Cont'd - NHL makes 12-year/$5.2 billion Canadian TV deal w/ Sportsnet, CBC, TSN out

[joelef]

lol you answered your own question. The fact is that some NHL fans will be priced out. They will either have to stop watching the NHL or watch it through illegal means (e.g., pirated online streams). Both options obviously suck.

So while it might be "fair play to them" it's going to be suck for the a good amount of blue collar lower middle class folks and it will also prevent a good chunk of newcomers / immigrants from being exposed to the game as much.

The NHL will regret this deal. Lack of competition will mean that Rogers will ask for a high price and will not improve their middle school production values.

TSN has the ability to turn water into wine; they did it with the CFL, WJHC, and now they'll have the opportunity to maybe focus on NBA or NFL. They can take advantage of changing demographics, their appeal to urban youth, their immense hype machine, to really put a dent into the popularity of hockey in Canada.

I hope they, for some reason, decide to stick with hockey and make the CHL nearly as popular in Canada as college basketball and college football is in the US. But that is a difficult proposition and it might be easier for them to really run with the NBA, NFL, CFL on top of tennis and curling.

Then TSN shouldve payed more money. "lack of competition" Tsn made an offer and Rogers outbid them how is that "lack of competiton"?

 

[FakeKidPoker*]

Rogers/CBC seem like they could really be the new power couple.

As much as people don't want to admit it, it looks like to me CBC is still in the Sports game.

At this time too expensive to have NHL (but they put up a strong fight) yet they recently got the Olympics back for 2014 and 2016 featuring Sportsnet... and The World Cup next year... Featuring Sportsnet.

 

[PensFanSince1989]

lol you answered your own question. The fact is that some NHL fans will be priced out. They will either have to stop watching the NHL or watch it through illegal means (e.g., pirated online streams). Both options obviously suck.

So while it might be "fair play to them" it's going to be suck for the a good amount of blue collar lower middle class folks and it will also prevent a good chunk of newcomers / immigrants from being exposed to the game as much.

The NHL will regret this deal. Lack of competition will mean that Rogers will ask for a high price and will not improve their middle school production values.

TSN has the ability to turn water into wine; they did it with the CFL, WJHC, and now they'll have the opportunity to maybe focus on NBA or NFL. They can take advantage of changing demographics, their appeal to urban youth, their immense hype machine, to really put a dent into the popularity of hockey in Canada.

I hope they, for some reason, decide to stick with hockey and make the CHL nearly as popular in Canada as college basketball and college football is in the US. But that is a difficult proposition and it might be easier for them to really run with the NBA, NFL, CFL on top of tennis and curling.

Rogers/Sportsnet will make a lot more money on selling advertising spots, than whatever it can jack up subscription fees by. It's in it's interest to make the NHL and their channels accessible to as many as it can.

 

[FakeKidPoker*]

lol you answered your own question. The fact is that some NHL fans will be priced out. They will either have to stop watching the NHL or watch it through illegal means (e.g., pirated online streams). Both options obviously suck.

So while it might be "fair play to them" it's going to be suck for the a good amount of blue collar lower middle class folks and it will also prevent a good chunk of newcomers / immigrants from being exposed to the game as much.

The NHL will regret this deal. Lack of competition will mean that Rogers will ask for a high price and will not improve their middle school production values.

TSN has the ability to turn water into wine; they did it with the CFL, WJHC, and now they'll have the opportunity to maybe focus on NBA or NFL. They can take advantage of changing demographics, their appeal to urban youth, their immense hype machine, to really put a dent into the popularity of hockey in Canada.

I hope they, for some reason, decide to stick with hockey and make the CHL nearly as popular in Canada as college basketball and college football is in the US. But that is a difficult proposition and it might be easier for them to really run with the NBA, NFL, CFL on top of tennis and curling.

TSN has no chance now without NHL.

A few people have brought up World Juniors and CFL.. well you want to know why those have done so well lately? Canadian content.

You honestly think TSN is going to be able to make NBA matter up here? A league that is constantly involved in scandals and has treated the Canadian market so very poorly.

Pretty much screwing the Grizzlies and moving out of Vancouver after only six years and the Raptors are a disgrace... whatever star player they get only whines his way out of town eventually.

