Frozen Four Coverage Skates Back To ESPN This Weekend

Courtesy: ESPN

The NCAA Men’s Division I College Basketball Championship is all over the airwaves during this time of year.  But it’s not the only college championship tournament going on.  Beginning this Friday, March 29^th, the ESPN family of networks will air the annual NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Regional and Semi-Regional rounds live from four regional sites.  The networks—ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU—will also broadcast the Frozen Four and championship matches from Pittsburgh, PA.  The matches will also be carried on local syndication.  Those games carried on local syndication and on ESPN 3 will re-broadcast on ESPNU.

The brackets for the 2013 tournament were announced this past Sunday, March 24^th on ESPNU.  Quinnipiac, Minnesota, UMass Lowell, and Notre Dame were each selected as number one seeds in their respective region.  ESPNU will air more than eight consecutive hours of non-stop college hockey during Regional matchups this weekend.  Friday and Sunday will each see a double header.  Viewers will get a triple header on Saturday.  Hockey analyst Dave Starman and Michigan State head coach Tom Anastos will be in studio to discuss and analyze the games. 

Coverage of this year’s NCAA Division I College Hockey Championship continues into April with coverage of the Frozen Four.  The Frozen Four matchups will air on ESPN2.  The championship will be aired on ESPN.  All coverage on television will also be available online and on mobile technology via WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.  ESPN has been airing the NCAA Division I College Hockey Championship since 1980.  This year marks the ninth consecutive year that the ESPN family of networks will present all twelve games of the tournament.  The networks reached a deal last year that would keep the tournament on the ESPN family of networks through 2024.  A complete listing of this year’s tournament matchups is below.

2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Schedule:

Date	Time	Game	Network
Fri, March 29	2 p.m.	West Regional Semifinal Game 1: Yale vs. Minnesota (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Joe Davis & Sean Ritchlin	ESPNU
	4:30 p.m.	Northeast Regional Semifinal Game 1: Wisconsin vs. UMass Lowell (Manchester, N.H.) Clay Matvick & Jim Paradise	ESPN3/Syndicated*
	5:30 p.m.	West Regional Semifinal Game 2: Niagara vs. North Dakota (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Joe Davis & Sean Ritchlin	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Northeast Regional Semifinal Game 2: Denver vs. New Hampshire (Manchester, N.H.) Clay Matvick and Jim Paradise	ESPNU
	10:30 p.m.	Northeast Regional Semifinal Game 1**	ESPNU
Sat, March 30	1:30 p.m.	Midwest Regional Semifinal Game 1: St. Cloud State vs. Notre Dame (Toledo, Ohio) Ben Holden & Darren Eliot	ESPN3/Syndicated*
	4 p.m.	West Regional Final (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Joe Davis & Sean Ritchlin	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Midwest Regional Semifinal Game 2: Minnesota State Mankato vs. Miami (Ohio) (Toledo, Ohio) Ben Holden & Darren Eliot	ESPN3/Syndicated*
	5:30 p.m.	East Regional Semifinal Game 1: Canisius vs. Quinnipiac (Providence, R.I.) John Buccigross & Barry Melrose	ESPN3/Syndicated*
	6:30 p.m.	Northeast Regional Final (Manchester, N.H.) Clay Matvick & Jim Paradise	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	East Regional Semifinal Game 2: Union vs. Boston College (Providence, R.I.) John Buccigross & Barry Melrose	ESPNU
	11:30 p.m.	East Regional Semifinal Game 1**	ESPNU
Sun, March 31	Noon	Midwest Regional Semifinal Game 1**	ESPNU
	2 p.m.	Midwest Regional Semifinal Game 2**	ESPNU
	4 p.m.	Midwest Regional Final (Toledo, Ohio) Ben Holden & Darren Eliot	ESPNU
	6:30 p.m.	East Regional Final (Providence, R.I.) John Buccigross & Barry Melrose	ESPNU
Thu, April 11	4:30 p.m.	Frozen Four: Semifinal 1 (Pittsburgh, Pa.) John Buccigross, Barry Melrose & Clay Matvick	ESPN2
	8 p.m.	Frozen Four: Semifinal 2 (Pittsburgh, Pa.) John Buccigross, Barry Melrose & Clay Matvick	ESPN2
Sat, April 13	7 p.m.	NCAA’s Men’s Division I Hockey Championship (Pittsburgh, Pa.) John Buccigross, Barry Melrose & Clay Matvick	ESPN

