Sportsnet

Last updated

Sportsnet
Logo Sportsnet 2011.svg
Sportsnet's logo used since October 3, 2011.
CountryCanada
Broadcast areaNational
Headquarters Rogers Building, Toronto, Ontario
Programming
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
(HD feed downgraded to letterboxed 480i for SDTVs)
4K (UHDTV) (part-time, selected broadcasts)
Ownership
Owner Rogers Sports & Media [1]
Sister channelsTV:
Sportsnet One
Sportsnet World
Sportsnet 360
WWE Network
Sportsnet Radio :
CJCL, CFAC and CISL
History
LaunchedOctober 9, 1998;25 years ago (1998-10-09)
Former namesCTV Sportsnet
(1998–2000)
Sportsnet
(2000–01 and 2011–present)
Rogers Sportsnet
(2001–2011)
Links
Website sportsnet.ca
Availability
Streaming media
Sportsnet Now watch.sportsnet.ca (Canadian television subscribers only; requires login from pay television provider or OTT subscription to access content)

Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network TSN. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by Fox. [1] [2]

Contents

The Sportsnet license comprises four 24-hour programming services; Sportsnet was originally licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as a category A service, operating as a group of regional sports networks offering programming tailored to each feed's region (in contrast to TSN, which was licensed at the time to operate as a national sports service, and could only offer limited regional opt-outs). [3] Since 2011, the service has operated under deregulated category C licensing, which allows Sportsnet to operate multiple feeds with no restrictions on alternate programming. In each region, only the local Sportsnet channel is available on analogue cable, but all four channels are available nationally via digital cable (subject to blackouts for some out-of-market teams).

The four Sportsnet feeds air some common programming and simulcast major, national events, but are capable of airing programming autonomously—most prominently regional programming. Sportsnet is the national cable rightsholder of the National Hockey League, and also holds full regional rights to three (and partial regional rights to one) of the league's Canadian franchises. It is also the national rightsholder of Major League Baseball in Canada (although most of ESPN's MLB broadcasts are sub-licensed to rival network TSN), and the exclusive broadcaster of the co-owned Toronto Blue Jays. It splits regional coverage of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and national coverage of the NBA's Toronto Raptors with TSN; Rogers Communications and TSN's parent company Bell Canada own a joint majority stake in the teams' parent company.

The Sportsnet brand has since been extended beyond the original regional channels, now encompassing the national channels Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet One (and its regional part-time companion channels), and Sportsnet World; Sportsnet Radio stations in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary; and Sportsnet Magazine . With these brand extensions, Rogers now generally uses "Sportsnet" (by itself) to denote its sports media properties as a whole, and on-air promotions for programs being carried nationally by these four regional feeds often list all four channels separately, or refer to the Sportsnet "regional" (or "main") channels, to avoid any ambiguity. However, standalone mentions of "Sportsnet" in reference to a specific channel can still generally be assumed to be referring to the four regional channels (or the specific regional channel available locally on analogue cable).

History

Sportsnet was approved by the CRTC in September 1996 under the tentative name S3, with Baton Broadcasting Inc. (later renamed to CTV Inc.) holding a 40% controlling interest in the network, and 20% minority stakes held by Rogers Media and Liberty Media (in turn a spin-off of TCI, an American cable-television group). The network proposed a structure with an emphasis on regional programming, operating four feeds to serve different areas of the country. [4]

The network launched on October 9, 1998, as CTV Sportsnet, under the ownership of CTV, Rogers, and Liberty; the latter which owned some of the Fox Sports Net operations that Fox ran in the United States after which the channel was named. [5]

The new network gained credibility before it went on the air, having acquired national cable rights to the National Hockey League from long-time holder TSN. From 1998–99 until 2001–02, Sportsnet aired NHL games to a national audience throughout the regular season, and covered first-round playoff series not involving Canadian teams. Its first live sports event was an NHL opening night telecast between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. The national cable rights to the NHL returned to TSN in 2002, though Sportsnet retained regional broadcast rights for most Canadian NHL teams. [5]

