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2011 NHL All-Star Game brings in big numbers for Versus, CBC

Image (1) allstargamelogo-thumb-350x191-16697-thumb-250x136-16698.jpg for post 15105

James O’Brien

The 2011 NHL All Star Game’s format change received rave reviews and the city of Raleigh also drew its fair share of positive feedback, but to many, it’s all about the ratings. Luckily for the NHL, the weekend’s events produced great numbers in both the United States (on Versus) and Canada (on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada).

Note: the two most recent All-Star games took place this year and in 2009 because the 2010 version was eschewed to make room for the Olympics. Also note that most of these numbers are viewership averages rather than specific highs or lows.

Versus reports that Sunday’s game produced the highest rating for an all-star game in the network’s history of covering NHL games. Versus reports a 36 percent viewership increase (1,481,000 viewers in 2011 compared to 1,087,000 in 2009) and a 33 percent jump in household ratings. The network also saw significant increases among “key male demographics.”

The SuperSkills Competition was also a big success for VS, bringing in 1,183,000 viewers, the most-watched skills competition since ESPN covered the 2003 edition (1,127,000 viewers). The event drew 35 percent more viewers than ’09 and a 43 percent increase in household ratings. The unprecedented Fantasy Draft also did well for the network, bringing in 624,000 viewers.

The event was also a big hit in Canada on CBC. The All-Star Game itself jumped an outstanding 56 percent from ’09 (from 1,527,000 to 2,389,000). The skills competition actually did even better, though, as it attracted an average of 2,446,000 viewers while reportedly peaking at three million during two points in the telecast.

What might be the most surprising number is the Fantasy Draft rating for CBC, though: an average of 1.5 million people reportedly watched Cam Ward go first and Phil Kessel go last.