Where's my hockey? Phoenix Coyotes make progress in televising more games.

Phoenix Coyotes TV ratings continue to grow. In fact this year's home opener even tied a record for their first telecast of the season:

Last night’s #Coyotes = tied for best rating @FOXSPORTSAZ has ever had for its first telecast of the season. 1.3 (2010 - same rtg vs DET)

— Brett Hansen (@bretthansen5) October 4, 2013

However some of this growth will go unmeasured this year, with many games being broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona Plus. Since FSAZ+ is not a full time channel, Nielsen doesn't count viewership it in its ratings. This can be frustrating for advertisers and fans as they struggle to locate or even tune in the game on basic cable.

In October the Coyotes will have no conflicts with any other local professional sport teams, including the Cardinals' Thursday night game on the 17th. College football creates possible conflicts on Saturday night games, but it's not until the NBA season gets fired up in November that we start to see any major conflicts. Luckily these early season conflicts are solved by the agreement the team signed with KTVK 3TV and their affiliate CW6. As stated in the press release, these channels will be carrying 10 games (nine on 3TV and the one last night on CW6); this is huge for folks who may only have standard (non digital) Cox cable. The only games that Cox cable and some satellite subscribers will have issues with is the game in Detroit broadcast on the NHL Network, and the game in St. Louis broadcast on NBC Sports Network. Note: I have just been informed that the game tomorrow (10/10) will be on FSAZ locally, instead of NHL Network.

Early in January, folks with Cox cable will run out of luck. While the Suns ratings are slipping, they still likely hold the trump card in the negotiations with Fox Sports AZ, and will get priority over the Coyotes. There are a few games where they play in non-competing time slots; On March 10th The Coyotes play In Tampa at 4:30 and the Suns play at 7, while on March 17th the inverse is true with the Suns playing at 4:30 while the Coyotes play in LA at 7:30. On those two nights Fox Sports AZ will likely have both teams featured on the main channel.

Then we come to April, where everything is probably going to end up on the plus channel. On April 2nd and 12th we have the Coyotes, Suns and Diamondbacks all starting their games within an hour of each other. The game on the 2nd thankfully is on NBC Sports, but the game on the 12th is going to have to be on FSAZ‽ or perhaps FSAZ∞.

@stevelepore yes on both accounts. We continue to negotiate and are hopeful we will have a long-term agreement in place soon.

— Brett Hansen (@bretthansen5) October 8, 2013

All will be clearer as soon as the agreement is signed, but until then all we can do is speculate. Oh yeah, in case no one got my title, this video should help.