Ed Snider: "We will have another cable network other than ESPN."

[Dr Love]

Well, I don't think it hurts NHL's chances to deal with Comcast too much...

Not directly. Snider is the Chairman of the Flyers and Sixers and Comcast Spectacor, but he is not a part of Comcast's management.

 

[bcrt2000]

the best thing for the NHL is if it got 5-6 stations to carry NHL nationally: TNT, Spike TV, NBC, ABC, ESPN, USA... they need to get all of them in on it and get in some canadians to help them with TV coverage, thats the best way for the nhl to go... they still need ESPN but they shouldnt exclusively rely on them

they should also get a deal where if an american team is playing on CBC/TSN they should broadcast those games on american channels... i mean for basketball, we (Canada) do that for the raptors so why shouldn't they (USA) do that for hockey?

 

[Crazy_Ike]

You can't 'make' Americans care enough about hockey nationally to matter. The best the NHL can do is pump themselves as hard regionally as they can and make the best product they can.

 

[Grandpabuzz]

I think ESPN in the beginning did a good job f promoting the NHL, funny commercials and more promos. But once they didn't get the return on viewership they were looking for they just gave up in my opinion. And with the NBA, NFL and MLB all having ESPN contracts, they will not put the effort into the NHL that it needs. If i was the NHL i'd try to get USA, TNT or some other well known network that has cable reach and get some popularity up and then sign a game of the week deal with ESPN, just to stay on there because unfortunately they do need some favorable coverage from ESPN.


EDIT: HF Rangers i was in the middle of typing it and you beat me to it.

I like this plan a lot. Ideally I would want the NHL to have most of its games put on TNT with one game on ESPN a week. Kind of like Sunday Night Football.

 

[Motown Beatdown]

Comming from a Wing fan that's not a suprising comment since your teams is on 95 times a year. Good riddance to em that way I don't have to put up with Darren Pang's manlove for Pavel Datsyuk. SpikeTV is the best option IMO. They would show all the teams more often not just the same 6 over and over.

My opinion has nothing to due with me being a Wings fan. Plus most of the ESPN games are blacked out anyways. So your point is moot.

If your looking to get a TV deal you dont go ripping on one of the people your negotiating with or even gonna use as a negotiating ploy against another station. It's common business sense.

 

[ScottyBowman]

I think TNT is out of the question. They are on nearly every night doing NBA playoffs. This would mean no chance of hockey playoffs being shown.

 

[HckyFght*]

One of these days some smart MBA at the networks is going to realize that Big League Sports needs TV a lot more than the networks need Big Leaguer Sports. Fox lost something like $320 mil on the mighty NFL last year. ABC is dumping Monday Night Football. Truth is, TV could pay anything they want for the NFL, or the NBA or MLB, and those sports would be at their door begging, just like the NHL.
-HckyFght!

 

[Phil333]

I think TNT is out of the question. They are on nearly every night doing NBA playoffs. This would mean no chance of hockey playoffs being shown.

I never thought of that. Very good point.

 

[CarlRacki]

They didn't cave to the PA, why should they cave to ESPN?

Because unlike the PA, ESPN has leverage.

Anyone who believes the NHL is better off without ESPN is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Simply by broadcasting the NHL ESPN is giving the game far more promotion than something like Spike ever could. It gives the league a presence in the same sports world inhabited by the NFL, MLB, NBA and major college athletics. It promotes its coverage with commercials and Sportscenter highlights. It gives the league credibility and legitimacy. Spike gives the NHL a presence alongside Slamball and professional wrestling. Spike's "sports" are a joke. Call me crazy, but I'd rather pro hockey be seen alongside the NFL and MLB than the WWE and MXC.

Blaming ESPN for showing fewer hockey games and dropping NHL2night is misguided. The bottom line is if that show got better ratings and if the games drew more viewers, they'd be on the air. But they didn't and ESPN had to find something that would get ratings. Does anyone believe ESPN had it in for hockey? Nonsense. It was a business decision.

 

[Motown Beatdown]

I think TNT is out of the question. They are on nearly every night doing NBA playoffs. This would mean no chance of hockey playoffs being shown.

True, but what would stop NBC of putting playoff games on MSNBC or CNBC? They have the channels if needed. The question is will the NHL draw better ratings than whats already on those shows? And how many Cable/Satellite carriers carry both channels?

ESPN isn't the only network out there for sure, but they have the channels needed to air the NHL and still is the best option IMO. Spike doesn't have the HD that would suit the NHL best, yeah the channel is geared to "younger men" but i still dont think it's the best option. TNT does have it, but like you said they are tied into the NBA and gets good ratings. Heck IIRC the NBA got better ratings on TNT than they got on ESPN. Why would they mess with a good thing?

 

[i am dave]

In response to that, ESPN spokeswoman Diane Lamb said: "No one has done more to promote and market the NHL than ESPN, and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise."

Does this include the time ESPN preempted the Flyers-Leafs 3OT game in 2003 to broadcast Michael Jordan's third retirement game?

 

[LadyStanley]

AIUI, the (ABC) ESPN2 deal for 04-05 called for *exclusive* national broadcasts for any game. (So there would be no blackouts.)

