Among the changes to this year’s NHL broadcasts, Canadians say the games have a “hipper” feel, especially with millennials, according to the results of a recent study.
That is one of the findings of the Sports Audience Report – NHL Mid-term, created by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group based on a series of December interviews with 1,500 people aged 12 and over.
Asked to identify the biggest changes in this year’s NHL telecasts, respondents cited the availability of more out-of-town games, more games on additional channels, new camera angles and a “hipper” feel to telecasts.
Overall, Rogers received an average mark of 6.1 out of 10, with millennials giving it the best overall score (6.5). Hockey Night in Canada host George Stroumboulopoulos is most popular with millennials, who gave him an average mark of 6.2 out of 10.
Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are the demographic group following Generation X. Researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
The report found 38% of respondents watch between two and four games every two weeks. It also found more millennials follow the NHL via online/mobile and social media (33%) than TV (31%). However, boomers still prefer to consume their NHL content via conventional TV (56%).
Seven percent of respondents gave Rogers a perfect score of 10 when asked to rate how the company is doing as Canada’s new home of NHL hockey, while 38% of respondents gave it a mark between 7-9, with 4% of respondents giving it a “poor” rating.
For more on the study click here.