Acquisition by Rogers

When CTV purchased NetStar, the former parent company of TSN, in 2000, the CRTC ordered CTV to sell either TSN or its stake in Sportsnet. CTV ultimately chose to retain TSN, and sell its stake in Sportsnet. The other shareholders had first right of refusal; as Rogers was the only interested party, it acquired CTV's stake in the summer of 2001, and soon after renamed it Rogers Sportsnet. During part of the transition period, during which time the channel was known as "Sportsnet", CTV was allowed to control programming on both networks, and some cross-affiliation and programs that were going to be tape-delayed on TSN, most notably figure skating, were given to Sportsnet. [ citation needed ] In 2004, Rogers then bought the remaining 20 percent stake from Fox. [1] [6]

While Sportsnet had been based there from the beginning, TSN's operations would move to CTV's suburban Toronto complex, 9 Channel Nine Court, following the acquisition. This led to some peculiarities related to the fact that the two rival sports channels were only separated by a "parking lot", leading to jokes and references from both networks. On April 30, 2008, Rogers Sportsnet moved its broadcast operations from 9 Channel Nine Court to the Rogers Building, a cluster of buildings in the Mount Pleasant-Jarvis Street area of Downtown Toronto. [ citation needed ]

Expansion

In 2010, Rogers began to extend the Sportsnet brand beyond the original regional networks with the August 14 launch of Rogers Sportsnet One – a national companion channel promising 800 hours of live events per year. The channel was also accompanied by additional part-time feeds to serve as overflow channels for its regional NHL coverage. [7]

CTV SportsNet.svg
SNET CTV Logo.svg
Rogers Sportsnet.svg
Sportsnet logo.svg
Sportsnet's original "Player" logo maintained the same basic form until 2011. The logos are of pre-launch, 1998–2001, 2001–2010, and 2010–2011

In January 2011, Rogers' sports radio stations, CJCL Toronto ("The Fan 590") and CFAC Calgary ("The Fan 960"), were rebranded as "Sportsnet Radio Fan 590" and "Sportsnet Radio Fan 960" respectively. Critics speculated that the Sportsnet Radio branding was intended to increase synergy with its television counterparts, upon rumors that TSN would be launching a sports radio network of its own. [8]

In July 2011, Rogers announced that it would be rebranding its premium international sports channel Setanta Sports Canada as "Sportsnet World" on October 3, 2011 – a move that would allow the channel better opportunities for cross-promotion with other Sportsnet services. As part of the transition, Setanta Sports sold its minority ownership interest in the channel to MLM Management. [9] [10]

On September 29, 2011, Rogers published the first issue of Sportsnet Magazine , a bi-weekly sports magazine positioned "for Canadian sports fans", covering professional sports from a Canadian perspective. Sports writer Stephen Brunt left his position at The Globe and Mail newspaper to become the magazine's back page columnist. [11]

"Fuelled By Fans" re-launch

On October 3, 2011, Rogers Sportsnet underwent a major rebranding, introducing a revamped logo and visual appearance designed in conjunction with Troika Design Group, and a new image campaign ("Fuelled By Fans"). Additionally, the network's official name was shortened to just Sportsnet. The new logo does not incorporate the previous "player" emblem that had been used in the network's branding since its original launch, as research performed by Rogers indicated that its association with Sportsnet did not resonate well with viewers. The redesign of Sportsnet was overseen by Dean Bender, who served as the network's creative director upon its original launch as CTV Sportsnet. [12] [13]

2013–2018

On August 25, 2012, Rogers announced that it would acquire the television assets of Score Media, owners of The Score Television Network (a competing sports network which primarily airs sports news and highlights, alongside event coverage), in a transaction valued at $167 million. The acquisition itself closed on October 19, 2012, at which point Score Media's digital assets (including its website and mobile apps) were spun off into another company, theScore Inc., in which Rogers Media would retain a 10% interest. Score Media's TV properties were immediately placed into a blind trust, under trustee Peter Viner, pending final CRTC approval. [14] [15] Rogers plans to continue running the network as a sports news service. [16]

The acquisition and Rogers' proposed amendments (which included a reduction in the frequency of sports updates during live events) were approved by the CRTC on April 30, 2013; the same day, The Score also began to air more Sportsnet-produced programming, including a simulcast of CJCL's afternoon show Tim & Sid and Hockey Central Playoff Extra. However, the CRTC rejected the use of a proposed winter sports competition, the Sportsnet Winter Games, for its tangible benefits requirements. [17] [18]

On June 4, 2013, Rogers announced that The Score would be rebranded as a Sportsnet channel; the channel changed its name to Sportsnet 360 on July 1, 2013. [19] As of 2014, Sportsnet is available in 8.2 million Canadian homes. [20]

On October 2, 2018, Scott Moore, Rogers' head of Sportsnet and NHL properties, stepped down. [21]

Regional feeds

Similarly to regional sports networks in the United States, Sportsnet is operated in four regional feeds. While the feeds carry national programming as well, they primarily broadcast sporting events tailored to the region they serve. The four regional feeds are listed in the table below.

