NHL about to reach Canadian broadcasting deal, only TWO broadcasters

[Apples]

[CanuckofSteel]

The one thing I hate is that City TV will get games. I hate watching that channel, the advertisements are really annoying.

I guess now TSN will get more NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS, NASCAR, UFC, Tennis, PGA, and BPL. So we are getting ESPN in Canada now.

[Boudrias]

Is it corruption, or just incompetence? CBC Radio is a different story, but if other broadcasters can exist without taxpayer dollars, why can't the CBC?

I never worried much about taxpayer dollars when it came to HNIC because as far as I could tell, HNIC was saving me money by being a profitable show for them. However, now that Rogers is footing the bill and reaping the rewards for the hockey broadcasts, including those on CBC, does that mean the rest of CBC will need more taxpayer dollars to take up the slack?

Is there any reason why the government can't sell off CBC TV?

Like all who make their living from the taxpayer trough those at CBC TV are no different. Some of their stuff is pornographic in content yet they have no problem preaching about how bad Ford is. The level of BS is mind numbing. There is no reason that the CBC cannot be sold off if anyone wanted to buy it. I suspect the taxpayer would be lucky to get 10 cents on the dollar. They have a Billion $ office tower in TO, limos and a gold plated retirement plan so who really knows the cost. I really had to laugh when I read that HNIC's production is actually contracted out! 90% of their 'popular' shows are actually bought from USA producers. Exactly what do these clowns actually do?

[Tre Mac]

Get ready to pay more on your cable bill to watch these games. Rogers overpaid and will have to recoup the losses somehow.

[nobbiep]

Buttman has screwed Canada once again...hope this deal means he will help a Canadian team win a cup like he has tried so hard getting his loser expansion teams one...

[kloubek]

If this kills the needs for Centre Ice to watch Canucks games, I'm happy!

This is what I'm thinking. I'm in Calgary, and if this means I now have broadcasts to my TV, I'm a happy camper; regardless of whether or not SN manages to put on the same level of production as TSN was doing. My only question is what would occur then when there is a Calgary game, plus a Vancouver game at the same time. Do I need to subscribe to Sportsnet Pacific? (Which I'm willing to do)

[ronthecivil]

I find it shocking how many of you are cheering the monopoly. It might turn out better, but it might not. The point is, Rogers has full control.

Rest assured, the Leaf games will still be on prime time out east (aka four) regardless of where they are playing. Except now it will be twice a week.

And with three coast to coast nights, probably have Habs on the other night.

[spliced]

Wow what a piece of news, this is pretty mindblowing. It's like the final deathblow to tradition.

I feel pretty conflicted about it from what I know. It sounds like it'll be more hockey on which is great, but only having one company control it all seems like bad news. Having Saturday be a crazy hockey blitz is something I thought should have happened years ago. The US has College football on Saturday but most Canadians don't care about that. Saturday has been hockey day for a long time and it sounds like it'll continue. No longer being stuck watching some Columbus vs Calgary 5-1 boring blowout with Hrudey doing the colour will be nice. I will miss the shared experience though of knowing hockey fans all over Canada are all watching the same game. I guess it'll still happen with big games though.

So many details to find out about and think about. Will all these homers stay with SN even when they're doing national games? Get ready more John Garrett rest of Canada lol.

Hopefully this ends PJ Stock's broadcasting career.

TSN's broadcast quality has been pretty good, Rogers better be looking to match that.

I wonder how much all this is gonna cost on the old cable bill.

[PONCHE]

So here's my hope for next season.

Primetime Pannel(EST)

Duthie and Friedman: Co-host

Mackenzie and Cherry: Coach's Corner

Dregger, Wardo join James and Elliot to form the new pannel

Late Night Broadcasts (Western Confrence games)

Oake and Mackenzie: Co-host

Hrudey(good god get him away from colour work) and Weeks: BRING BACK BEHIND THE MASK

Healey, Stock, and most importantly Ron MacLean: All find their asses on the pavement.

[silverpig]

I was initially a little upset, but hopefully it'll be a positive thing.

I'm glad CBC is keeping HNIC.

I'm also glad CityTV is going to be broadcasting games - more OTA HD games for free

I'm sad that TSN is losing games as I loved watching McKenzie. He's the best hockey analyst there is. At least they still have the world juniors, and hopefully Rogers can pick him up for some work with them.

All this is moot for me though as I'll be off in the UK for a while.

[70seven]

interesting...

im a subscriber of center ice, which blacks out regional and national games. will all the national games be blacked out on center ice moving forward, forcing people to subscribe to larger cable packages i wonder?

