NHL Black Outs - Explanation

[rkolsen 1678]

I posted two pages about the upcoming NHL Playoff Schedule and Distribution Map on my website. I combined two documents that I got online for convenience. The first page is a document from the NBCUniversal Cable Affliate Website which lists what games are blacked out. The second document comes from the NBC Sports Group Pressbox which shows which game NBC affiliates will get for tomorrow's game.

 

First off I would like to confirm what I think some of the columns of the black out list.

 

• US NATL = what channel the game will be played on for the entire country aside from the home / away markets.
  
• AWAY TV = which regional sports network the game will air on for the away team.
  
• HOME TV = which regional sports network the game will air on for the home team.
  
• BO = whether the game will be blacked out.
  
• AWAY BO = what will air on the national channel during the game in the away teams region.
  
• HOME BO = what will air on the national channel during the game in the home teams region.
  

I am having trouble determining what some of the answers for the AWAY BO / HOME BO mean. I assume they refer to what will be airing on the national channel during the game. I am listing what my best guest will be:

 

• sphere = a different national feed for the home / away market.
  
• sphere 2 = a second different national feed for the home / away market.
  
• none = this is the one that puzzles me.
  

Some of the games have no regional sports net carrying the game locally where NONE is listed for the either the of HOME BO / AWAY BO for the national feed. Does this mean that the national feed will air nothing in its place or will the game be carried on the cable channel in the market even though the game is listed as blacked out?

 

EDIT: After looking some more it appears most of the games that list NONE as the HOME BO/AWAY BO are in Canada where they are probably carried on one of of their cable channels where NBC has no rights. But there are one or two that list NONE in one column while listing the BO feed in the other. An example of the Winnipeg Jets at the Anaheim Ducks where the game will air on PRIME in Winnipeg but it lists NONE for Anaheim.

 

Finally with the NHL NBC affiliate distribution map shows how the stations will receive their games. Most affiliates will receive their games through the NBC Sky Path System while a few will get their signal via microwave through a parent station.

 

It appears most of the microwave stations are satellite stations such as KSNW feeding their signal to KSNG, KSNC, KSNK, KSNL. A couple appear to not have a parent station such as WRDE-LD which makes me wonder where they are getting their feed from? The closest stations are WBAL, WCAU and WRC - the first two are still widely carried on Cable in the Delmarva peninsula.

 

Also this is a good map if you want to know where all the major NBC affiliates are save for the translators.

[Viper550 268]

I still find it crazy that you still have playoff blackouts.

 

In Canada, the national rightsholder has exclusive rights to the playoffs in every round. Note I say rightsholder, without an S. In the past, it was split between CBC/TSN, but CBC had exclusivity beginning at the conference finals. It seems as if Rogers is emulating this strategy.

[Spring Rubber 611]

EDIT: After looking some more it appears most of the games that list NONE as the HOME BO/AWAY BO are in Canada where they are probably carried on one of of their cable channels where NBC has no rights. But there are one or two that list NONE in one column while listing the BO feed in the other. An example of the Winnipeg Jets at the Anaheim Ducks where the game will air on PRIME in Winnipeg but it lists NONE for Anaheim.

You mean that it will air on PRIME for Anaheim, and NONE in Winnipeg.

 

Basically everywhere where it says "NONE" is indicating that the column is irrelevant due to being a Canadian team.

[Spring Rubber 611]

I still find it crazy that you still have playoff blackouts.

 

In Canada, the national rightsholder has exclusive rights to the playoffs in every round. Note I say rightsholder, without an S. In the past, it was split between CBC/TSN, but CBC had exclusivity beginning at the conference finals. It seems as if Rogers is emulating this strategy.

Basically, to keep the regional sports networks happy, they give exclusive rights to each team's local network during round 1 of the playoffs. For round 2 and beyond, everything is on the national networks NBC and NBCSN.

 

The NBA does the exact same thing, but they don't black out the national feeds during round 1 of their playoffs. Everyone has the option of either watching their local broadcast or watching the national broadcast on TNT/ESPN/ABC. Round 2 and beyond are all on the national networks.

[Mrtraveler01 737]

 

Basically, to keep the regional sports networks happy, they give exclusive rights to each team's local network during round 1 of the playoffs. For round 2 and beyond, everything is on the national networks NBC and NBCSN.

 

I don't think that includes weekend games on NBC.

 

I live in St. Louis and the Blues/Wild game was on NBC while the Red Wings/Lightning game was on NBCSN. But you are correct otherwise.

 

As far as Canada is concerned, it seems like that they're following the same pattern they did when TSN and CBC had the rights but they switched out TSN for Sportsnet.

[Thundershock MN 169]

First off I would like to confirm what I think some of the columns of the black out list.

• US NATL = what channel the game will be played on for the entire country aside from the home / away markets.
  
• AWAY TV = which regional sports network the game will air on for the away team.
  
• HOME TV = which regional sports network the game will air on for the home team.
  
• BO = whether the game will be blacked out.
  
• AWAY BO = what will air on the national channel during the game in the away teams region.
  
• HOME BO = what will air on the national channel during the game in the home teams region.
  

I am having trouble determining what some of the answers for the AWAY BO / HOME BO mean. I assume they refer to what will be airing on the national channel during the game. I am listing what my best guest will be:

• sphere = a different national feed for the home / away market.
  
• sphere 2 = a second different national feed for the home / away market.
  
