Bell Globemedia is willing to pay $1.4 Billion for HNIC

[RangerBoy]

Two well-placed sources say Bell Globemedia, which owns CTV and TSN as well as The Globe and Mail and part of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is likely to proffer a bid that the CBC may find impossible to match -- $140-million a year for 10 years, for a total of $1.4-billion

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...y/TPSports/?page=rss&id=GAM.20060811.CTVNHL11

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[OG6ix]

Wow, that would be the big contract the NHL is looking for. If that happens it would be pretty remarkable for Canadian sports teams in general as it would mean that other leagues may look to Canada since this display that TV money is indeed there.

 

[Alberta Yote]

No HNIC on CBC would be the end of one of the longest traditions in sport. That said the NHL needs to look at every possibility to maximize it's revenue streams. I would expect many of the same on-air personalities would follow along so it may not look much different to the average fan.

But what would this do to CBC?

 

[Alpine]

No HNIC on CBC would be the end of one of the longest traditions in sport. That said the NHL needs to look at every possibility to maximize it's revenue streams. I would expect many of the same on-air personalities would follow along so it may not look much different to the average fan.

But what would this do to CBC?

Radio-Canada similcasts Habs games produced by RDS on Saturday nights.
I sort of think that there would some out-cry if all NHL was removed from standard broadcast channels. But TSN and CTV are sister networks. So that would fix that problem. Except for CBC North that is? How much coverage does CTV have in the North?
OH, the howling....A Canadian cultural icon is not avaliable without cable or satellite!

 

[beowulf]

Ineteresting. I like tradition though and would miss Hockey Night in Canada even though the Habs games have not been played in a regular basis in years.

 

[discostu]

I for one will not be shedding too many tears if CBC loses the rights for it. I've found TSN's hockey coverage to be superior to theirs anyways, and I imagine they'll be able to cherry pick the best talent from CBC's broadcast team to incorporate into their broadcast.

It will be pretty interesting to see what happens with this. I think CBC will be given the opportunity to match the offer, as, it's in the NHL's best interest to give it to them. Right now, Bell and CBC are the two main suitors for broadcast rights in the country, which helps keep the price competitive. If the CBC loses the rights right now, they will likely get out of sports broadcasting altogether, taking away the competitive bids in the future. I guess that's why Bell has put together a long-term contract. Who knows what the broadcasting market will look like in Canada in 10 years?

 

[octopi]

Holy feakin' cow, thats a lot. They might lose money on that.

 

[VanIslander]

Is it tied to getting broadcast rights from the NHL? like for the playoffs too, all what HNIC got?

I bet there's a lot of meat in the details.

 

[CBJ goalie]

These days, business trumps loyalties - with that being said, the NHL has to do what it has to do.
There will still be hockey night in Canada, just not on CBC.

I gotta say, though, that if this happens, TSN will have at least 2,3 nites per week with hockey: Saturday along with their Tuesday and sometimes Thursday/Friday nites.
Since TSN runs and owns the NHL Network, why don't they just put all the games on there?

 

[optimus2861]

CBC could never match that figure, not without going hat in hand to the federal government, and the last time the feds mused about giving out money to support the NHL, the blowback damn near toppled the Peace Tower.

The quality of TSN's NHL work has blown the doors off CBC's for years, and TSN's nowhere near as Leaf-biased either (not saying TSN isn't biased, but on a scale of 1 to 10, if TSN were a 5, CBC rates about a 30). Whether that would remain so, given that Bell has a healthy stake in the Maple Leafs, is the only real nagging doubt I have about this scenario.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

I wouldn't care so long as anyone, and I mean anyone but Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire call the games. Well, alright, I guess Peter Loubardias would be worse, but he's busy doing a fantastic job with CHL games.

 

[RangerBoy]

The $1.4 billion includes everything HNIC,TSN,RDS and internet streaming

Right now, the CBC is paying about $65-million a year for broadcasting; TSN's cable deal is worth about $15-million; and CTV-owned RDS's Montreal Canadiens' French-language agreement is for about $12-million.

That adds up to $92-million, meaning a CTV-TSN bid of $140-million would exceed the current amount by almost $50-million a year

$48 million increase per year.$480 million over 10 years

 

[ACC1224]

I wouldn't care so long as anyone, and I mean anyone but Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire call the games. Well, alright, I guess Peter Loubardias would be worse, but he's busy doing a fantastic job with CHL games.

Agree, 100%.

 

[Tricolore#20]

If the reason why CBC insists that Leafs games are shown nationwide every Saturday is business (and I agree that it is), then I would be absolutely thrilled if this business deal takes HNIC away from CBC. I think Bell Globemedia will improve the product and will allow Canadians to truly see what they want to see. Here in Montreal, I went to the Radio Canada studios, and one of the staff people told me that CBC would lose HNIC within a few years. Perhaps this was the deal that he was talking about. While it is certain that we will lose a little tradition by not having HNIC on CBC, why should tradition continually bind us to a subpar quality, when other networks do a much better job, and give the consumer truly what they want. I say bring on Bell Globemedia, and we'll see HNIC improve in quality and service.