All four feeds are available in both standard and high-definition formats. Although cable providers in Canada are permitted to carry only the local Sportsnet feed on analogue cable packages, all four feeds can be carried on digital television services. However, in some instances, programming on the out-of-market Sportsnet feeds, particularly regional NHL games, are blacked out due to league restrictions on teams' regional broadcast rights. Since the revival of the Winnipeg Jets in 2011, regional Flames and Oilers games on Sportsnet West have also been blacked out in Manitoba, despite it being the "local" Sportsnet feed for that province.

ChannelDescription and programmingBroadcast area
Sportsnet PacificRegional feed for British Columbia and Yukon; airs regional Vancouver Canucks games.

Rogers Sportsnet Regions.svg

Sportsnet WestRegional feed for the Prairies, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut; airs regional Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers games except in Manitoba.
Sportsnet OntarioRegional feed for most of Ontario; airs regional Toronto Maple Leafs games.
Sportsnet EastRegional feed for Eastern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Programming

Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun providing Sportsnet coverage of a Toronto Blue Jays game in 2011 Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun.jpg
Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun providing Sportsnet coverage of a Toronto Blue Jays game in 2011

Sportsnet is the main television outlet for Major League Baseball in Canada: it is the exclusive television outlet for the Toronto Blue Jays (which are also owned by Rogers), airing all of its games and other Blue Jays-related programming throughout the season. It also holds Canadian rights to Fox Saturday Baseball , the All-Star Game and the postseason (through Fox, TBS and MLB International). Sportsnet also carries other MLB games simulcast from U.S. regional sports networks.

Sportsnet began airing National Football League games Starting with the 2005 season, splitting late games across the Pacific and West feeds, and the East and Ontario feeds. The games not shown in the opposite regions were carried out regionally by City. It also had rights to Thursday Night Football and the American Thanksgiving games. Sportsnet lost all NFL broadcasting rights for the 2017 season.

Sportsnet carried a large amount of soccer programming; it has been the Canadian broadcaster of the Premier League since 1998 until 2018/19 season [22] (from 2013/14 to 2018/19 season, Sportsnet jointly held Canadian rights to the Premier League with TSN), and also held rights to the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and Europa League. [23] Sportsnet lost UEFA coverage to TSN for 2015, [24] but gained rights to Bundesliga matches beginning in the 2015–16 season until 2022–23 season. [25] Sportsnet aired the Amway Canadian Championship, an annual competition featuring Canada's five professional soccer teams – Toronto FC, CF Montréal, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, FC Edmonton, and Ottawa Fury FC, until TSN acquired full rights in 2017.

In 2006, Sportsnet aired coverage of the FIFA World Cup as part of a consortium with TSN and CTV. [26] From 2011 through 2014, beginning with the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, CBC sub-licensed cable rights to FIFA tournaments to Sportsnet, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup. [27]

On February 8, 2011, Sportsnet announced that it had signed a multi-year deal with Tennis Canada to acquire early round rights to the Rogers Cup. Sportsnet also acquired rights to the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and ATP World Tour 500 series events. [28] As per an extension of Rogers' sponsorship rights to the tournament, Sportsnet holds sole rights to the Rogers Cup beginning in 2016. [29] In 2016, Sportsnet lost the ATP tours to TSN, but it still maintains exclusive rights to the Rogers Cup, as well as the Davis Cup and Fed Cup. [30]

In February 2013, Sportsnet announced that it would become the official Canadian broadcaster of the IndyCar Series beginning in the 2013 season in a five-year deal with the series. The new contract includes broadcasts on Sportsnet's networks and City, and French rights sub-licensed to TVA Sports. That season, Sportsnet also originated coverage from the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Indianapolis 500 and Honda Indy Toronto, with Bill Adam, Todd Lewis and Rob Faulds. Canadian driver Paul Tracy joined Sportsnet as an analyst. [31] As of the 2019 season, all but the Honda Indy Toronto and Indianapolis 500 moved exclusively to Sportsnet World and Sportsnet Now+. [32] [33]

