Kenneth Gary Albert is an American sportscaster, the son of legendary NBA sportscaster Marv Albert and the nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its dedicated national sports networking cables. Formerly operating as "a service of NBC News", it broadcasts a diverse array of sports events, including the French Open, the IndyCar Series, NASCAR, the National Football League (NFL), Notre Dame Fighting Irish college football, the Olympic Games, professional golf, Premier League soccer, the Tour de France and Thoroughbred racing, among others. Other programming from outside producers – such as coverage of the Ironman Triathlon – is also presented on the network through NBC Sports. With Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, its own cable sports networks were aligned with NBC Sports into a part of the division known as the NBC Sports Group.
NHL on NBC was a branding that was used a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by NBC Sports, and televised on NBC in the United States. While NBC covered the league at various points in its history, the network's last relationship with the NHL is the result of NBC Sports acquiring the league's broadcast television rights from ABC in 2005. Its most recent contract with the league ran until the end of the 2020–21 NHL season; NHL broadcasting rights onward have been acquired by ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports. Though the main NBC network no longer airs NHL games, NBC Sports Regional Networks currently airs some games in the form of game telecasts that air on a regional basis, featuring local NHL franchises that each of the regional networks have respective broadcast rights to air in their designated market.
The NHL on ESPN is a television presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games on ESPN properties, including ABC, ESPN+, and Hulu.
The following is an overview of the television ratings for the NBC's National Hockey League telecasts.
The NHL on Versus was a presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005–06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of regular season games, playoff games, and select games from the Stanley Cup Finals.
NHL on USA was the de facto title of a television show that broadcast National Hockey League games on the USA Network. The network last broadcast regular-season games in 1985, but as part of current parent company NBCUniversal's contract to cover the NHL, the network resumed broadcasting a handful of games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, by serving as an overflow channel for NHL playoff games that could not air on sister networks NBC or NBCSN through the end of the 2020–21 NHL season, when the latter network ceased operations.
Hockey Weekend Across America is an annual event devised by USA Hockey to promote the game of ice hockey in the United States. The weekend is capped by "Hockey Day in America", with broadcasts of National Hockey League games on the national networks of NBC.
NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming primarily involving fishing, hunting, outdoor adventure programs, and outdoor sports. By the turn of the 21st century, OLN became better known for its extensive coverage of the Tour de France but eventually began covering more "mainstream" sporting events, resulting in its relaunch as Versus in September 2006.
Liam McHugh is an American television sportscaster. He is a studio host for Turner Sports coverage of the NHL. He previously worked on NBC Sports coverage of the NHL as well as Notre Dame Fighting Irish football and NBC Sunday Night Football. He was also perhaps the face of NBCSN, anchoring much of its staple programming, including the NHL, Tour De France, college football, college basketball and the Premier League, prior to joining Turner.
The 2014 NHL Stadium Series was a series of four outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) games played during the 2013–14 season. This series is distinct from the NHL Winter Classic and NHL Heritage Classic outdoor games. The Stadium Series games consisted of: the Los Angeles Kings against the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25, 2014; the New Jersey Devils against the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx of New York City on January 26; the New York Islanders against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium on January 29; and the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Chicago Blackhawks at Soldier Field in Chicago on March 1, 2014.
The Stadium Series is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). This event is distinct from the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic and NHL Heritage Classic outdoor games, played on New Year's Day and in Canada, respectively. Games in the Stadium Series have been held in either late January, February, or early March in a football or baseball stadium in the United States. The first Stadium Series was held in 2014 and consisted of seven teams participating in four games held in three venues. In 2015, only one game in the Stadium Series was held, while in 2016, two games were held. Since 2017, only one game has been scheduled per year.
The 2015 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2014–15 season, and the culmination of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning four games to two to win their sixth championship in franchise history, and their third title in six seasons.
Wednesday Night Rivalry and Wednesday Night Hockey was the branding used for National Hockey League games that aired on NBCSN on Wednesday nights during the regular season from January 2013 to May 2021.
Sunday Night Hockey is a weekly presentation of National Hockey League games that air on NBCSN on Sundays during the regular season. Sunday Night Hockey usually debuts during the second Sunday of January.
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.
NBC Sports's deal with the National Hockey League for U.S. television rights ran through the 2020–21 season, and was replaced in 2021–22 by seven-year agreements with ESPN and Turner Sports to split coverage.
NBC Sports on USA Network is the de facto branding used for NBC Sports produced sporting events on USA Network. Since 2022, USA Network has been the de facto cable home of NBC Sports, following the closure of NBCSN. From 2008 to 2021, NBC Sports programs only aired on USA during rare circumstances. Prior to 2008, sports programs on USA used the branding USA Sports.
