Versus president says hockey fans finding channel

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Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 21, 2009 at 10:05:34:

Posted by Ed Sherman
at 5/21/2009 5:16 AM CDT on Chicago Business

Versus has taken some hard checks during the playoffs. Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz might have delivered the most punishing blow when he said, "A lot of people don't even realize that Versus exists."

Ouch.

Jamie Davis, the president of Versus, has been listening to critics who say Versus is difficult to find for hockey fans and the NHL would be better served in having its national cable package with ESPN.

Mr. Davis obviously begs to differ.

"I'll certainly react to an owner or anyone else who might have a misunderstanding about our distribution," Mr. Davis said. "Because we're relatively new, people might be going with outdated information rather than the actual facts. Fans are finding us. The ratings speak for themselves."

Mr. Davis points to the Pittsburgh-Washington series on Versus. It was the highest-rated conference semifinals since 1997.

"Keep in mind hockey was on ESPN through 2004," Mr. Davis said, insisting that his network is capable of delivering the goods for a high-profile series.

Versus' regular season and post-season coverage of the NHL also have seen double-digit increases, Mr. Davis said.

However, in Wednesday's entry, I wrote that ratings for game 2 of the Hawks-Detroit series Tuesday were off 31 percent from game 1 on NBC Sunday. It isn't a complete apples-to-apples comparison and other factors were involved. However, while you would expect some decrease, a 31-percent drop does seem to validate some of Mr. Wirtz's concerns about people being able to find the channel.

In fairness to Versus, it is only one game, and the network will get another shot Friday when the series returns to Chicago. It also will air games 5-7 if the series gets that far.

So the jury still is out in Chicago.

As far as access is concerned, Mr. Davis said Versus is available to 85 % of the cable customers in the Chicago area. The lone major exception is WOW cable, which operates in the Western suburbs.

Mr. Davis said Versus has a contract with WOW to run the channel, but the operator has opted not to carry it.

So if you're a WOW subscriber and don't get Versus, Mr. Davis said, "Call the company and tell them you want the Hawks."

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: Versus president says hockey fans finding channel : Posted by Ed Sherman : at 5/21/2009 5:16 AM CDT on Chicago Business : Versus has taken some hard checks during the playoffs. Hawks owner Rocky Wirtz might have delivered the most punishing blow when he said, "A lot of people don't even realize that Versus exists." : Ouch. : Jamie Davis, the president of Versus, has been listening to critics who say Versus is difficult to find for hockey fans and the NHL would be better served in having its national cable package with ESPN. : Mr. Davis obviously begs to differ. : "I'll certainly react to an owner or anyone else who might have a misunderstanding about our distribution," Mr. Davis said. "Because we're relatively new, people might be going with outdated information rather than the actual facts. Fans are finding us. The ratings speak for themselves." : Mr. Davis points to the Pittsburgh-Washington series on Versus. It was the highest-rated conference semifinals since 1997. : "Keep in mind hockey was on ESPN through 2004," Mr. Davis said, insisting that his network is capable of delivering the goods for a high-profile series. : Versus' regular season and post-season coverage of the NHL also have seen double-digit increases, Mr. Davis said. : However, in Wednesday's entry, I wrote that ratings for game 2 of the Hawks-Detroit series Tuesday were off 31 percent from game 1 on NBC Sunday. It isn't a complete apples-to-apples comparison and other factors were involved. However, while you would expect some decrease, a 31-percent drop does seem to validate some of Mr. Wirtz's concerns about people being able to find the channel. : In fairness to Versus, it is only one game, and the network will get another shot Friday when the series returns to Chicago. It also will air games 5-7 if the series gets that far. : So the jury still is out in Chicago. : As far as access is concerned, Mr. Davis said Versus is available to 85 % of the cable customers in the Chicago area. The lone major exception is WOW cable, which operates in the Western suburbs. : Mr. Davis said Versus has a contract with WOW to run the channel, but the operator has opted not to carry it. : So if you're a WOW subscriber and don't get Versus, Mr. Davis said, "Call the company and tell them you want the Hawks."

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