NHL hires John Shannon to head TV Broadcast Divsion.

[Jazz]

I'm surprised noone has yet brought this up.

John Shannon has been a driving force behind hockey broadcasting in Canada for many years. Now he’ll be doing it on both sides of the border at the same time and on behalf of the NHL.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=156945&hubname=
and
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/2006/03/05/1473761-sun.html

"I have spent over 25 years in and around the NHL, trying to make the game as entertaining on television as it is in the arena. I am thrilled to be continuing that goal on both sides of the border," Shannon said.


Don't underestimate this news.

The way the game has been presented on TV is basically the same as it was back in the 1970s, and has not really evolved like other sports have. He will help bring the NHL up to date, and hopefully the way he tinkers with the presentation will help lead to better ratings.

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[PecaFan]

He will help bring the NHL up to date, and hopefully the way he tinkers with the presentation will help lead to better ratings.

How? His work in Canada was extremely conservative. ESPN and Fox and ABC all tried innovations, good ol' HNIC under Shannon kept their one camera angle, few replays, no onscreen scoreclock and game time for years, refusing to adopt the good ideas that the US broadcasts had.

US broadcasts in general are way better technically than Canadian ones. It's the announcers that have been weak, but he can't change that.

 

[Jazz]

How? His work in Canada was extremely conservative. ESPN and Fox and ABC all tried innovations, good ol' HNIC under Shannon kept their one camera angle, few replays, no onscreen scoreclock and game time for years, refusing to adopt the good ideas that the US broadcasts had.

US broadcasts in general are way better technically than Canadian ones. It's the announcers that have been weak, but he can't change that.

From what I understand, the conservative approach on HNIC is not his call, ie he has been told to be conservative.