In May 2013, Sportsnet reached a six-year deal for rights to the national championships of U Sports (then known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport), including coverage of the Vanier Cup. [34]

Hockey coverage

Sportsnet is a major broadcaster of National Hockey League games; the network is the current national cable rightsholder to the league, and regularly airs nationally televised games on Wednesday, Saturday nights as part of Hockey Night in Canada , and Monday nights as part of Rogers Hometown Hockey. Sportsnet is also a major regional broadcaster of the NHL; its four regional feeds carry regional telecasts of five of the seven Canadian franchises, including the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sportsnet Ontario (split with TSN4 beginning in 2014–15; Rogers and Bell Canada own a joint, majority stake in the team's parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment), [35] the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers on Sportsnet West, and the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific. [35]

In January 2014, Sportsnet lost the Ottawa Senators to TSN, who acquired regional rights to the team in English and French under a 12-year deal, beginning in the 2014–15 season. [36] In September 2014, Sportsnet announced its acquisition of regional English-language television rights to the Montreal Canadiens under a 3-year deal, replacing the Senators on Sportsnet East and succeeding TSN as regional rightsholder, until 2016–17. [35] [37]

Sportsnet held the rights to the Canadian Hockey League under a 12-year deal renewed in the 2014–15 season. Its coverage included a package of national broadcasts from the CHL's member leagues, coverage of the CHL Canada/Russia Series and the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, along with coverage of the season-ending Memorial Cup tournament. In the 2021–22 season, Sportsnet lost the rights to CBC Sports and TSN, with the latter covering the Memorial Cup. [38]

National NHL contracts

Sportsnet covering the 2017 NHL Entry Draft 2017 NHL Entry Draft (35513219955) (Sportsnet).jpg
Sportsnet covering the 2017 NHL Entry Draft

From its launch through 2002, Sportsnet was the national cable broadcaster of the NHL in Canada, displacing the rival TSN; it aired a package of Tuesday night games, along with coverage of non-Canadian matchups from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. [5]

On November 26, 2013, Rogers Communications announced that it had reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national rightsholder for the National Hockey League, again displacing TSN, along with CBC, a deal which began in the 2014–15 season. Valued at $5.2 billion and covering both television and digital media rights to the league, the value of the contract surpassed the league's most recent U.S. rights deal with NBC. Alongside its existing regional rights, Sportsnet now airs Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, along with games during Hockey Night in Canada . [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]

Olympics coverage

In early 2005, Rogers Media and CTVglobemedia jointly acquired broadcast rights to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, as well as the London 2012 Summer Olympics. This was considered a serious coup, as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) had consistently won Olympic broadcast rights from the 1996 Summer Olympics through to the 2008 Summer Olympics. CTV and V were the primary broadcasters; Sportsnet, TSN and RDS provided supplementary coverage. Rogers announced in 2011 that it would not bid with CTVglobemedia's predecessor Bell Media for the rights to the 2014 and 2016 games, citing scheduling and financial issues.

While Bell Media did attempt to partner with the CBC in 2011 to bid for coverage, [44] CBC reached a deal of its own in August 2012, winning the rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games. [45] On February 7, 2013, CBC announced that it had reached deals with Sportsnet and TSN for both networks to become their official cable partners, beginning at the 2014 Winter Olympics. [46] [47] CBC will continue this sub-licensing agreement through the 2020 Summer Olympics. [48] [49]

Sportsnet televised coverage of the 2015 Pan-American Games, also as part of a sub-license with CBC; it aired coverage of the soccer tournaments, as well as a Men's basketball semi-final game involving Canada. [50] [51]

Summary of sports rights

Baseball

Hockey

Basketball

Football

Tennis

Curling

Olympics

Original programs

Notable on-air staff

Notable alumni

This list includes the all time Sportsnet 360 staff dated to its days as The Score.

