Televised broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games

HABitual

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Mar 1, 2002
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Kirkland Lake, Ontar
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I know RDS has the national television broadcast rights for the Montreal Canadiens, but could TSN also broadcast every game nationally, because it is the same company, but a different language broadcaster? If there is nothing preventing TSN from broadcasting all Montreal Canadiens games, nationally, why aren't they?
 

Fish on The Sand

Untouchable
Feb 28, 2002
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I know RDS has the national television broadcast rights for the Montreal Canadiens, but could TSN also broadcast every game nationally, because it is the same company, but a different language broadcaster? If there is nothing preventing TSN from broadcasting all Montreal Canadiens games, nationally, why aren't they?
They don't have the english language rights to broadcast the games. They could in theory buy those rights, but they would cost an arm and a leg.
 

Buck Aki Berg

Done with this place
Sep 17, 2008
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Ottawa, ON
If that is the case then it's not a very good reason not to broadcast the games in English, too. There's a larger English market, obviously, so they could potentially get even more money in return.

The English-language market for Habs games isn't necessarily the population of Canada, minus the population of Quebec. I'm sure the TSN people have done the math on this one, and have decided it isn't cost-effective.

Also, you won't learn any French watching TSN, so there's another good reason to watch the game on RDS ;)
 

HABitual

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Mar 1, 2002
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Kirkland Lake, Ontar
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The English-language market for Habs games isn't necessarily the population of Canada, minus the population of Quebec. I'm sure the TSN people have done the math on this one, and have decided it isn't cost-effective.

Also, you won't learn any French watching TSN, so there's another good reason to watch the game on RDS ;)

How can I learn what they are saying, in French, if they don't tell me what they're saying, in English? :p:
 

jkrdevil

UnRegistered User
Apr 24, 2006
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The Habs can't sell english language rights nationally across Canada. The NHL owns those rights. They can sell english language games within their territory (Quebec and Eastern Canada), but not nationally. That is why that seperate Habs package TSN has is only aired regionally.
 

optimus2861

Registered User
Aug 29, 2005
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Bedford NS
They can sell english language games within their territory (Quebec and Eastern Canada), but not nationally. That is why that seperate Habs package TSN has is only aired regionally.
As a nasty side effect of that TSN deal, Center Ice subscribers within the TSN-Habs region have had every Canadiens game since then blacked out on CI (even the games TSN does not show). That rendered my CI purchase worthless and I should've yelled at my provider more to get it canceled outright.
 

HABitual

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Mar 1, 2002
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Kirkland Lake, Ontar
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The Habs can't sell english language rights nationally across Canada. The NHL owns those rights. They can sell english language games within their territory (Quebec and Eastern Canada), but not nationally. That is why that seperate Habs package TSN has is only aired regionally.

So the NHL owns those English-language broadcast rights for the Canadiens?
 

bodybreak

Whiteshell Wild
Jul 11, 2006
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As a nasty side effect of that TSN deal, Center Ice subscribers within the TSN-Habs region have had every Canadiens game since then blacked out on CI (even the games TSN does not show). That rendered my CI purchase worthless and I should've yelled at my provider more to get it canceled outright.

So the TSN Habs feed is not a free channel for everyone with TSN who falls in the Habs region?? How much do you have to pay for that?
 

Inkling

Same Old Hockey
Nov 27, 2006
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Ottawa
So the NHL owns those English-language broadcast rights for the Canadiens?

TSN owns the national cable broadcast package, but they have a limit to the number games of each team that they can broadcast. No team to my knowledge can have a national broadcast package, only regional (in English). TSN owns the regional package too for the Habs but they only broadcast that on an alternate channel that not all cable systems get.
 

barneyg

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Apr 22, 2007
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RDS can afford a full season of French language rights. English language rights would, presumably, cost more.

This now seems off-topic but I'm not sure about that. The Habs basically have a monopoly in Quebec (other than in the Gatineau region, and even there allegiances are divided). Given the Leafs stronghold on Southern Ontario, the Sens and the 3 Western teams, I don't know how valuable those English language rights are compared to French language rights.
 

optimus2861

Registered User
Aug 29, 2005
5,044
531
Bedford NS
So the TSN Habs feed is not a free channel for everyone with TSN who falls in the Habs region?? How much do you have to pay for that?
Not what I meant. Before the TSN-Habs deal was announced I subscribed to Center Ice, wanting to see all the Canadiens games I could. Then the deal came, and all Canadiens games since then got blacked out on CI, even the ones TSN-Habs doesn't air. So I get the TSN-Habs feed (though it didn't start until December on my provider), but I flushed the CI subscription money down the toilet.

I suspect the Habs region will see a substantial drop in CI subscriptions next season, as there's no longer any reason for Canadiens fans to sign up for it.
 

the506

Registered User
The TSN Habs feed is only available on Bell satellite and Aliant FibreOp in the Maritimes. I think (not sure) that everyone that gets TSN on those two gets the Habs feed. I'm not sure if they're even interested in offering it to other providers. I have Rogers in NB and I haven't heard anything that suggests they're even considering offering it.

The only way for me to watch Habs games that aren't on (regular) TSN or CBC, is in French on RDS. I'm not a Habs fan, but it is a minor inconvenience when my Caps play them and I have to watch the game in French.
 

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