 

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news in the Phil’s Picks blog at http://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Breaks New Ground With 2012-2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Coverage

Courtesy: ESPN

Good news for ESPN.  The networks’ coverage of the 2012-2013 college basketball regular season was its most viewed ever.  ESPN averaged nearly 1.4 million viewers over the course of 135 games.  To be precise, it averaged 1,370,000 viewers.  That passes the network’s previous record of 1,353,000 viewers over 130 telecasts during the 2011-2012 Season.  It pulled in a 1.1 coverage rating for both seasons.  Along with this new honor, ESPN also pulled in the season’s three largest audiences for a college basketball game on the network over the course of only a month.  The first of those games was then #3 Indiana taking down #1 Michigan on February 2^nd.  The game was the best for the network.  It brought in an average of 4,035,000 viewers, a 2.9 rating and 2,867,000 households.  The second of the network’s best games was the February 19^th game in which then #1 Indiana defeated #4 Michigan State.  This game brought ESPN its second largest audience of the season, with an average of 3,733,000 viewers, a 2.7 coverage rating and 2,677,000 households.  The third of the network’s highest rated games was the March 2^nd matchup between then #3 Duke defeating #5 Miami 79-76.  The game averaged 3,416,000 viewers, a 2.5 coverage rating and 2,459,000 households. 

In all, ESPN and its network of stations averaged a total of 508,000 viewers for its full slate of 602 games throughout its 2012-2013 season.  It marked the most extensive coverage of men’s basketball on television this season and more than any other networks combined pointing out yet again why ESPN is the sports leader.

One extra interesting note:  Louisville was the highest-rated metered market for the network’s 2012-2013 regular season coverage.  It pulled in an average 4.5 rating.  Greensboro came in second for the second straight year with a 3.1 rating.  A full listing of the top rated cities is available below.

Top 25 Markets for 2012-13	Top 25 Markets for 2011-12
No. 1    Louisville: 4.5 rating	No. 1    Louisville: 4.5 rating
No. 2    Greensboro: 3.1 rating	No. 2    Greensboro: 3.5 rating
No. 3   Raleigh-Durham: 3.0 rating	No. 3   Kansas City: 2.8 rating
No. 4    Indianapolis: 2.9 rating	No. 4    Columbus: 2.7 rating
No. 5   Kansas City: 2.7 rating	Raleigh-Durham 2.7 rating
No. 6   Cincinnati: 2.1 rating	No. 6   Charlotte: 2.3 rating
Columbus: 2.1 rating	No. 7    Cincinnati: 2.1 rating
No. 8   Dayton: 2.0 rating	No. 8   Dayton: 2.0 rating
No. 9    Charlotte: 1.8 rating	No. 9    Indianapolis: 1.8 rating
No. 10  Knoxville: 1.7 rating	Knoxville: 1.8 rating
Nashville: 1.7 rating	No. 11   Memphis: 1.6 rating
No. 12  Detroit: 1.6 rating	Nashville: 1.6 rating
No. 13  Birmingham: 1.5 rating	No. 13  Greenville: 1.5 rating
No. 14  Memphis: 1.3 rating	No. 14  Cleveland: 1.4 rating
Hartford & New Haven: 1.3 rating	Birmingham: 1.4 rating
Greenville: 1.3 rating	Las Vegas: 1.4 rating
Cleveland: 1.3 rating	No. 17  Norfolk: 1.2 rating
Norfolk: 1.3 rating	Hartford and New Haven: 1.2 rating
St. Louis: 1.3 rating	St. Louis: 1.2 rating
No. 20   Richmond: 1.2 rating	No. 20   Fort Myers: 1.1 rating
Las Vegas: 1.2 rating	Atlanta: 1.1 rating
No. 22  Fort Myers: 1.1 rating	Richmond: 1.1 rating
Milwaukee: 1.1 rating	No. 23  Pittsburgh: 1.0 rating
No. 24  Baltimore: 1.0 rating	Detroit: 1.0 rating
Tulsa: 1.0 rating	Oklahoma City: 1.0 rating
Atlanta: 1.0 rating	Jacksonville: 1.0 rating
Oklahoma City: 1.0 rating	Tulsa: 1.0 rating

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at http://philspicks.wordpress.com.