N.H.L. May Be in at OLN

[Tra La La]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/sports/hockey/28sandomir.html

ESPN acknowledged its continuing interest Tuesday, when Mark Shapiro, an executive vice president, said that he was looking for common ground with the league, and that a rights fee would be possible "as long as we got value in return." But he also reiterated that even with rules changes, the N.H.L. product was still damaged.

A more fascinating play for the league is whether Commissioner Gary Bettman makes a deal with OLN - which used to be known as a hunting and fishing channel - after its recent success with the Tour de France. If OLN is willing to pay the N.H.L. any substantial cash, it is because its owner, the mammoth Comcast, would like to use hockey as a building block for a larger national sports network that would be anchored by eight late-season Thursday and Saturday N.F.L. games. In time, Comcast would presumably be well-financed competition for ESPN, to which Comcast's cable systems pay the industry's highest subscriber fee to carry.

"They've had that plan on the back burner for a long time," said Pat Bowlen, who owns the Denver Broncos and is chairman of the N.F.L.'s broadcast committee. He added that there was no rush to sell the package to Comcast - or to keep it for the NFL Network - before the league's new collective bargaining agreement was complete.

Comcast will have to decide whether to buy the hockey rights before the N.F.L. is ready to deal, meaning that it may simply be tweaking OLN, because challenging ESPN with low-rated hockey as the anchor sport makes no sense.

http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=29926853&brk=1

The cable television giant (CMCSK) is studying repositioning its Outdoor Life Network to compete with ESPN, the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) unit that is the leader in television sports programming, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. See Wall Street Journal story.

A spokesman for the group said it doesn't comment on "programming rumors and speculation."

Attributing its information to unnamed people familiar with Comcast's plans, The Journal said the company is in negotiations with the linchpins of sports programming - the professional leagues. Comcast is talking with the National Football League, the National Hockey League and is looking at NASCAR auto racing, The Journal said.

Click to read more...

 

[Tra La La]

I just checked for OLN availability here in Buffalo. Its part of a more then $70 dollar a month digital cable package.

 

[octopi]

Finally, digital cable pays off . I hope.

 

[Jackets16]

oln isnt a regular cable channel for you guys. it is here in ohio for me at least

 

[Hasbro]

the irony being the NHL is an indoor sport.

 

[HF_Rangers]

the irony being the NHL is an indoor sport.

Not unless the whole season is chock full of "Heritage Classics".

 

[Phil333]

I think if they get the NHL they will change the name. A channel to rival ESPN? I like it. Except - it's still in 40% less households than Spike. That is a problem.

 

[rabi]

Comcast SportsNet will be the new name of the channel and they will have three nights of NHL per week...

OLN will cease to exist come October...

Comcast SportsNet will be born on the same channel, so anyone who has OLN will have SportsNet....

 

[Crows*]

Does that include Canada?

We get OLN part of our basic cable package.... CHannel 49 in Vancouver.

WIll they also do this for Canada's OLN???

 

[bladoww]

I would be so freaking stoked. I am sick of ESPN.

 

[Stammer Time*]

I would love it.

 

[Epsilon]

I am fully in favour of this idea. Screw the ESPN hegemony and its endless parade of talk shows.

 

[Crazy_Ike]

If I have to see "take me fishing" commercials every commercial break in the hockey game like during the Tour de France I will swear off hockey for good...

 

[Epsilon]

If I have to see "take me fishing" commercials every commercial break in the hockey game like during the Tour de France I will swear off hockey for good...

Oh man, those are the worst commercials ever. I remember last year during the Tour I was going insane because of those things. Thank God the channel is different in the USA.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

As little as it makes sense to put in indoors sport on an outdoor channel...I have the channel so I'm all for it

Get to use it for the first time ever.

 

[NotJT]

The only downside about OLN would be the availability of HD games. So far it is disconcerting not to hear anything about the NHL pushing to get games broadcast as much on HD as possible.

 

[equipe]

The only downside about OLN would be the availability of HD games. So far it is disconcerting not to hear anything about the NHL pushing to get games broadcast as much on HD as possible.