 

[Slow Hands]

Again, skipping obvious facts to support your agenda. First issue is that CBC and City TV would be showing hockey games, even more hockey games and that is standard cable that comes in the package and does not cost more. BTW, where are these recent fee charges Rogers has made public to access even more channels? Feel free to pass along the press release.

The other issue is that you are comparing Rogers own personal service to purchasing the rights, to another companies national broadcasting rights. I should not have to tell you that these are two different things. Not to mention why would the NHL hold Rogers to a stringent list of compliance standards in this package?

I speak to both these points, and even point out exact costs for standard cable packages and compared them to the chart released by Rogers which they showed an as example today.

I also don't bring up "another companies national broadcasting rights", not sure where you're getting that idea from.

 

[joelef]

so its now a bad thing for sport leagues to sell there tv rights to the higher bidders? Bell Media was outbid by Rogers. i fail to see how competition is monopolistic in anyway.

 

[Melrose Munch]

TSN has no chance now without NHL.

A few people have brought up World Juniors and CFL.. well you want to know why those have done so well lately? Canadian content.

You honestly think TSN is going to be able to make NBA matter up here? A league that is constantly involved in scandals and has treated the Canadian market so very poorly.

Pretty much screwing the Grizzlies and moving out of Vancouver after only six years and the Raptors are a disgrace... whatever star player they get only whines his way out of town eventually.

TSN hype machine. Believe it or not TSN plays a deciding factor in weather a sport is popular or not.

 

[TeamlessWatcher]

so its now a bad thing for sport leagues to sell there tv rights to the higher bidders? Bell Media was outbid by Rogers. i fail to see how competition is monopolistic in anyway.

{Mod} Yeah, Bell was outbid. And now, they have pretty much no NHL content. The bidding may not have been monopolistic, but the result sure as hell is. What Bell will be able to show as hockey will be bits and crumbs.

And the reason this result is bad, is it means paying more for the same content, and more restrictions on how you can watch that content.

 

[joelef]

{Mod} Yeah, Bell was outbid. And now, they have pretty much no NHL content. The bidding may not have been monopolistic, but the result sure as hell is. What Bell will be able to show as hockey will be bits and crumbs.

And the reason this result is bad, is it means paying more for the same content, and more restrictions on how you can watch that content.

so teh NHL shouldve took 10X less money? They shoudlnt try to maximize there profits?

 

[SomeSortOfHockey]

To be fair TSN has MLS, MLS growth is by far outstripping NHL growth in Canada and this trend is projected to continue and intensify. Hockey as a whole in Canada has seen a significant drop in enrollment at the youth levels and this is projected to get much worse over the next few years, and the effects of this are very elastic ie. it will take a while for them to be felt. Having said that, like I said, this deal makes it clear that TSN could never win this bid because they are not a ISP and content provider, they are only a producer.

 

[Vegeta]

TSN hype machine. Believe it or not TSN plays a deciding factor in weather a sport is popular or not.

Call me crazy, but I think that the main reason why people watch TSN more than Sportsnet is because Sportscenter is a far superior production than SN Connected. I think that show is the true anchor for that network.

As long SC is still around, I think that TSN has a real shot at staying alive and perhaps propelling the popularity of the NBA and NFL to levels that we haven't seen before for those sports in Canada.

 

[FakeKidPoker*]

TSN hype machine. Believe it or not TSN plays a deciding factor in weather a sport is popular or not.

Hmmm no, not really.

 

[TeamlessWatcher]

so teh NHL shouldve took 10X less money? They shoudlnt try to maximize there profits?

I'm not blaming the NHL for not taking "10X less money" (where did you get the numbers that Bell offered?). Obviously they are a business and going to try to make the most profit they can. So will Rogers and I'm sure they have a plan to squeeze the most out of consumers that they can. That doesn't mean it's a good thing for hockey fans.

Oh and for the record, I think the NHL WILL regret this decision. In my opinion, it will end up damaging hockey's popularity in Canada and quite possibly for a very long time.

 

[Habsawce]

Rogers/Sportsnet will make a lot more money on selling advertising spots, than whatever it can jack up subscription fees by. It's in it's interest to make the NHL and their channels accessible to as many as it can.

Petty was on today and explicitly said sport dont make their money off advertisement but subscriptions.