• none = this is the one that puzzles me.
  

Some of the games have no regional sports net carrying the game locally where NONE is listed for the either the of HOME BO / AWAY BO for the national feed. Does this mean that the national feed will air nothing in its place or will the game be carried on the cable channel in the market even though the game is listed as blacked out?

 

 

 

EDIT: After looking some more it appears most of the games that list NONE as the HOME BO/AWAY BO are in Canada where they are probably carried on one of of their cable channels where NBC has no rights. But there are one or two that list NONE in one column while listing the BO feed in the other. An example of the Winnipeg Jets at the Anaheim Ducks where the game will air on PRIME in Winnipeg but it lists NONE for Anaheim.

The Away BO & Home BO columns refer to how far the blackout extends. The NHL uses the terms "50 Mile, Sphere & Outer" refer to how large the blackout "radius" is. They also use the terms "BO Lift and None" as well. I'm not sure what "Sphere 2" is as I've never seen that used. I'm guessing it might be a renaming or alternate name for "Outer".

• 50 Mile = Exactly what it says. This is the teams exclusive broadcast territory. It's a 50 mile radius from the team's home arena. This is almost exclusively reserved for local OTA broadcasts.
  
• Sphere = This is the NHL-designated "Sphere of Influence" territory for the team. The size of this territory varies by team. In most cases the team's RSN falls entirely within the "Sphere of Influence" territory or, closely mirrors it.
  
• Outer (or, Sphere 2) = This refers to the "outer" market areas of each teams broadcast territory that falls outside the team's "Sphere of Influence" but, within the RSN local coverage area. The size of this territory also varies by team.
  
• BO Lift = Exactly what it says. It means the blackout requirement has been removed for that local broadcast territory for that game. In limited cases the NHL at it's sole discretion may lift blackout restrictions but, this is done on a case-by-case basis.
  
• None = Has two meanings depending on what type up of chart you are viewing. First, if you are viewing a chart listing all zip codes/cable markets and "None" is listed it means that the zip code/cable market does not fall within any member clubs broadcast area(s.) The second meaning is sometimes used when viewing charts listing each game. If "None" is listed it means there is no blackout within the applicable broadcast territory. It's usually due to the field on the chart not being applicable. For whatever reason sometimes "None" is used versus leaving the field blank or using "N/A." For example, when viewing U.S. Chart (like the NBCU one listed) the fields for Canadian teams Away/Home BO are largely irrelevant. And, vice versa for Canadian charts. However, There are a couple very limited instances (during the regular season mostly related to NHL Center Ice) where that Away/Home BO field would be applicable on a cross-border chart.
  

Think of it kind of like a bullseye with "50 mile" representing the center circle and "Sphere" and "Outer/Sphere 2" each representing a ring the further you move out from the center. The NHL tries to balance all the teams broadcast territories so that the populations within them are relatively equal. So, some teams broadcast territories cover large geographic areas while others are compact. So, based on my memory/knowledge, I'll use the Minnesota Wild as an example:

• 50 Mile = This is a 50 mile radius from Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. This area will be blacked out if "50 Mile, Sphere or Outer" is listed.
  
• Sphere = The NHL-designated "Sphere of Influence" territory for the Wild encompasses the remainder of Minnesota, all of North Dakota, all of South Dakota, parts of Iowa and the western half of Wisconsin (from Madison west.) This area will be blacked out if "Sphere or Outer" is listed.
  
• Outer (or, Sphere 2) = The "outer" market areas of the Wild's broadcast territory that falls outside the team's "Sphere of Influence" but, within the RSN local coverage area include the remainder of Iowa and the eastern half of Wisconsin. This area will be blacked out if "Outer" is listed.
  

WRT replacement programing in "blacked out" markets. During the regular season NBCU will occasionally spool up an alternate feed of NBCSN for "blacked out" markets. All NBCSN games on Wednesday Nights during the regular season are exclusive and, all other nights are "Non-Inclusive" telecasts. However, I don't believe NBC provides an alternate feed of NBCSN during the first round of the NHL playoffs (exempting yesterday's "Reverse Mirror") as I don't recall ever seeing one. And, NBCU doesn't provide alternate feeds for CNBC or USA at all. So, during the first round of the playoffs you either get the channel (ie: NBCSN, CNBC or USA) or don't (receiving a black screen or slate) depending if you are in a "blacked out" market or not.

 

Likewise, all NHLN games during the regular season are "Non-Inclusive" telecasts. And, NHLN will spool up an alternate feed with a replacement game for "blacked out" markets during the regular season. But, like NBCSN I don't believe NHLN provides an alternate feed during the playoffs. Not that it matters much as very few playoff games are actually scheduled for NHLN and most of the time they involve Canadian teams rendering "blackouts" pretty much moot.

Basically, to keep the regional sports networks happy, they give exclusive rights to each team's local network during round 1 of the playoffs. For round 2 and beyond, everything is on the national networks NBC and NBCSN.

That's mostly true. However, all games on NBC are exclusive to the network. This includes not only the regular season but, also the first round of the playoffs. This applies to both full national and regional coverage. However, the NHL/NBC contract calls for all playoff games to be available nationally. So, the regional coverage yesterday afternoon on NBC required a "reverse mirror" on NBCSN to make sure both games were available nationally. And, as you stated all the playoff games from second round and beyond are exclusive to the NBCU networks.

[rkolsen 1678]

Thanks for clarifying.