You have a very good point.

Dammit I want all games to be broadcast in HD!

 

[kdb209]

The only downside about OLN would be the availability of HD games. So far it is disconcerting not to hear anything about the NHL pushing to get games broadcast as much on HD as possible.

It would probably delay HD for at least a year. But since Comcast is trying to create a new national sports network competitor to ESPN and will be making a big play for part of the NFL package in '06, I would expect them to be broadcasting in HD by the '06-'07 season on a re-branded OLN or a new Comcast Sports-Net National channel.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Comcast did do some games in HD if only for broadcast on Comcast cable systems and possibly made available to satellite.

 

[1970]

If they get NFL also, OLN will be a sick channel. Tour de France and America's Cup is already theirs. Too bad, in the year they wanna compete with ESPN, there will be no Lance...

 

[Egil]

I assume OLN will stay the same in Canada (though they may lose some of their programming). It is owned by TSN and co, so I don't see them starting up a chanel to compete with themselves...

 

[egger66]

The only downside about OLN would be the availability of HD games. .

Hardly. The downside is that it further cements the NHL's image as a third rate, desperate sport and would make them a laughing stock. Perhaps I should say, even more of a laughing stock.

 

[Brewleaguer]

Hardly. The downside is that it further cements the NHL's image as a third rate, desperate sport and would make them a laughing stock. Perhaps I should say, even more of a laughing stock.

Very good point, the NHL needs to push itself to the masses, not this way.

 

[triggrman]

The NBA was on TNN forever, how is this different?

 

[dwkdnvr]

Hardly. The downside is that it further cements the NHL's image as a third rate, desperate sport and would make them a laughing stock. Perhaps I should say, even more of a laughing stock.

Well, can you suggest ANY TV strategy that give the NHL any immediate credibility? If they go with ESPN, we'll get one or two games a week on ESPN2, and all the guys on PTI and ATH will take pleasure in pointing out how horrible the ratings are and how it's a 2nd tier sport. If they go with another carrier, they're bush-league because they can't get on ESPN. I think credibility will only return by growing a buzz from the core fanbase outwards, and particularly for the ESPN crowd it'll only happen if the rules changes actually stick and make the game better.

IMHO ESPN-era sports has been corrupted by SportsCenter. It promotes sports ADD and if the entire essence of game can't be distilled down to a couple highlight clips and pithy quotes from the Anchor, it'll be marginalized. Hockey can't win that game, because even the 'highlight-reel' plays/goals depend on the flow and context of the game far more than do the other mainstream sports.

I'm not entirely sure of what the best approach is, but some thoughts:
- (for now) stop trying to court the 'New' fan, particularly in markets without local teams. Hockey is too dynamic and chaotic for newbies to pick up without assistance. Unlike football/baseball and even basketball, there is no inherent 'structure' governing possession nor are divisions between 'plays' clear, which means you can't just glance at a screen at a bar and pick up on what's happening.
- growing a fanbase *must* be done in conjunction with getting lots of 'new' fans to games in person. I can't tell you how many folks say things like "I didn't really get it until I saw it in person".
- you can't just televise the games - you have to provide additional programming to help fill in the overall scope of the game. This will not be easy - getting people to watch may be tough, and doing anything 'educational' will probably pi$$-off the elitist cognoscenti, but new fans won't stick around if they can't understand what's going on.
- mainstream broadcast ratings for all sports seem to be sliding. Heck - MNF which has been the crown jewel of sports programming for years is slipping badly. I don't think it's a good assumption that a 'good' broacast TV deal should be the aim/goal of the league. Cable-only may well be the right approach.
- HD should be central to any strategy. In addition to taking advantage of the aspect ratio and extra resolution, you have to push the limits of what's possible with HD - split screen views (particularly sync'd multi-angle replays), P-in-P isolation views, info/stat sidebars during stoppages etc. HD is still new enough that many folks will tune in for the sheer novelty, so take advantage of it by making it a spectacle.

 

[Brewleaguer]

The NBA was on TNN forever, how is this different?

Do you know if the NHL deal with NBC is a dead issue?