Confirmed with Link: Habs sign 3-year regional tv-deal with Rogers

[Habsfan18]

Mike Johnson signed with Sportsnet as well, correct?

If so, I could see Randorf/Johnson calling the regional Habs games.

 

[subbang76]

I am really confused about this new TV deal. but here is what I know:

-There will be 22 games shown nationally by TVA in French, and the other 60 regionally shown by RDS in French
-40 games in English split between the various sportsnet stations and HNIC


here's where I need some clarification...


-Rogers has now lifted the blackouts nationally for regional games. Habs fans that are not Rogers customers and do not want to purchase Gamecenter can purchase a package that provides the 60 regional games for the Canadiens and the 54 regional games for the Sens, all in french, that were originally blackout.

Is this package available for Bell customers in Toronto (like myself), and for how much a month?

 

[sampollock]

Great. Now tell me how I can see all 82 games from Edmonton.

centre ice package from Bell

 

[Haburger]

centre ice package from Bell

Are u sure? I just talked to my cable provider here in delta bc which is eastlink and they told me that I will be able to get most habs games on rds!!! He said theres no blackout that will affect me.im skeptical but we ll see.

 

[Habsfan18]

Are u sure? I just talked to my cable provider here in delta bc which is eastlink and they told me that I will be able to get most habs games on rds!!! He said theres no blackout that will affect me.im skeptical but we ll see.

In Edmonton, the RDS games will absolutely be blacked out. To see regional games, you will need Centre Ice or Gamecenter.

 

[GoodKiwi]

I am really confused about this new TV deal. but here is what I know:

-There will be 22 games shown nationally by TVA in French, and the other 60 regionally shown by RDS in French
-40 games in English split between the various sportsnet stations and HNIC


here's where I need some clarification...


-Rogers has now lifted the blackouts nationally for regional games. Habs fans that are not Rogers customers and do not want to purchase Gamecenter can purchase a package that provides the 60 regional games for the Canadiens and the 54 regional games for the Sens, all in french, that were originally blackout.

Is this package available for Bell customers in Toronto (like myself), and for how much a month?

As of right now the blackout was lifted only for NHL Gamecenter Live (GCL) which is not the same service as NHL Center Ice. GCL will cost you $60 for all regional Habs (and 54 Sens) games on RDS and you can watch it on your laptop or through a variety of other platforms. It is not a service that requires you to sign up through your TV provider.

Nothing has been announced for NHL Center Ice as of yet.

 

[Kimota]

They would be allowed to sub-license them but to another english language channel. Something TVA is not.

My idea was TVA could create a Habs Channel and put all their Habs games there. 60 english games, 22 french games. Of course it would not be done now cause everything is set for next season. But in a year they could phone Sportsnet(and the Habs) and ask them for the rights and for the idea of this Habs TV idea.

 

[Hackett]

Are u sure? I just talked to my cable provider here in delta bc which is eastlink and they told me that I will be able to get most habs games on rds!!! He said theres no blackout that will affect me.im skeptical but we ll see.

The only cable company exclusive to delta that I knew of was delta cable. Never heard of east link.

Anyways, it shouldnt matter who your cable provider is. If you are in delta and you are watching RDS(legally), you will be blacked out.

Your source is probably not up to date with the new NHL broadcasting contract.

Edit: delta cable and eastlink are the same company. Eastlink is based out of nova Scotia, and those residents should fall within the habs regional area, thus, they will get the 60 games. But delta BC is obvioisly outside of that jurisdiction. You may want to call east link again and specify your unique location. Most calls they take would be from Atlantic Canada I would assume.

 

[Natural Habs Fan]

http://blog.fagstein.com/2014/08/18/nhl-regional-schedule-2014-15/

Looks like 40 Habs games will be carried nationally. That's decent.

 

[Nedved]

i just want to pay my 5 dollar a month rds package and get to watch all habs games, on the same channel..

i'm upset. gcl is dumb, and i'm too poor for center ice.


****. i don't want to stream for free, but this leaves me no choice.

 

[YYZviaYUL]

http://blog.fagstein.com/2014/08/18/nhl-regional-schedule-2014-15/

Looks like 40 Habs games will be carried nationally. That's decent.

Last year, all 82 games were carried nationally on RDS.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Last year, all 82 games were carried nationally on RDS.

Yes, the loophole that existed for the Montreal Canadiens has finally closed. You can place the "blame" directly at TVA Sports & Quebecor. Had the station not been created you'd still be able to watch the Habs on RDS nationally.

 

[Hackett]

Last year, all 82 games were carried nationally on RDS.

The only winners here are the casual out of market habs fans who never bothered looking into how to get RDS. For the out of market people, you would never find RDS in a package unless you knew about it.

But those casual out of market fans will now see the habs alot more often. City, and CBC are available in the most basic of packages, and Sportsnet is surely subscribed to way more than RDS.

Its the hardcore habs fan who would watch all 82 games if he had the chance that is really getting screwed.... But like I said before, a hardcore fan will find alternative means whether they are considered legal or otherwise.

