I will be the first to admit that in recent years, my “go-to” method of watching NFL games on Sunday is via the NFL Network’s RedZone coverage. Even when my favorite team is playing on one of my channels, I still spend a great deal of time returning to that channel. In case you are unfamiliar with this channel, it has been operated by NFL Network since 2009. As a “special” game-day exclusive, it broadcasts on Sundays during the NFL regular season from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific) or when the last afternoon game ends. RedZone provides “whip around” simulcast coverage of all Sunday afternoon games airing in progress.
I was intrigued when ESPN announced that they would do a similar type of coverage on Oct. 24. On that day, all 32 teams will be playing games, and unlike other busy days on the calendar, the opening puck drops have been staggered so that no two games begin at the same time. Their “whip-around” Frozen Frenzy show, hosted by John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes, aired on ESPN2 starting at 8:00 p.m. EST (7 p.m. if you subscribed to ESPN+) and finished when the last game was completed, sometime around 1:30 a.m. EST.
Making sure I took a nap in the afternoon and stocked up on snacks, I wanted to see how this new concept would work for hockey fans. However, before the first puck dropped in the evening, I did have one complaint: Frozen Frenzy is not available for viewing in Canada, as access to content on ESPN+ is not available in that country, and this type of program would violate their regional rights restrictions for games in the local markets of Canadian NHL teams. If this concept takes off for hockey, there may want to be some reworking of those restrictions (from ‘No Frozen Frenzy in Canada: Why Sportsnet isn’t carrying ESPN’s new NHL production’, The Province, Oct. 24, 2023).
Good Promotion Ahead of Frozen Frenzy
Before Tuesday night, the NHL and ESPN did a good job promoting the show and letting fans know what they could expect from the telecast. During the day, NHL Public Relations released posts on social media touting some of the features they could expect. One such post promoted that live stats would be constantly updated on X (formerly known as Twitter) and a link so viewers could see pre-game notes for each of the 16 contests.
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On NHL.com, the league posted an article with quotes from NHL players on how they felt about Frozen Frenzy. “I think it’s awesome,” Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel said. “The fact that we’re all playing on that day gives the fans the opportunity to see every game and the growth of the game. I just think it’ll be a special night. If I was a fan, I’d love that night.”
Nowadays, no NHL promotional piece would be complete without mentioning the Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard, who did weigh in on what he thought of the concept of Frozen Frenzy. “It’s great you can flip through all those games, never a dull moment. So it’s great, I think, as a fan, and you get really excited for that.”
“Curious to See How it Goes”
To the credit of NHL.com, it was not all one-sided quotes on anticipating how Frozen Frenzy would work. Sidney Crosby said what many fans were probably thinking ahead of Tuesday night. “It’s a good idea, you don’t see it too often. I think it’ll be cool to see how it works, whether it’s based on the last minute of a game, power plays, things like that. I’m curious to see how it goes.”
As 8:00 p.m. rolled around, ESPN opened the broadcast with a slick, albeit a bit too lengthy, introduction featuring all of the talent associated with their coverage of the NHL. After that, hosts John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes got viewers caught up with the action that was going on before the telecast, as eight of the games were scheduled to start before the show began on ESPN2. Unfortunately, only seven games were played, as the game between the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets was delayed due to a power outage in downtown Columbus.
The first eye-rolling moment of Frozen Frenzy came just eight minutes in when the network went away from the games to cut in a pre-game look at Bedard to promote the Blackhawks game against the Boston Bruins that would be shown in full on ESPN. Yes, the Bedard frenzy was bound to be on the Frozen Frenzy, but it seemed very forced at that point of the broadcast.
The first significant difference between Frozen Frenzy and RedZone happened about 20 minutes in when ESPN went to a commercial break, which does not occur on RedZone. Program host Buccigross did mention that there would be “limited interruptions” as the first couple of commercial breaks lasted just two minutes. While it is very understandable that income from commercials drives all networks, ESPN may want to consider running commercials simultaneously while play is going on, which happens frequently on many golf and other sports broadcasts. This annoyed ESPN+ subscribers, who took to social media to complain about paying for a streaming service and still having to watch the commercials.
What Worked and What Didn’t
Frozen Frenzy did what it set out to do: allow viewers to see action from all the NHL teams. One of the best things the show did was to follow and highlight storylines that were going on, such as when they showed a replay of the Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk possibly dislocating his shoulder, only to see him come back later and engage in a heavyweight tilt with Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres before almost bringing the Senators back from a three-goal deficit.
While Buccigross and Weekes did a decent job, there were times that they talked over each other during the telecast. I am not sure going forward if having two people in the studio will work on this type of broadcast. One of the appeals of RedZone is that the longtime host, Scott Hanson, has the ability to know when to talk less and when to talk more. If this type of show continues, a tweak needs to happen so that the show can seamlessly flow throughout the entire broadcast.
One of the big questions going in was how ESPN would manage the broadcast, given that the flow of a hockey game is much different than that of football. So it was not surprising that the beginning of the show was somewhat clunky, as Buccigross and Weekes attempted to navigate their way through some disjointed periods in the broadcast, especially when many games were going on at the same time. This is also why segments such as Weekes leaving the Frozen Frenzy set to walk over to another set and chat with the rest of the ESPN hockey talent should be left until fewer games are left in the evening.
If this concept is to move forward, knowing when to cut away to a different game and go to another one will need to improve, along with the ability to determine what is going on in each game that is worthy of being featured.
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Overall, this is an idea that has the potential to offer many things to a hockey fan. The ability to look into all of the games being played and the wise use of a dedicated score scrawl at the bottom of the screen solely for NHL games are some examples that made the broadcast worth watching. If the league and its television partners can find a way to make this kind of broadcast run much smoother, they will have a tremendous hit on their hands that will benefit the league and its fans.