FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 7th, 2013

NBCSN’S NHL COVERAGE FEATURES BLACKHAWKS-BLUES ON “WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY”

Wednesday Night Rivalry Drops Puck at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Coverage Begins with Lightning-Sabres Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN

NHL Live Airs at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday; 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday

NHL Rivals and NHL Top 10 Debut Tuesday Starting at 10:30 p.m. ET

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 8, 2013 – NBC Sports Group continues its NHL regular season coverage this week with two matchups, highlighted by the Chicago Blackhawks at the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday Night Rivalry on NBCSN at 8 p.m. ET, plus the debut of NBCSN’s two new NHL programs – NHL Rivals and NHL Top 10 – on Tuesday night.

The Blackhawks (1-0-1) enter play following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night; the Blues (2-0-0) are coming off a 7-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday. The Blackhawks took four of five meetings from the Blues last season.

Emmy Award-winning play-by-play commentator Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, analyst Eddie Olczyk and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Pierre McGuire will have the call from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.

NBCSN’s game coverage begins Tuesday night with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Lightning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Dave Strader (play-by-play) and Brian Engblom (analyst) will call the action from the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets – will stream all 2013-14 NHL regular season games televised on NBC and NBCSN, including this week’s Sabres-Lightning and Blues-Blackhawks matchups.

NHL Live, NBC Sports Group live NHL pre-game and post-game studio show, begins one hour before all games on NBCSN. Liam McHugh will host NHL Live with former players and analysts Mike Milbury, Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick from the International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

NBCSN DEBUTS NHL RIVALS AND NHL TOP 10 TUESDAY STARTING AT 10:30 P.M. ET

NBCSN debuts two new programs – NHL Rivals and NHL Top 10 – on Tuesday, Oct. 9, expanding NBC Sports Group’s NHL coverage with programming focused on hockey’s historic rivalries and some of the game’s most-debated topics.

NHL Rivals, which will debut each week on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, dovetails off of NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry, which Forbes dubbed “the hottest new brand in sports.” The debut episode of NHL Rivals on Oct. 9 will feature the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, who have been division rivals since 1970.

Following are excerpts from this week’s episode of NHL Rivals.

Former Blues forward and current Blues executive vice president Brett Hull: “The electricity that would go through the arena – it was scary. If someone crossed the line, someone was going to pay…it was bedlam.”

Former Chicago Blackhawk and current NBC analyst Jeremy Roenick on 1989 playoff series: “I got tangled up with (Blues defenseman) Glen Featherstone behind the net. I started jawing with him, and he cross-checked me right in the mouth and knocked all of my teeth out. Then I scored the game-winning goal in the third (period) – it was pretty cool.”

NHL Top 10, which will debut on Tuesdays at 11 p.m. ET, will dive deep into some of the most timeless debates hockey fans have discussed for decades. This week’s installment of the countdown program highlights the top 10 scorers in NHL history.

Following is this week’s NBCSN NHL programming:

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Tues., October 9 NHL Live NBCSN 6:30 p.m.
  Tampa Bay at Buffalo NBCSN 7:30 p.m.
  NHL Rivals – Chicago/St. Louis NBCSN 10:30 p.m.
  NHL Top 10 NBCSN 11 p.m.
Wed., October 10 NHL Rivals- Chicago/St. Louis (Encore) NBCSN 6:30 p.m.
NHL Live NBCSN 7 p.m.
Chicago at St. Louis NBCSN 8 p.m.

NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA

NBC Sports Live Extra, All NBCSN games will be live streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

Games airing on:

  • NBC will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra;
  • NBCSN will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra, and to the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via “TV Everywhere,” which is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs.

In addition to its coverage of the opening week of the NHL’s 2013-14 regular season, NBC Sports Group will present comprehensive pre-game and post-game coverage, the NHL Winter Classic, the NHL Stadium Series, and new shoulder programming.

NBCSN SCORES RECORD OPENING NIGHT NHL RATINGS

NBCSN’s coverage of Capitals-Blackhawks on opening night of the 2013-14 NHL season was watched by an average of 935,000 viewers, making it the most-watched season opener on cable on record (data available since 1993), and the second-most watched regular-season game ever on NBCSN.

Viewership for the game (8:30-11:07 p.m. ET), in which the Blackhawks scored three times in the third period to defeat the Capitals 6-4 at home following a banner raising ceremony to commemorate their Stanley Cup championship, was up seven percent compared to the 2011-12 season opener (Phi-Bos, 874,000), the last time the season began in October. Chicago delivered a 7.32 rating, the highest ever for a regular-season game in that market on NBCSN, which was also the most-watched cable channel in Chicago during the game.

NBCSN’s Sabres-Red Wings Wednesday Night Rivalry matchup averaged 583,000 viewers, up 22% from the regular season exclusive average from October-December 2011. The game drew a 6.45 rating in Detroit, the highest ever for a regular season Red Wings game on NBCSN in the Detroit market.

2013-14 REGULAR SEASON COVERAGE ON NBC & NBCSN

NBC Sports Group will deliver coverage of 103 NHL regular-season games during the 2013-14 season, featuring 13 games on NBC and 90 games on NBCSN. All games will be streamed live via NBC Sports Live Extra. Click here for more information on NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive NHL coverage this season.

NBC SPORTS REGIONAL NETWORKS 

NBC Sports Regional Networks, which serve top NHL markets such as Boston (Bruins), Philadelphia (Flyers), Washington D.C. (Capitals), Chicago (Blackhawks) and the Bay Area (Sharks), will air more than 300 live NHL games and surround the 2013-14 NHL season with in-depth news, analysis and original programming on the teams that matter most.

NBC SPORTS GROUP’S DIGITAL AND SOCIAL NHL COVERAGE

NBC Sports Group will continue to provide hockey fans with up-to-the-minute news, video, and information on the NHL and hockey from around the world via its digital and social properties, including NBCSports.com, Twitter and Facebook. Click here for more information on NBC Sports Group’s Digital and Social NHL coverage.

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–