 

[GoodKiwi]

The only winners here are the casual out of market habs fans who never bothered looking into how to get RDS. For the out of market people, you would never find RDS in a package unless you knew about it.

But those casual out of market fans will now see the habs alot more often. City, and CBC are available in the most basic of packages, and Sportsnet is surely subscribed to way more than RDS.

Its the hardcore habs fan who would watch all 82 games if he had the chance that is really getting screwed.... But like I said before, a hardcore fan will find alternative means whether they are considered legal or otherwise.

Great post that I agree with completely.

You, sir, see the forest from the trees unlike some others.

 

[YYZviaYUL]

I pay an extra $36.16/month for the Rogers Super Sports Pak so I can watch NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA Football and Basketball.

My issue is now I have to watch the annoying road telecast instead of RDS. I'm going to miss Pierre Houde.

Since I have Rogers internet at home, I'll also get the NHL GCL for "free" for the 1st half.

I'm try to figure out a way to re-broadcast the game for my fellow Habs fans who can't get the games for free.

 

[TeamlessWatcher]

Another year without hockey it seems... I WANT to buy GCL since I don't have cable but instead of promoting that they just blackout every game I want to see.

Ah well, I've been stuck with free CBC streams and largely limited to solely watching the playoffs for years now, despite wanting to pay for their product, and since that's going away I guess they just don't want me to watch hockey

****ing dinosaur technology and their inability to advance. Blackouts didn't make sense in the past, and they sure as hell don't make sense now.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Another year without hockey it seems... I WANT to buy GCL since I don't have cable but instead of promoting that they just blackout every game I want to see.

Ah well, I've been stuck with free CBC streams and largely limited to solely watching the playoffs for years now, despite wanting to pay for their product, and since that's going away I guess they just don't want me to watch hockey

****ing dinosaur technology and their inability to advance. Blackouts didn't make sense in the past, and they sure as hell don't make sense now.

If anything you should have it better this year as both CBC and City are available OTA depending on where you live.

Try this tool to approximate OTA channels available in your area

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

 

[YYZviaYUL]

Another year without hockey it seems... I WANT to buy GCL since I don't have cable but instead of promoting that they just blackout every game I want to see.

Ah well, I've been stuck with free CBC streams and largely limited to solely watching the playoffs for years now, despite wanting to pay for their product, and since that's going away I guess they just don't want me to watch hockey

****ing dinosaur technology and their inability to advance. Blackouts didn't make sense in the past, and they sure as hell don't make sense now.

I just tested a livestream broadcast from my laptop (rebroadcasted a NCAA football game and it streamed well enough that it's watchable). Primrose Everdeen streamed quite a few games last year using livestream.

So anyone who doesn't intend to buy any service may want to go and create a livestream.com. If she doesn't stream the games this year, I'll try to stream them.

The free version of Livestream requires users to signup to watch an event.

 

[Year 101]

Sorry if it's been repeated but will sportsnet east still work in Toronto or will I have to get Centre Ice to watch the habs (since RDS is blacked out)?

 

[GoodKiwi]

Sorry if it's been repeated but will sportsnet east still work in Toronto or will I have to get Centre Ice to watch the habs (since RDS is blacked out)?

You will need NHL Center Ice in Toronto.

 

[Wexford habs fan]

The only winners here are the casual out of market habs fans who never bothered looking into how to get RDS. For the out of market people, you would never find RDS in a package unless you knew about it.

But those casual out of market fans will now see the habs alot more often. City, and CBC are available in the most basic of packages, and Sportsnet is surely subscribed to way more than RDS.

Its the hardcore habs fan who would watch all 82 games if he had the chance that is really getting screwed.... But like I said before, a hardcore fan will find alternative means whether they are considered legal or otherwise.

Good evening Hackett. How is a hardcore fan getting screwed when he can watch 40 games in English for free and the rest in French for $60. ??? Buy the RDS package for $ 60 fron centre ice even if you watch the Habs in English when available your average cost for the other 42 games on RDS is less than $1.50 per game. You know a hardcore fan who wouldn't pay that? Nobody was more pissed about this new Rogers deal than me. But honestly they have fixed it with a fair and reasonable deal for Habs fans.

 

[Wexford habs fan]

As of right now the blackout was lifted only for NHL Gamecenter Live (GCL) which is not the same service as NHL Center Ice. GCL will cost you $60 for all regional Habs (and 54 Sens) games on RDS and you can watch it on your laptop or through a variety of other platforms. It is not a service that requires you to sign up through your TV provider.

Nothing has been announced for NHL Center Ice as of yet.

Hey Kiwi. That's not accurate. The $60 out of region RDS package is also available on NHL Centre Ice. It was announced at the same time as the GCL announcement

 

[Hackett]

Good evening Hackett. How is a hardcore fan getting screwed when he can watch 40 games in English for free and the rest in French for $60. ??? Buy the RDS package for $ 60 fron centre ice even if you watch the Habs in English when available your average cost for the other 42 games on RDS is less than $1.50 per game. You know a hardcore fan who wouldn't pay that? Nobody was more pissed about this new Rogers deal than me. But honestly they have fixed it with a fair and reasonable deal for Habs fans.