Other services

Sportsnet+

In 2014, Sportsnet announced the launch of a new TV Everywhere service known as Sportsnet Now, allowing online streaming of the Sportsnet regional channels, Sportsnet One, and Sportsnet 360 for cable subscribers. [56] On March 31, 2016, Rogers announced that Sportsnet Now would be made available as an over-the-top streaming service for cord cutters, initially priced at $24.99 per-month, in addition to remaining available at no additional charge to cable subscribers. [57]

In October 2018, the price was dropped to $19.99, annual subscription options were added, and an additional tier known as Sportsnet Now+ was introduced, adding additional international soccer and rugby events, and out-of-market streaming of regional NHL games for Canadian teams whose rights are owned by Sportsnet. [58] NHL Live, the NHL's digital out-of-market sports package, was later added to Sportsnet Now+ in January 2021. [59]

In April 2022, the plan structures were changed; a $24.99 tier was reintroduced which adds WWE Network, while Now+ was replaced with Sportsnet Now Premium, which is priced at $34.99 per-month and includes WWE Network [60] and out-of-market NHL games beginning the 2022–23 season (replacing NHL Live). [61] The service was quietly renamed Sportsnet+ ahead of the 2023–24 NHL season. [62]

High-definition television

Sportsnet operates four high-definition feeds, one for each regional channel. Originally, Sportsnet operated one national feed that consisted primarily of a simulcast of Sportsnet Ontario, carrying nationally televised events, or separate content from other regional feeds. That feed was launched on September 1, 2003.

In 2007, Sportsnet began using a second high-definition feed in order to broadcast selected regional NHL games in HD, beginning in the 2007–08 NHL season, [63] activated only in the regions where a game is set to be televised. On January 26, 2009, the national HD feed was replaced by individual HD feeds for each region.

4K

On October 5, 2015, Rogers announced that it planned to produce 101 sports telecasts in 4K ultra-high-definition format in 2016, including all Toronto Blue Jays home games, and "marquee" NHL games beginning in January 2016. These broadcasts are offered via a part-time Sportsnet 4K channel on participating television providers. [64] [65]

On January 14, 2016, in cooperation with BT Sport, Sportsnet broadcast the first ever NBA game produced in 4K, and the first live sporting event in 4K in Canadian history—a Toronto Raptors/Orlando Magic game at O2 Arena in London. Sportsnet's first domestic 4K telecast, a Toronto Maple Leafs/Montreal Canadiens game, aired January 23, 2016. [66] [67]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> CBC broadcasts of the National Hockey League in Canada

CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the Hockey Night in Canada brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its history in various platforms. The brand is owned by the CBC and was exclusively used by CBC Sports through the end of the 2013–14 NHL season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citytv</span> Canadian television network owned by Rogers Communications

Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia.

The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, owned jointly by Bell Media (70%) and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. In 2013, TSN was the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of CA$400.4 million in revenue.

Réseau des sports (RDS) is a Canadian French language discretionary specialty channel oriented towards sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc.. Its full name translates as "The Sports Network", the name of its Anglophone counterpart, TSN.

<i>TSN Hockey</i> Regional NHL broadcasts by Canadian sports channel TSN

TSN Hockey is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the National Hockey League.

CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One.

TSN2 is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel that acts as the secondary feed of sports-centred channel The Sports Network (TSN) and owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc. It was launched in its current form on August 29, 2008.

NHL on CTV is the name of a former television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on the CTV Television Network.

Sports broadcasting contracts in Canada include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Cuthbert</span> Canadian play-by-play sportscaster

Chris Cuthbert is a Canadian sportscaster. He currently serves as the lead play-by-play commentator with CBC Sports/Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada, and calls most national and regional games for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the network. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He and Glen Suitor were the lead broadcast team for the CFL on TSN from 2008 to 2019 before Cuthbert gave that lead play-by-play role to Rod Smith.

Réseau des sports (RDS) is a French Canadian cable specialty channel that broadcasts National Hockey League games.

As of the 2022 NFL season, CTV and TSN broadcast Sunday games. Monday Night Football airs exclusively on TSN. TSN and CTV 2 own rights to Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football. RDS carries games in the French language from all timeslots. U.S. network television feeds may also be available, often from multiple markets, on cable and satellite ; all games are subject to simultaneous substitution. Monday Night Football also airs in simultaneous substitution with the ABC feed on CTV2 beginning with the 2023 season.

Sportsnet One is a Canadian English-language discretionary digital cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media; it operates as a national sports channel complementing the Sportsnet group of regional sports networks. In addition to the national feed, the service operates a number of additional part-time "companion channels" which carry programming restricted to the local broadcast territories of the teams involved, such that the main feed remains available nationwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TVA Sports</span> Canadian sports network

TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other French-language sports channel in the country.

