It might not roll off the tongue in quite the same way as, say, “Canada’s sports leader,” but Rogers Media is now claiming its sports specialty service Sportsnet as “Canada’s #1 sports brand on TV in 2015.”
Citing Numeris ratings, Rogers said Sportsnet had the largest share (4.1) and average minute audience (174,000) of any sports TV brand in the country in the six-month period between Jan. 1 and June 30. On a year-to-date basis, the channel’s average minute audience (AMA) of 174,000 is up 19% over the corresponding year-earlier period.
In June alone, Sportsnet delivered a 4.4 audience share and an AMA of 168,000, a 4% increase over the previous year. Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL Properties at Rogers, said the channel is “well-positioned” to continue its forward momentum.
Vice-president of programming Greg Sansone attributed the channel’s success to its “offering as a whole,” but said the turning point was Rogers’ 2013 acquisition of NHL broadcast rights.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that it stems from our deal with the NHL,” Sansone told Marketing this week. “That has been something that has taken us to another level.”
In the first year of its 12-year, $5.2 billion rights deal with the NHL, Rogers showed more than 540 NHL games on channels including Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, City and FX last season (games were also shown on CBC Television).
Rogers, which also owns Marketing, said Sportsnet had achieved ratings success on several fronts, including its daily sports highlights show Sportsnet Central, as well as Toronto Blue Jays telecasts and its coverage of the 2015 NHL Draft.
The prime time edition of Sportsnet Central, for instance, is attracting an AMA of 144,000 year-to-date, a 35% increase over the corresponding year-earlier period. According to Sansone, Sportsnet Central has also seen double-digit ratings increases in both the key adult 25-54 (+10%) and male 18-34 (+16%) demos over the past year.
Rogers said Sportsnet Central is now the most-watched sports news show on TV, with Sansone saying hockey and the Blue Jays have proven strong lead-ins for the 10 p.m. show.
“It’s about driving the live event audiences right into Sportsnet Central,” he said. “As an extension of that you’re building brand loyalty, so people are coming back on their own even when we don’t have the big live event.”
The service’s ratings are also being bolstered by the resurgent Blue Jays, who remain within striking distance of the American League East-leading New York Yankees at the midway mark of the Major League Baseball season. Blue Jays telecasts have averaged 622,000 viewers this season, an 8% increase over 2014 (577,000).
Excluding their home opener, the Jays’ top three audiences occurred during a recent three-game home stand against the Baltimore Orioles, when 2+ audiences reached 1.01 million, 845,000 and 828,000.
The ratings take on added significance when considering that Jays telecasts in June frequently went head-to-head with the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was a ratings hit for TSN.
An average audience of 1 million also tuned into the network’s coverage of the 2015 NHL Draft, which Rogers says represents a 47% increase over the 2014 draft on TSN (which attracted an average audience of 694,000). It was the second most-watched NHL draft since 2005, ranking just behind the 2011 draft – which attracted an AMA of 1.09 million.
For all of its recent success however, Sportsnet still has some way to go before it can legitimately claim superiority over TSN in the competitive televised sports arena. The latter still maintains several marquee properties, including the IIHF World Junior Championship, the Canadian Football League, the PGA Tour and exclusive NHL regional rights for the Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators.
And on a head-to-head basis, using the most recent CRTC numbers, TSN still beats Sportsnet in several key metrics including subscribers (just over 9 million, compared with 8.3 million for Sportsnet); total revenue ($452.2 million vs. $311.9 million), national advertising revenue ($118.6 million versus $72.03 million) and pre-tax profit ($103.5 million versus $43.7 million).
Sansone, though, is confident Sportsnet is trending in the right direction. “It’s about getting to No. 1, and that’s where we’re at right now,” he said. “When you’re number one, the advertisers want to be with you – you’re the first choice. When you look at the year-over-year growth in numbers, it happened very quickly, and you’re going to see all of the other things follow.”
Fiona Swanek, vice-president of activation at ZenithOptimedia Canada, told Marketing Sportsnet’s ratings are up 18% over the past two years, while TSN’s have fallen 12% in the same period. “The acquisition of The Score (subsequently rechristened Sportsnet 360) and NHL hockey has really closed the AMA gap between Sportsnet and TSN,” she said.
“It’s clear that by having the full national network in [Sportsnet 360] Rogers has been able to go out and acquire rights for key programs to help bolster ratings, with obviously the NHL being the biggest draw,” she said. “But even the acquisition of less high-profile sports, like cycling and volleyball, have been critical to building its growth.”
She said Sportsnet’s ability to offer a cross-platform experience across TV, radio, digital and print has also contributed to its success. Advertising clients, she said, like the fact they can access “multiple touch points” with a single partner.