For instance, this year Sportsnet pays 750k per game to broadcast Leafs games. How much advertisement dollars in that 3 hours do you think they make? Certainly not 750k

 

[MarkGio]

Rogers did nothing wrong here, and the NHL didn't do anything wrong either. The CBC, which is a crown corporation funded and run by the government of Canada just gave away their cash cow to a private enterprise to make a profit off of with no fiscal benefits to them at all.

In zero worlds does it make sense for a public entity to make revenue for a private enterprise. This is not allowed and everyone is mum.

Won't be the first crown corporation to have private involvement. Canada Post, Air Canada, CN rail and Petro Canada.

 

[agent2421]

Call me crazy, but I think that the main reason why people watch TSN more than Sportsnet is because Sportscenter is a far superior production than SN Connected. I think that show is the true anchor for that network.

As long SC is still around, I think that TSN has a real shot at staying alive and perhaps propelling the popularity of the NBA and NFL to levels that we haven't seen before for those sports in Canada.

I agree 100% In the end I think the NHL will suffer from this deal and will regret it. TSN has done everything possible to make hockey #1 and hype it up like crazy. The CFL, WHC, would not have been successful on Sportsnet ... no way. I think TSN gives a more "youth" approach while Sportsnet is "old men, boring approach" .... Unless they make drastic changes in production and staff which is very probable, I wouldn't count TSN out just yet. They have the regional games, but also could make NBA or NFL more popular as well in Canada. Wouldn't surprise me since a lot of faithful watchers on TSN might tune into NBA and NFL games a bit. I always have my channel on TSN and that probably won't change, I like Sportscentre more, I like everything about the station more. If they still cover hockey which they will, my channel will be on TSN, if a NFL or NBA game is on, I might consider watching it (as long as my Sens aren't playing)...

While it's great we might get more games, we might also get screwed over with prices and packages and bundles. I think NBA has a high chance of becoming popular if TSN regularly airs the games. Right now its what, once a week or something? If they air more of it, and hype it up, it might get popular.

 

[Habsawce]

Won't be the first crown corporation to have private involvement. Canada Post, Air Canada, CN rail and Petro Canada.

Sold to private enterprise for a profit, CBC is giving their biggest money maker for free to Rogers to earn them revenue. This would be like CN Rail giving another company the rights to their tracks for free and all the profits but getting to keep their name on the sign. Foolish, unethical, whatever you want to call it, CBC messed up here.

 

[TeamlessWatcher]

I agree 100% In the end I think the NHL will suffer from this deal and will regret it. TSN has done everything possible to make hockey #1 and hype it up like crazy. The CFL, WHC, would not have been successful on Sportsnet ... no way. I think TSN gives a more "youth" approach while Sportsnet is "old men, boring approach" .... Unless they make drastic changes in production and staff which is very probable, I wouldn't count TSN out just yet. They have the regional games, but also could make NBA or NFL more popular as well in Canada. Wouldn't surprise me since a lot of faithful watchers on TSN might tune into NBA and NFL games a bit. I always have my channel on TSN and that probably won't change, I like Sportscentre more, I like everything about the station more. If they still cover hockey which they will, my channel will be on TSN, if a NFL or NBA game is on, I might consider watching it (as long as my Sens aren't playing)...

While it's great we might get more games, we might also get screwed over with prices and packages and bundles. I think NBA has a high chance of becoming popular if TSN regularly airs the games. Right now its what, once a week or something? If they air more of it, and hype it up, it might get popular.

Definitely agree that the feel of TSN vs RSN is light and day. It's hard to explain, but to put it simply TSN is the classy gentlemen and RSN is the 35 year old white rapper wanna-be.

Everything from the attitude to the personalities to the lighting is better on TSN.

 

[saffronleaf]

Rogers/CBC seem like they could really be the new power couple.

As much as people don't want to admit it, it looks like to me CBC is still in the Sports game.

At this time too expensive to have NHL (but they put up a strong fight) yet they recently got the Olympics back for 2014 and 2016 featuring Sportsnet... and The World Cup next year... Featuring Sportsnet.

Hahaha it's cute that you think it's some kind of "couple" -- make no mistake, Rogers dominates this deal and the CBC. They're taking advantage of CBC's brand and desperation. CBC was sustaining itself through profits generated from HNIC; the free CBC ads they'll get now on HNIC will be insufficient to cover their losses otherwise. This deal will mark the death of CBC.