The term "screwed" is used because out of market habs fans are worse off with this deal than they were before. Its the only out of market fan base that was negatively affected by the new deal. You can replace that term with whichever you choose, but I will be paying more than before, plus I much rather prefer to watch the games on TV rather than to use streaming data based on my circumstances.

That 60 dollar deal you speak of is what I would qualify in the alternative "legal means" category. There are other routes that hardcore fans can take too. They will adjust and do what they need to do in order to get their fix.

Edit: I did a bit more research on this, and I don't see any evidence leading to the idea that the 60 dollar package includes a french centre ice. Rogers still has to announce details for their plans are regarding centre ice. The 60 dollar plan is solely GCL oriented which means online streaming.

 

[loudi94]

Good evening Hackett. How is a hardcore fan getting screwed when he can watch 40 games in English for free and the rest in French for $60. ??? Buy the RDS package for $ 60 fron centre ice even if you watch the Habs in English when available your average cost for the other 42 games on RDS is less than $1.50 per game. You know a hardcore fan who wouldn't pay that? Nobody was more pissed about this new Rogers deal than me. But honestly they have fixed it with a fair and reasonable deal for Habs fans.

Is that available to Bell subscribers? If not, then yes, screwed over applies in my case.

 

[Wexford habs fan]

The term "screwed" is used because out of market habs fans are worse off with this deal than they were before. Its the only out of market fan base that was negatively affected by the new deal. You can replace that term with whichever you choose, but I will be paying more than before, plus I much rather prefer to watch the games on TV rather than to use streaming data based on my circumstances.

That 60 dollar deal you speak of is what I would qualify in the alternative "legal means" category. There are other routes that hardcore fans can take too. They will adjust and do what they need to do in order to get their fix.

Edit: I did a bit more research on this, and I don't see any evidence leading to the idea that the 60 dollar package includes a french centre ice. Rogers still has to announce details for their plans are regarding centre ice. The 60 dollar plan is solely GCL oriented which means online streaming.

Hackett I am not looking to pick a fight with you... I agree that it's a much more pleasant experience to watch the game on a nice big HD television screen fed by cable or satellite with a quality stable picture... So we agree on that... And you don't seem to disagree with me that $60 for the RDS package is a reasonable price (I pay Bell Satellite $7.00 month for the package that contains RDS and 99% of what I watch on RDS is Habs games)...So hopefully you and I are still on the same page... But here is where we disagree...You insist the RDS package is only for GCL...that's not accurate... Here is a cut and paste from the Rogers press conference announcement in Montreal:

In recent years, they have had access to all 82 regular-season games by subscribing to RDS as part of their cable or satellite package. Under the new deal, Rogers sold the French-language rights to TVA Sports, which will televise 22 Canadiens games. RDS retained the rights to the other 60 games, but it appeared that fans in Ontario and points west would be out of luck because RDS had become a regional network limited to Quebec, Eastern Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces.

It appeared that the only recourse for Canadiens fans was to purchase the NHL Centre Ice package for $200.

But Rogers, which has received its share of complaints from irate Canadiens fans, has provided a solution with a French-language package that provides fans access to the RDS package, which has 60 Canadiens games and 54 Ottawa Senators games.

Judging from the reaction on HIO, there seems to be a lot of confusion over the package, but here are the important points:
1.The package will be available on cable and satellite television as well as for online devices with Rogers NHL Game Centre LIVE (the NHL streaming service).
2.Fans will be able to buy the French-language package for $60 and aren’t obligated to buy the full Centre Ice TV package. If fans want the regional games in English on TV, they will have to spring for the full Centre Ice package.

The French package will give fans outside the Eastern region access to every Canadiens game this season. The 22 games not carried by RDS and any playoff games will be available across Canada on the various Rogers outlets.

In most cases, fans will be paying more than they did in the past to add RDS to their cable package, but if you do the math it comes out to $1 a game even if you pass on the Senators

And here is the quotation from Sportsnet President Scott Moore:

Scott Moore, a self-professed Canadiens fan who is the president of Sportsnet and NHL Properties for Rogers Media, was among those on hand for a news conference Wednesday in Boucherville as TVA launched its inaugural season of French-language NHL coverage.

Rogers also announced on Wednesday a new package that will allow Habs fans across the country to watch all 82 regular-season games on TV. Before Wednesday’s announcement, Canadiens fans living west of Belleville, Ont., wouldn’t have had access to the regional coverage unless they paid $200 for the NHL Centre Ice TV package.

Rogers announced Wednesday that fans outside of Montreal and Ottawa broadcast regions can now also get up to 111 games broadcast live in French, including the Canadiens (60 games) and the Senators (54 games) on both Rogers NHL Game Centre LIVE (the NHL streaming service) and on TV with NHL Centre Ice. The 60 regional Habs games and the 54 Senators games will be available for $60 to those outside the regional market.