Hockey Night in Canada on CTV?

[wolverine]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2006/08/11/hockey-globe.html

The parent company for CTV and TSN is hoping a $1.4-billion bid will give them exclusive television rights to National Hockey League games in Canada, according to a story in the Globe and Mail.

Bell Globemedia is reportedly considering paying the league $140 million a year for 10 years for the deal in an attempt to outbid the CBC, which has been broadcasting Hockey Night in Canada since 1952.

The CTV-TSN proposal would cover Canadian English-language broadcasts, French-language rights, cable rights and ownership of internet streaming, sources told the newspaper.

The current television deal expires at the end of the 2007-08 NHL season.

Bell Globemedia, which also owns the Globe and Mail, would also gain the right to broadcast hockey games on Saturday — a coveted prize due to the success of Hockey Night in Canada, a staple of sports programming on the CBC.

CBC spokesman Jay Walsh said the network's focus is with the season at hand.

"We have two years left on our agreement and we're focused on the current season," said Walsh.

"We recognize how important hockey and Hockey Night in Canada is to the CBC, and we're really proud of our relationship with the NHL, a relationship which stretches back over 50 years."

 

[curmudgeon]

I'm surprised that the bid is actually that small ($140 million a year for 10 years). I'd have thought exclusive canadian broadcast rights for the NHL would be worth more than that.

 

[cancowboy2001]

I'm surprised that the bid is actually that small ($140 million a year for 10 years). I'd have thought exclusive canadian broadcast rights for the NHL would be worth more than that.

The Score mentioned that the NHL was only getting $60 or $65 million from all three of the current broadcasters. So this would be a huge increase for them especially since the US broadcasts rights have been essentially worthless.

 

[westwoody]

CBC news said the deal was double what the NHL is getting now. It may be hard for the others to top it.

 

[deke]

This can only be a good thing. I would rather have another company paying for hockey rights, rather than taxpayers $$ paying for hockey & Don Cherry's salary.

 

[JustAGuy]

they need to get back on espn in the us. ctv/tsn can pay double for the rights, but then will have to charge double the rates to the advertisers to pull in decent revenues. thing is canada already has high viewership numbers. advertisers will want ot see more viewers if they have to pay higher rates. Well if the numbers are already at their peak then they're not going to buy as much ad time at a higher price. the us market is at an all time low. that is where the nhl needs to focus.

The NHL would love nothing more than to be back on ESPN but ESPN couldn't dump their NHL broadcast rights quickly enough. The ratings were dismal and in what appeared to be perpetual decline. There are certain areas of the United States that are hockey hotbeds (Minnesota and Massachusetts, for instance) but for the most part, Americans have little or no interest in the sport. Most have never played it and don't comprehend the basics of the game, never mind the nuances.

The ratings on OLN weren't very impressive this past season and when a few regular season games plus some play-off games were broadcast on NBC, the ratings were horrible. When the Stanley Cup finals began between two small market teams, one of which was Canadian, I'm sure the executives at NBC were down on their knees praying for a four game sweep by either team so as to not prolong the agony.

If the NHL really can double their TV revenue when they sell the Canadian broadcast rights next year, they need to take the money and run before someone in charge at CTV-TSN comes to their senses and does the math.