 

[Doc McKenna]

Jlp thats my point its my taxes being used for tv shows I hate and a poltical agenda I dont agree with.My solution is the American Formula which is KCTS which gets a large portion of their money from public donations.By the way is a good station.Cbc I understand is supported by many canadiens but not me.

Guess what, the other private companies also get subsidies form taxpayers though Sun news never tell you this, even though they are one of the recipients. I have more of a problem with CHerry and his political comments on a non political show.

 

[MarkGio]

Are you ignorant about our government works? There is much more at play here than just hockey being on a couple more channels. This is a systematic issue where our regulatory agency is not performing their duties that we as tax payers are trusting them to do.

If we allow corporations to continue to step on us over and over eventually we'll have nothing left.

Tell me, what are these duties? What cabinet minister do you trust, ever? And when has CBC ever stepped on Canadians?

These vague, random accusations are without merit.

 

[PensFanSince1989]

To be fair TSN has MLS, MLS growth is by far outstripping NHL growth in Canada and this trend is projected to continue and intensify. Hockey as a whole in Canada has seen a significant drop in enrollment at the youth levels and this is projected to get much worse over the next few years, and the effects of this are very elastic ie. it will take a while for them to be felt. Having said that, like I said, this deal makes it clear that TSN could never win this bid because they are not a ISP and content provider, they are only a producer.

TSN is owned by Bell....

 

[MarkGio]

Sold to private enterprise for a profit, CBC is giving their biggest money maker for free to Rogers to earn them revenue. This would be like CN Rail giving another company the rights to their tracks for free and all the profits but getting to keep their name on the sign. Foolish, unethical, whatever you want to call it, CBC messed up here.

What?

CBC has no revenue or costs for HNiC, which is a mere fraction of their radio, television, journalistic and internet operations. It allows them to promote CBC broadcast and its other operations during HNiC while Rogers eats the bill for the air time. Rogers only controls the editing and personnel. If CBC decides to take HNiC off the air, that's CBC's call.

 

[Habsawce]

Tell me, what are these duties? What cabinet minister do you trust, ever? And when has CBC ever stepped on Canadians?

These vague, random accusations are without merit.

I've already said this but sure, why not again. CBC is a crown corporation which will now be providing services to Rogers for free during primetime for them to general profits. If you can explain to me how the CRTC can justifiably allow a PUBLIC entity to create revenue for a PRIVATE enterprise without breaking any anti-trust laws, I'd love to hear it.

 

[saffronleaf]

I agree 100% In the end I think the NHL will suffer from this deal and will regret it. TSN has done everything possible to make hockey #1 and hype it up like crazy. The CFL, WHC, would not have been successful on Sportsnet ... no way. I think TSN gives a more "youth" approach while Sportsnet is "old men, boring approach" .... Unless they make drastic changes in production and staff which is very probable, I wouldn't count TSN out just yet. They have the regional games, but also could make NBA or NFL more popular as well in Canada. Wouldn't surprise me since a lot of faithful watchers on TSN might tune into NBA and NFL games a bit. I always have my channel on TSN and that probably won't change, I like Sportscentre more, I like everything about the station more. If they still cover hockey which they will, my channel will be on TSN, if a NFL or NBA game is on, I might consider watching it (as long as my Sens aren't playing)...

While it's great we might get more games, we might also get screwed over with prices and packages and bundles. I think NBA has a high chance of becoming popular if TSN regularly airs the games. Right now its what, once a week or something? If they air more of it, and hype it up, it might get popular.

100% Agreed.

The NHL will regret this deal. 12 years from now, when the dust settles, hockey will barely be hanging on as the most popular spectator sport in Canada. Times are changing.

Sportsnet is primarily targeted toward senior citizens. That's why they got baseball, which, of the four major leagues, is the only one that has a really senior viewership demographic. Sportsnet is probably the most popular network in retirement homes.

TSN is targeted to young, urban folks. They will be weaned off hockey over time. People won't realize it right away, but at the end of this deal, the exorbitant growth in soccer and basketball we've seen thus far will continue. Canada is already producing elite talent in the NBA.

I just hope that TSN somehow remains committed to hockey despite this snubbing, and maybe picks up the CHL when that deal expires and turns that into a hot property.