<i>NHL on Sportsnet</i> Television series

NHL on Sportsnet is the blanket title for presentations of the National Hockey League broadcast held by a Canadian media corporation, Rogers Communications, showing on its television channel Sportsnet and other networks owned by or affiliated with its Rogers Media division, as well as the Sportsnet Radio chain. Sportsnet previously held the national cable rights for NHL regular season and playoff games from 1998 to 2002. In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out both CBC Sports and TSN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Hockey League on television</span> Overview of North American professional ice hockey on television

The National Hockey League (NHL) is shown on national television in the United States and Canada. With 25 teams in the U.S. and 7 in Canada, the NHL is the only one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that maintains separate national broadcasters in each country, each producing separate telecasts of a slate of regular season games, playoff games, and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Since 2000, the CBC has aired an annual special Hockey Day in Canada broadcast to celebrate the game in Canada. The broadcast includes hockey-related features all afternoon, leading up to a tripleheader of NHL action featuring the seven Canadian teams. One exception was the 2008 edition that featured four games including two American teams along with the six Canadian teams; this was due to the NHL's schedule format at the time, as there was no inter-conference games between Canadian teams. Lead commentators, Don Cherry and Ron MacLean broadcast from a remote area. The broadcast includes live broadcast segments from smaller communities right across the country and features panel discussions on issues facing "Canada's game" at both the minor and pro levels. The day is usually in mid-February, but was broadcast in early January in 2002 and 2006 due to the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2006 Winter Olympics, respectively; the 2007 event was also held in January, though no sporting events key to Canada were scheduled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHL on television in the 2010s</span>