[sting]

Get ready to pay more on your cable bill to watch these games. Rogers overpaid and will have to recoup the losses somehow.

This is what worry's me.

The best from TSN will upgrade both Sportsnet and CBC and having choices of what games to watch is great but you can bet the consumer will ultimately foot the bill for this so called improvement.

As far as Bettman goes. Like him or not he makes owners money.

[ronthecivil]

I was initially a little upset, but hopefully it'll be a positive thing.

I'm glad CBC is keeping HNIC.

I'm also glad CityTV is going to be broadcasting games - more OTA HD games for free

I'm sad that TSN is losing games as I loved watching McKenzie. He's the best hockey analyst there is. At least they still have the world juniors, and hopefully Rogers can pick him up for some work with them.

All this is moot for me though as I'll be off in the UK for a while.

They aren't. Rogers has full editorial control. The only thing CBC is going to keep is a right to broadcast the games in that time slot and that's only for four years. As noted, Don Cherry doesn't know if he has a job next year, nor does anyone at the CBC.

Rogers might not even want to call it Hockey night in Canada. Perhaps they want to rebrand it Rogers Hockey Tonight! and use a mix of their existing staff and equipment to do the broadcast.

Unless your on the production team for Rogers, there's no way to know. This could very well be the last year for HNIC as you know it, and make no mistake, even if it's still largely the same, big changes are nearly certain moving forward, starting next year.

After four years, CBC and HNIC are officially extinct. Who knows what the deals of the contract are? Rogers has the right to broadcast, but do they have the requirement? PPV Rogers Hockey Tonight anyone? The devil is in the details.

I know this, a monopoly is almost always bad, especially for consumers.

[ronthecivil]

interesting...

im a subscriber of center ice, which blacks out regional and national games. will all the national games be blacked out on center ice moving forward, forcing people to subscribe to larger cable packages i wonder?

Will you even be able to get centre ice in Canada since Rogers now has the rights to broadcast ALL GAMES in Canada? Or will you simply now pay Rogers for it? Or does Rogers kill it and say you can watch those games on the Roger's premium channel and if the game you want isn't on that too bad?

The devils in the details, but for the amount of money they are paying, you can bet the final decision is what Rogers decides they want it to be.

[ronthecivil]

That's only when there's competition. Who will Sportsnet compete with for hockey coverage once they own the broadcasting market?

They can keep paying Kypreos and whoever to run their mouths, and there won't be a damn thing you do about it if you want to watch live NHL hockey.

Exactly. And since they have the monopoly, if you want to be on the big network, you have to follow their terms. Why should they pay for high priced people when they don't need to?

They MIGHT do so in the interest of ad revenue but the decision is Rogers and Rogers alone.

[Ronalds.Kenins41]

So here's my hope for next season.

Primetime Pannel(EST)

Duthie and Friedman: Co-host

Mackenzie and Cherry: Coach's Corner

Dregger, Wardo join James and Elliot to form the new pannel

Late Night Broadcasts (Western Confrence games)

Oake and Mackenzie: Co-host

Hrudey(good god get him away from colour work) and Weeks: BRING BACK BEHIND THE MASK

Healey, Stock, and most importantly Ron MacLean: All find their asses on the pavement.

Penguin plus Clown on coach's corner. That would be such a terrible fit. McKenzie talking all professional would constantly get interrupted by Cherry.

[aliboy]

I really hope the TSN guys can get work at CBC and SN.

Imagine HNIC with the TSN guys in the mix. So much better

I expect we will see a number of the TSN team working for Sportsnet, they are going to have to hire a bunch of people.

Coming soon, "This is Bob Mackenzie for Sportsnet."

[PONCHE]

Penguin plus Clown on coach's corner. That would be such a terrible fit. McKenzie talking all professional would constantly get interrupted by Cherry.

EXACTLY why i want them together

[BigUncle16]

As noted, Don Cherry doesn't know if he has a job next year, nor does anyone at the CBC.

EXCELLENT. Now I can sleep easy at night knowing my tax dollars won't contribute to paycheques of clowns like Don Cherry.

[ronthecivil]

EXCELLENT. Now I can sleep easy at night knowing my tax dollars won't contribute to paycheques of clowns like Don Cherry.

Instead you can pay extra money to Rogers in order to be able to watch the Canucks on a Saturday night. You might end up looking back with nostalgia when the CBC is privatised and HNIC costs ten bucks to watch......