dried up with FullTiltPoker.net being the only one left which is buying advertising, and one can sense that NBC might be hesitant to pick up the contract option with HSOR to hold the 4th edition of NBC Heads-Up in 2008.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

How do these ratings compare to the hockey games that follow the HUPC broadcasts?

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

I was so disappointed with NBC HU, very very disappointed. I think they showed more of the Costa Rican idiot and Mr Tilly then real juicy poker play, very poor indeed.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

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How do these ratings compare to the hockey games that follow the HUPC broadcasts?

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The ratings are similar.

NHL on NBC sells plenty of targeted advertising, as the Stanley Cup final in June airs during prime time with minimal opposition from the other broadcast networks (which air re-runs).

Heads-up poker, on the other hand, is not able to sell the amount of targeted advertising it did 2 years ago. Gone are PartyPoker, PokerStars, UB/AbsolutePoker, ParadisePoker, Bodog, etc. The only one left is FullTiltPoker.net.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

I thought Laak antics were the most embarrassing that I've seen. Brenes tops it in spades. It's partly Phil's fault though. Humberto saw how people tolerate/enjoy Phil's act and now he thinks he can do better.

In fact, I remember Humberto grimacing in a earlier WPT final table when Phil went into his routine. How times have changed.

[ QUOTE ]
I was so disappointed with NBC HU, very very disappointed. I think they showed more of the Costa Rican idiot and Mr Tilly then real juicy poker play, very poor indeed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

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I thought Laak antics were the most embarrassing that I've seen. Brenes tops it in spades. It's partly Phil's fault though. Humberto saw how people tolerate/enjoy Phil's act and now he thinks he can do better.

[/ QUOTE ]

pretty sure its pokerstars fault for throwing money at him for acting like a giant douche.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

How do these ratings compare to the hockey games that follow the HUPC broadcasts?

[/ QUOTE ]

The ratings are similar.

NHL on NBC sells plenty of targeted advertising, as the Stanley Cup final in June airs during prime time with minimal opposition from the other broadcast networks (which air re-runs).

Heads-up poker, on the other hand, is not able to sell the amount of targeted advertising it did 2 years ago. Gone are PartyPoker, PokerStars, UB/AbsolutePoker, ParadisePoker, Bodog, etc. The only one left is FullTiltPoker.net.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't understand what this means. What is "targetted advertising" for a hockey game? It's not like I see a lot of ads for hockey equipment. The advertising for the hockey playoffs seems pretty typical for a sporting event, as do the ads for the HUPC, with more online poker ads sprinkled in. But it seems like the demographics for the two (from the perspective of a beer company, for instance) would be quite similar.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

How do these ratings compare to the hockey games that follow the HUPC broadcasts?

[/ QUOTE ]

The ratings are similar.

NHL on NBC sells plenty of targeted advertising, as the Stanley Cup final in June airs during prime time with minimal opposition from the other broadcast networks (which air re-runs).

Heads-up poker, on the other hand, is not able to sell the amount of targeted advertising it did 2 years ago. Gone are PartyPoker, PokerStars, UB/AbsolutePoker, ParadisePoker, Bodog, etc. The only one left is FullTiltPoker.net.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't understand what this means. What is "targetted advertising" for a hockey game? It's not like I see a lot of ads for hockey equipment. The advertising for the hockey playoffs seems pretty typical for a sporting event, as do the ads for the HUPC, with more online poker ads sprinkled in. But it seems like the demographics for the two (from the perspective of a beer company, for instance) would be quite similar.

[/ QUOTE ]

The demographics are different.

The NHL targets high-income urban male professionals between the ages of 25 and 54. Automobiles/Trucks and Financial Services (stock brokerages, insurance companies) are two categories which advertise during NHL telecasts.

Other than Outback Steakhouse, NBC Heads-Up has survived mostly from poker-related advertising, which target young males, particularly in the ages 18 to 34 demographic. The amount of poker-related ads have dropped off dramatically since the passage of the UIGEA and the subsequent NETELLER fiasco.

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Recall that NBC Sports was gung-ho about the Arena Football League during the first year of the AFL's 3-year run on NBC.

By the 3rd year, the ratings dropped off. Even though NBC Sports paid ZERO rights fees for the AFL, NBC Sports dropped the AFL anyway because the lower ratings meant lower ad revenue, which meant little or no profit (NBC Sports is required to use union production labor on many projects.)

The AFL is now on ESPN2 with 2 games each year on ABC. ESPN, Inc. only has to use union production labor for the 2 games on ABC. The games on ESPN2 are produced with non-union (read: cheap) production labor.

Heads-Up Poker might have to find a new TV home, i.e. a cable TV channel, and possibly on a time-buy basis, instead of being able to stay on NBC in 2008, if history were any indication.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

[ QUOTE ]
The ratings for the first 4 weeks of NBC Heads-Up have been released by Nielsen Media Research for publication by Medialifemagazine.com and zap2it.com.

2007 average (for 4 episodes in April): 1.05% rating, 3 share, 1.172 million households, 1.418 million viewers (ages 2 and over)

Compare those numbers to:

2006 average (6 episodes): 1.35% rating, 4 share, 1.464 million households, 1.742 million viewers (ages 2 and over)

2005 average (6 episodes): 1.40% rating, 4 share, 1.517 million households, 1.787 million viewers (ages 2 and over)

--

2007 vs 2006: down 20% in average households, down 19% in average viewers (ages 2 and over)

--

Also, considering that online poker "school" advertising on TV poker in the U.S. has all but dried up with FullTiltPoker.net being the only one left which is buying advertising, and one can sense that NBC might be hesitant to pick up the contract option with HSOR to hold the 4th edition of NBC Heads-Up in 2008.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please stick to quoting ratings from other news sources.

Your information in the rest of the post, particularly what comes at the end, is factually inaccurate.

Given your former status as a member of the press and someone with an interest in representing poker players, it would serve you wise not to post on topcis about which you have no knowledge.

Re: NBC Heads-Up ratings data (as of April 29)
 

We recently did a full capital raising business plan for a new tour to take on WPT etc, raised a big chunk of seed capital but when we went to the media we could only do a time-buy mainly because of the wide variety of poor/average tv poker nowadays. Note we were planning very high free rolls for pros and a performance free roll for others and had sponsors lined up etc.

NBC HU was so badly done that the response I had yesterday from a potential partner station for poker WAS DO NOT BOTHER us again