On April 19, 2011, after ESPN, Turner Sports, and Fox Sports placed bids, NBC Sports announced it had reached a ten-year extension to its U.S. television contract with the NHL worth nearly $2 billion over the tenure of the contract. The contract would cover games on both NBC and sister cable channel Versus, which became part of the NBC Sports family as the result of Versus parent Comcast's controlling purchase of NBC Universal earlier in 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rogers Communications Buys Remainder from Sportsnet". December 30, 2004. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  2. "Rogers Media sole owner of Sportsnet". Broadcaster Magazine. December 31, 2004. Archived from the original on January 3, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  3. "CRTC Decision 97-290". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. July 3, 1997. Retrieved December 24, 2009.
  4. "Decision CRTC 96-601". CRTC. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "From inspiration to perspiration". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. Archived from the original on October 17, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
  6. "Rogers Communications Buys Stake in Sports Network for C$45 Mln". Bloomberg. December 29, 2004. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  7. Chris Zelkovich, "Sportsnet adds another channel to its roster", Toronto Star , July 28, 2010; retrieved July 29, 2010.
  8. Dowbiggin (January 12, 2011). "Change is the operative word in sports radio". The Globe and Mail . Canada. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  9. 2011-0846-5, CRTC.gc.ca, 2011-12-06.
  10. Krashinsky, Susan. "Rogers builds Sportsnet brand with soccer station". The Globe and Mail . Canada. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  11. "Sportsnet Magazine launches with NHL preview". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
  12. "Sportsnet unveils new brand: Fuelled By Fans". CityNews . Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  13. Krashinsky, Susan (September 29, 2011). "Sportsnet drops the 'Rogers' and gains a whole new look". The Globe and Mail . Canada.
  14. Score Media (October 19, 2012). "Score Media Inc. completes plan of arrangement" . Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  15. Rogers Media (October 19, 2012). "Rogers Media Completes Acquisition of Score Media" . Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  16. "Rogers wants CRTC to ease Score licence rules". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  17. "CRTC clears way for Rogers to buy Score". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. April 30, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  18. "CRTC Gives Final Approval to Rogers' Acquisition of Score Media". Broadcaster Magazine. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  19. "Rogers rebrands The Score as Sportsnet 360". Marketing Magazine. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  20. "Rogers Sportsnet draws fewer viewers to NHL opening night than CBC, still sets network record". National Post . Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  21. "Sportsnet president Scott Moore resigns from Rogers". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  22. "Streaming service DAZN makes English Premier League broadcast deal official". The Globe and Mail .
  23. "Canada's Sportsnet and TSN to Share English Premier League Rights". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  24. "TSN, RDS announce new media rights agreement for Champions League, Europa League". TSN.ca. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  25. "Watch Germany's Bundesliga on Sportsnet". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  26. "Sportsnet, TSN and CTV to cover World Cup together". Cartt.ca. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  27. "CBC, Sportsnet deal broadens FIFA coverage". CBC Sports. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  28. Sportsnet Signs New Deal For Rogers Cup Until 2015 Archived June 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine , sportsnet.ca; accessed February 23, 2015.
  29. "Rogers extends sponsorship of Rogers Cup". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  30. "TSN takes over from Sportsnet for ATP Tour 1000 and 500 tennis coverage". Eh Game. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  31. "Blanketing Canada with in-depth series coverage". IndyCar.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  32. "Last-minute deal gets IndyCar race coverage for Canadian fans". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  33. "IndyCar reveals international TV broadcast deal". Motorsport.com. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  34. "Sportsnet Announces Six-Year Deal with CIS, Including Vanier Cup". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  35. 1 2 3 Faguy, Steve (August 18, 2014). "NHL broadcast schedule 2014-15: Who owns rights to what games". Fagstein. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  36. "TSN, TSN Radio 1200 become Senators' broadcasters". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  37. "Canadiens, Sportsnet ink new regional deal". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  38. "Tomorrow's Stars Today: Fans To Get More Games, More Coverage This CHL Season on Sportsnet". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  39. "NHL signs 12-year TV, Internet deal with Rogers; CBC keeps 'Hockey Night in Canada'". Toronto Star. November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  40. "Rogers reaches 12-year broadcast deal with NHL worth $5.2-billion". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  41. "Rogers scores national NHL TV rights for $5.2B". CBC News. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  42. "NHL deal with Rogers a huge blow to TSN and CBC". Toronto Star. November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  43. "CBC partners with Rogers in landmark NHL rights deal". CBC Sports. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  44. Krashinsky, Susan (September 9, 2011). "Bell Media, CBC partner for Olympic bid". The Globe and Mail . Canada. Archived from the original on September 9, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  45. "CBC wins rights to 2014, 2016 Olympic Games". CBC Sports. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  46. "Sportsnet to air 200 hours of Sochi Games". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  47. "CBC/Radio Canada welcomes partners in 2014 Sochi Olympics coverage". CBC. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  48. "Russell: CBC's Olympic deal a big win for Canadian sport". CBC Sports. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  49. Shoalts, David (October 28, 2014). "CBC lands broadcast rights to 2018, 2020 Olympics". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  50. "CBC 'very happy' with Pan Am TV ratings, defends amount of live coverage". Vancouver Sun. Canadian Press. July 24, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  51. "The Great Canadian Ratings Report: Pan Am coverage unsatisfying, but drawing big audiences". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  52. "Sportsnet and FIBA Partner to Bring the Biggest and Best International Basketball to Canadians". About Rogers. November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  53. "Sportsnet Signs Two-Year Broadcast Deal With Barclays FA Women's Super League". About Rogers. September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  54. "What the Sportsnet announcement means for curling; Charette, Albrecht both deserving of praise". Calgary Herald. August 30, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  55. "Grand Slam of Curling returns to CBC". CBC Sports. August 30, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  56. All 7 Sportsnet Channels Now Available Online with Sportsnet NOW, June 3, 2014
  57. "Rogers to offer all Sportsnet content in streaming service". CBC News. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  58. "Rogers lowers cost of Sportsnet Now and launches Now+ with more content". MobileSyrup. October 11, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  59. "SN NOW+ Adds Free NHL LIVE Access and Out-of-Market Games | iPhone in Canada Blog". January 13, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  60. "Introducing New Pricing & Package Options - Sportsnet NOW". www.snnow.ca. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  61. "Canadian NHL fans won't be able to access NHL Live in 2022-23". theprovince. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  62. "Sportsnet Announces 2023-24 NHL Regional Broadcast Schedules". Rogers Communications. September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  63. Rogers Sportsnet Continues as Home of Canucks Hockey with 47 Games in 2007–08 Archived January 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on May 25, 2007.
  64. "Rogers leveraging sports ownership to push 4K TV". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  65. "4K content becomes a reality in Canada". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  66. "4K Sports Descend on Canada: First-Ever Live 4K NBA Game From London Kicks Off Parade of 4K Content". Sports Video Group. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  67. "Sportsnet to produce first NHL game in 4K". Sportsnet.ca. Rogers Media. Retrieved January 24, 2016.

Sources