AaronQ 288 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 ESPN bringing back the NHL would be huge.
dman748 1256 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 I see this potentially being a split between either ESPN and NBC or ESPN and Fox I think its most likely going to be ESPN/NBC largely because both Comcast and Disney have poured a lot of resources to streaming across both ESPN Plus and Peacock so I expect those to continue. I have serious doubts that ABC is going to be part of the TV package this go around as ESPN is only after partial NHL rights.
doublejman69 124 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 Its hard to speculate until The NFL tv contracts are sorted out but the NHL wants two broadcast partners and having them spilt the postseason. I could see a large chunk of regular season games being streaming only nationally.
doublejman69 124 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 If Fox is part of the NHL package there is some speculation that FOX could be swapping at least one large market O&O for another Fox affiliate...
TVNewsLover 797 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 7 hours ago, doublejman69 said: If Fox is part of the NHL package there is some speculation that FOX could be swapping at least one large market O&O for another Fox affiliate... Which markets and why?
jerseyfla 207 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 7 hours ago, doublejman69 said: If Fox is part of the NHL package there is some speculation that FOX could be swapping at least one large market O&O for another Fox affiliate... I don't see this happening unless they try and get WFXT back for a 3rd time. They tried to own every NFC market station but buying WJZY in Charlotte bombed. FTS is better to get an already established station like they have with KCPQ and KTVU.
nickp 344 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 ESPN not renew the NHL's TV contract after the 2004–05 NHL lockout
jerseyfla 207 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, nickp said: Didn't ESPN not renew the NHL's TV contract after the lockout ESPN already had one foot out the NHL door when they gained the NBA from NBC in 2002. The last contract was a one year deal for the Locked Out 2004-05 season with ESPN 2 sharing with NBC. NBC would have taken the games ABC had. ESPN is now seeing how vital the NHL was for them and how people longed for the National Hockey Night days.
nickp 344 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 7 minutes ago, jerseyfla said: ESPN already had one foot out the NHL door when they gained the NBA from NBC in 2002. The last contract was a one year deal for the Locked Out 2004-05 season with ESPN 2 sharing with NBC. NBC would have taken the games ABC had. ESPN is now seeing how vital the NHL was for them and how people longed for the National Hockey Night days. ESPN’s attitude towards covering the NHL changed when they got the NBA TV rights in 2002
jerseyfla 207 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 1 minute ago, nickp said: ESPN’s attitude towards covering the NHL changed when they got the NBA TV rights in 2002 That's why I said they had one foot out of the NHL door when they gained the NBA.
lugnuts6 91 Posted February 21, 2021 Posted February 21, 2021 FOX had a taste with the NHL, it was so-so , if they were to get it, they would probably have it on FS1/FS2 with Saturday nights for FOX starting at 7 call it hockey night in America
channel2 982 Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 Wouldn't it be wiser for the NHL to make like MLB and have three national TV partners? It might mean more revenue for them...
doublejman69 124 Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 10 hours ago, TVNewsLover said: Which markets and why? It should be pointed out that talks are only at preliminary stages at this point but Fox is kicking the tires at WFXT in Boston. Even though Boston is a AFC market, national games on fox in Boston for the most part do very well, any Bruin game on fox would also get good ratings. Fox would be trading station(s) in non NFC markets. The only way talks would extend farther is if Fox has the same NFL packages going forward(Sunday afternoon, Thursday night and flex scheduling) and part of the any NHL package. Before people start speculating, WFXT is the only station FOX is looking at this time.
channel2 982 Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 The station they gave up because they just had to have their Niners Station?
doublejman69 124 Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 1 hour ago, channel2 said: The station they gave up because they just had to have their Niners Station? When fox traded WFXT there wasn’t any flex scheduling for Sunday afternoon games and Thursday night football wasn’t as big as it is now. It’s no secret that in the past that Fox wanted o&o stations in NFC markets. We will see what Fox’s next NFL contract offers, but it’s likely fox will be airing more AFC (Pat) games and with Boston being one of the few markets were the NHL will get at least decent ratings, Fox’s focus has probably change to owning those stations that will get high ratings for the sporting events that Fox will air.
channel2 982 Posted February 22, 2021 Posted February 22, 2021 How come Fox is so aggressive about having O&Os in strategically-located markets but the other networks would apparently rather jump into a pool of ice water than buy stations? NBC presumably got all their seething out of their system once they got their long-sought Philly and San Francisco O&Os - and pre-empted a big long tantrum about Dallas-Fort Worth by simply conditioning their investment in Hicks Muse's deal for LIN on gaining control of KXAS...
Georgie56 3333 Posted March 9, 2021 Author Posted March 9, 2021 It’s official. Effective next season.
doublejman69 124 Posted March 10, 2021 Posted March 10, 2021 It shouldn't be surprising that ESPN got half of the NHL contract, It sounds like FOX and NBC are pushing very hard for the other half, NBC has better streaming option and Fox is a little more willing to do multiple regionals on game nights. Its likely the NHL will at least get double from there last US rights fees.
The Frog 435 Posted March 10, 2021 Posted March 10, 2021 Important to note that the NHL.TV streaming package is moving wholesale to ESPN+. With this deal, Disney/ESPN becomes the 'A' rights holder to the NHL. NBCU and Fox are in contention for the remaining rights. I'd wager that NBCU will keep their slice of it, aiming to bolster Peacock and USA Network.
Georgie56 3333 Posted March 10, 2021 Author Posted March 10, 2021 And yes, the ESPN NHL theme is coming back.
Gavin 118 Posted March 12, 2021 Posted March 12, 2021 On 2/21/2021 at 12:13 PM, jerseyfla said: I don't see this happening unless they try and get WFXT back for a 3rd time. They tried to own every NFC market station but buying WJZY in Charlotte bombed. FTS is better to get an already established station like they have with KCPQ and KTVU. Tjey could get WRAZ in Raleigh sicnce that where the Canes are at that would make another close by FOX O&Os like Tampa and Orlando.
Georgie56 3333 Posted April 23, 2021 Author Posted April 23, 2021 Looks like NBC is gonna be out of the NHL entirely after the current season ends, if true.
JCB4TV 352 Posted April 23, 2021 Posted April 23, 2021 7 minutes ago, Georgie56 said: Looks like NBC is gonna be out of the NHL entirely after the current season ends, if true. This would lead me to believe that Fox may be the leading candidate for the second package.
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