USA does "daytime" sports (golf, tennis) and some of the big dog shows (evening); they've also had some weekend coverage of equestrian events. Their evenings are dedicated to some re-runs and their original series-es and movies. Doesn't seem a good fit. (Unless it's like a Tuesday night thing.)

TNT doesn't have the "time" for NHL games with all their "exclusive" NBA coverage. TBS, a sister station, is always possible (but the "home of comedy" doesn't seem a good fit image-wise).

While watching OLN (for the Tour de France) I've been thinking that, with the exception of Al Trautwig, they might be an interesting partner for the NHL. But it's definitely a "second tier" cable station.

(Took Spike TV off my channel rotation when they changed formats. And the only reason that ESPN2 is currently "in" is because I'm recording 1x/week MLL Lacrosse for my nephews.)

 

[Cwood2]

I've often thought that the NHL should try to get some sort of deal with HBO on the side, maybe even offer it for free. If they mic'ed a player or two and maybe the coaches, it would be pretty damn entertaining for those that don't get hockey. Heck, I have friends that laugh at ANYTHING Canadian people say just because of the accent, a couple of f-bombs would surely add to that experience.

 

[Chilly Willy*]

Snider is way out of line with his comments. The NHL needs ESPN more than ESPN needs the NHL. They are getting as good if not better rating than what they did in the NHL time slots.

Makes me laugh that you think that, you must really not know how bad ESPN's coverage is.

 

[futurcorerock]

"We will have another cable network other than ESPN," Snider said. "ESPN, in the last few years, didn't do a good job for hockey and, quite frankly, I'm glad they are gone. They tried to take advantage of us, and I'm predicting we will go in another direction."

Wow. I mean, WOW

That is quite honestly the best news i've ever heard. That tooks balls to say in the media. If this is the new NHL, i say welcome back friends.

I hope the NHL sticks it to those losers over at ESPN. Screw Bowling and Screw Poker.

 

[Kenadyan]

Actually what I would like to see is the one of the obscure networks (SpikeTV) pull the feed from CBC's Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night (both the 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. games). Hey, Don Cherry and Spike seem like a natural fit to me.

This would satisfy my hockey fix each week as I usually don't have time to watch during the week anyway.

And yes, I do realize I could get those games by subscribing to NHL Center Ice thru my satellite provider (I already get the NFL Sunday Ticket), but as I mentioned above, I don't want to pay for the extra games during the week (that I don't have time to watch).

 

[rwilson99]

I miss the robots

Best first post ever. I miss the robots too.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Comcast and FOX.

 

[Zeta16]

I don't think ESPN wants any more live events than they have now. A couple of weeks ago on of their top brass was on the radio and said that they were moving towards more movies and shows and less and less games. He said the future of ESPN was more movies, news shows, amd "The Season" type shows. So even if they had hockey they would show one or two games a week and maybe on ESPN8.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

For everyone who is ripping on ESPN - what portion of the blame must the NHL accept? I truly think that ESPN made an honest effort for the first half to 2/3 of the contract, and when they saw that no matter what they did the ratings were poor, they decided (smartly) to cut their losses.

I'm not a TV executive, but what's wrong with that? I also think that ESPN is BY FAR AND AWAY the best option for the NHL. Comments like that from Snyder sure aren't going to help in negotiations however!

 

[Tawnos]

C'mon guys, she's absolutely right (at least in the American market). Who on the national level has done more to promote hockey? Name them. Don't get me wrong, ESPN didn't do as much as they could've... but at least they were doing something.

 

[bcrt2000]

Yes the NHL needs ESPN, but they need to try to get other networks into the fold as well... thats what the NBA did, they got a whole bunch of channels showing NBA games, and thats what saved the NBA from falling to where the NHL has fallen

 

[i am dave]

C'mon guys, she's absolutely right (at least in the American market). Who on the national level has done more to promote hockey? Name them. Don't get me wrong, ESPN didn't do as much as they could've... but at least they were doing something.

What she is essentially saying though, is "We at ESPN finished first in a race with no other runners." And the fact that none of the hacks on SportsCenter can pronounce names like "Kovalchuk" correctly is indicative of their attitude towards the NHL - especially after Al Jaffee's rant on Dream Job about how it is inexcusible and intolerable for anchors to mispronounce names (after half the contestants mispronounced Xavier).

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Makes me laugh that you think that, you must really not know how bad ESPN's coverage is.

Why don't you tell us how bad it really is? Personally, I think alot of the posters have their heads up their rear when it comes to ESPN. What kind of a negotiating position do you guys think the NHL is in anyway? It seems like many people around here think networks like ESPN should go out of their way to cater to the NHL, when it has done NOTHING to deserve that level of respect or commitment. The NHL was EXTREMELY fortunate to have ESPN broadcast games the way they did, and now it doesn't even have that. Unfortunately it has no leverage to make anything happen.

 

[trenton1]

For coverage purposes the owners need to take the money they are going to save from this new CBA and start an NHL Network in the States and allow for it to be available on basic cable--Comcast could help with that. Then there will be no excuses--they can buy advertising on the other networks or through local cable companies.
For exposure purposes, allow ESPN to have a game on the same night every week and then NBC can have some weekend tilts and the finals.