 

[X8oD]

for those in the states that can pull CBC in, that would suck [metro Detroit area].

But, eh, what can you do

 

[discostu]

I imagine that this deal, like all national TV deals will be evenly split among the 30 teams?

I've always had a problem with that, as, the Canadian deal has always been very restrictive to Canadian teams (who lose the ability to sell local broadcast rights to Saturday night games) yet, no additional compensation is provided to the Canadian teams to compensate for that loss.

I'd like to see that changed, but, I doubt that Bell Globemedia is going to pay that kind of money without having exclusive coverage rights.

 

[RTWAP*]

This is good news.

 

[Tricolore#20]

for those in the states that can pull CBC in, that would suck [metro Detroit area].

But, eh, what can you do

I honestly think that by the time this deal comes to life, the NHL will be streaming content on the internet, so that everybody can purchase access to every game, provided they have an internet connection.

I think questions of accessibility (for example, whether broadcasts are on basic cable or part of a cable package) are no longer important in Canada/USA like they were in the past, since everybody seems to be getting wired up to what they want. With the arrival of satellite networks, I could see networks like TSN becoming part of the basic cable.

 

[Stephen]

If the reason why CBC insists that Leafs games are shown nationwide every Saturday is business (and I agree that it is), then I would be absolutely thrilled if this business deal takes HNIC away from CBC.

It's kind of ironic that the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs will also own the rights to HNIC though..

 

[Kevin Forbes]

Since TSN runs and owns the NHL Network, why don't they just put all the games on there?

If they put all the games on the NHL Network, I for one would be upset.
I want to see as much hockey as possible with my basic cable package.

 

[Hossa]

I imagine that this deal, like all national TV deals will be evenly split among the 30 teams?

I've always had a problem with that, as, the Canadian deal has always been very restrictive to Canadian teams (who lose the ability to sell local broadcast rights to Saturday night games) yet, no additional compensation is provided to the Canadian teams to compensate for that loss.

I'd like to see that changed, but, I doubt that Bell Globemedia is going to pay that kind of money without having exclusive coverage rights.

As a side point to that, with respect to whatever games aren't covered on the "national" HNIC game that in theory would appear on CTV, could the other games not appear on TSN, RDS or TSN2 (if it gets approval) at the same time?

Obviously Toronto is the "national" game based on viewership, and CTV/TSN won't change that, even if their broadcasting team is less biased overall. Obviously if CBC, as a national broadcaster, puts overall revenue above even coverage for all teams, a private company will do so as well. But instead of having no local deal for a team like Ottawa, who basically don't appear on Saturday night, could TSN/CTV not put the Ottawa game on TSN and furthermore the Montreal game on RDS, while playing the Toronto game on CTV to the "national" audience? It maximizes viewership and therefore revenue, it would be included in the rights anyways, and from a PR perspective would be great, which is at least somewhat important if the tradition of HNIC on CBC is going to die.

The western games could have a similar structure, a rotating national game, or Vancouver taking on the 'Toronto' role for the late game, with TSN and/or TSN2 taking the Edmonton/Calgary games if there are three total. The only preliminary issue that I can see with such a plan, is that it could require as many as six broadcasting teams if all six teams are playing different opponents. I guess local broadcasting teams could be used in that instance.

I don't know enough about the business of sports broadcasting, the rights package or the plan of Bell Globemedia to know if this plan is realistic or likely, but it's enough for me to throw my support behind them. The quality of the HNIC product can only improve in any number of ways, and as long as CTV is covering the "national" game, the only legitimate downside is that it breaks "tradition". Too bad, so sad.

 

[rekrul]

How many viewers does the NHL lose if they go cable instead of "free TV" CBC? hey I never thought Monday night football would be on cable, looks like everything sportswise is going that route.

 

[jkrdevil]

I have a question. If HNIC doesn' show all the Canadain teams game each week and they are blackouted if they don't appear on HNIC why don't they schedule the non-HNIC games for the daytime? That allows people in the teams local market to view the game and still gives HNIC that exclusive.

 

[eSabre]

for those in the states that can pull CBC in, that would suck [metro Detroit area].

But, eh, what can you do

Greater Buffalo area as well.

I watch HNIC every week, and CBC is available on Buffalo cable systems.

I live about 40 minutes south of the city, and I can pick it up with an antenna at home.

I'd be extremely upset if CBC doesn't get the deal.

 

[hockeytown9321]

Holy feakin' cow, thats a lot. They might lose money on that.

No doubt they would. Fox, CBS, ESPN, NBC and ABC all lose(or lost) tons on their NFL deals, but it its a prestige thing so they put up with the losses.