2024-25 NHL/NBA Season

[Georgie56 3292]

With NHL preseason getting underway, let’s get this thread underway.

 

Victory+ is broadcasting its first-ever Dallas Stars game tonight.

Edited September 21, 2024 by Georgie56

[Viper550 289]

Graphics feel like a mix of TNT with some CBS-esque stylings. Besides the size I'd say that's pretty nice.

 

MSG also has new graphics

 

[SDHIll1980 98]

The Portland Trail Blazers now have a new broadcast partner:  KATU and Sinclair

https://www.nba.com/blazers/news/portland-trail-blazers-announce-future-of-trail-blazers-broadcasting

 

A multi-year deal that includes distribution on Sinclair stations throughout Oregon and Washington, mainly on subchannels including in Portland on KATU 2.2 (Charge!) until January 1, 2025, when Blazers telecasts move to KUNP Channel 16 (currently Univision); in Seattle, the games will air on KUNS 51.2 (TBD Network).  Also as part of the agreement, the Blazers are creating a paid direct-to-consumer streaming service (BlazerVision) that will have live and classic games, pre and postgame content, and other team-oriented programming.

[TheRolyPoly 2346]

46 minutes ago, SDHIll1980 said:

The Portland Trail Blazers now have a new broadcast partner:  KATU and Sinclair

https://www.nba.com/blazers/news/portland-trail-blazers-announce-future-of-trail-blazers-broadcasting

 

A multi-year deal that includes distribution on Sinclair stations throughout Oregon and Washington, mainly on subchannels including in Portland on KATU 2.2 (Charge!) until January 1, 2025, when Blazers telecasts move to KUNP Channel 16 (currently Univision); in Seattle, the games will air on KUNS 51.2 (TBD Network).  Also as part of the agreement, the Blazers are creating a paid direct-to-consumer streaming service (BlazerVision) that will have live and classic games, pre and postgame content, and other team-oriented programming.

 

This probably means that Univision Portland's days are numbered.

[SDHIll1980 98]

For the third straight season, KTLA will carry a limited number of Clippers games--four preseason, and eleven regular-season contests.  

 

[T.L. Hughes 881]

13 hours ago, SDHIll1980 said:

The Portland Trail Blazers now have a new broadcast partner:  KATU and Sinclair

https://www.nba.com/blazers/news/portland-trail-blazers-announce-future-of-trail-blazers-broadcasting

 

A multi-year deal that includes distribution on Sinclair stations throughout Oregon and Washington, mainly on subchannels including in Portland on KATU 2.2 (Charge!) until January 1, 2025, when Blazers telecasts move to KUNP Channel 16 (currently Univision); in Seattle, the games will air on KUNS 51.2 (TBD Network).  Also as part of the agreement, the Blazers are creating a paid direct-to-consumer streaming service (BlazerVision) that will have live and classic games, pre and postgame content, and other team-oriented programming.

Weird that the Blazers are partnering with Sinclair to distribute their Rip Sports network, considering other NBA teams have ditched Sinclair part-owned Bally Sports (though in their case, the Blazers ditched Root Sports Northwest). It’s especially odd, considering that Gray owns KPTV/KPDX in Portland and has created over-the-air RSNs in a few of its other markets (including New Orleans, where the Pelicans are moving to one to be carried over WVUE’s signal), which should have made Gray a natural partner.

Edited September 24, 2024 by T.L. Hughes

[nathannah 2400]

I'm more shocked that finally after so many years, the Blazers are finally ditching their weird love of pay-per-view broadcasts and cable, which they've been insistent on for years, probably only because most cable providers just don't do PPV any longer outside the satellite companies who still love rural WWE viewers who are naive and will hand off $50/event, or will not pay for Peacock and Starlink. They went kicking and screaming all the way to the end before returning to broadcast, but I get the feeling they'll promote the DTC service much more than KUNP.

As for Univision, here we go again with the same issues their Seattle viewers faced last year. Unlike Seattle which got Weigel to take it on KVOS, there are no full-power options for the network unless they convince Scripps/KPXG or Gray/KPDX to take main-channel carriage.

[SDHIll1980 98]

32 minutes ago, T.L. Hughes said:

Weird that the Blazers are partnering with Sinclair to distribute their Rip Sports network, considering other NBA teams have ditched Sinclair part-owned Bally Sports (though in their case, the Blazers ditched Root Sports Northwest). It’s especially odd, considering that Gray owns KPTV/KPDX in Portland and has created over-the-air RSNs in a few of its other markets (including New Orleans, where the Pelicans are moving to one to be carried over WVUE’s signal), which should have made Gray a natural partner.

 

I would have thought that the Blazers would have gone with Gray as well, but probably the financials didn't add up to make it viable for both parties. Beyond Gray and Sinclair, the other options in Portland were rather limited, between Tegna (KGW), Nexstar (KOIN/KRCW), and even Ion/Scripps.  Through all of the different TV partners they've had over the years, the Blazers have always handled their on-air production in-house, so it shouldn't have any remnants of Bally Sports graphics or production styles in their telecasts.

 

Although I'm not a fan of this team, I've checked out the reactions of Blazers fans on Reddit and a couple of their team blogs...there are quite a few that aren't happy with the Sinclair association.  Never mind that Sinclair is only providing the outlets to air games, while the team is handling the broadcast infrastructure internally.

[DENDude 216]

Tegna's  KUSA (NBC) & KTVD (My Network TV) will carry 20 Colorado Avalanche games over the air this season, on both channels  produced by Altitude, according to an email I received this morning. 

KUSA & KTVD will also carry 20 Nuggets games.

 

 [ No word yet on coverage for the Colorado Mammoth (NLL).  I'm going to guess Tegna will be involved somehow.]   It's kinda full circle for KTVD as they carried NBA & NHL games in the mid 1990s, they were owned by Newsweb corp back then.

Edited September 26, 2024 by DENDude

[SDHIll1980 98]

Never mind, DENDude beat me to it...

Edited September 26, 2024 by SDHIll1980

[ekt8750 50]

New NBC Sports look for hockey 

 

And here's a highlight package from the NHL that shows off some elements from the package: 

 

Edited September 27, 2024 by ekt8750

[TheRolyPoly 2346]

On 9/24/2024 at 2:23 AM, TheRolyPoly said:

 

This probably means that Univision Portland's days are numbered.

 

And..... I was right.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oregonlive.com/business/2024/09/portlands-kunp-tv-will-drop-univision-affiliation-spanish-language-programming-in-2025.html%3foutputType=amp

[TVLurker 198]

On 9/27/2024 at 12:58 AM, TheRolyPoly said:

 

And..... I was right.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oregonlive.com/business/2024/09/portlands-kunp-tv-will-drop-univision-affiliation-spanish-language-programming-in-2025.html%3foutputType=amp

Sinclair is racist for doing this.

[Georgie56 3292]

12 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

Sinclair is racist for doing this.

Racist how? They dropped a Univision affiliation in Seattle for The CW.

[TVLurker 198]

2 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

Racist how? They dropped a Univision affiliation in Seattle for The CW.

You know Sinclair is right wing bordering far right?

 

If they at least cared about the Spanish community, they would have some Spanish stations left in their portfolio.

Edited September 28, 2024 by TVLurker

[JTT 111]

2 hours ago, TVLurker said:

You know Sinclair is right wing bordering far right?

 

If they at least cared about the Spanish community, they would have some Spanish stations left in their portfolio.

I heard they were like fox, but further right.  Imagine if they started their own national news network and put it on their own and operated stations.

[nathannah 2400]

6 hours ago, TVLurker said:

You know Sinclair is right wing bordering far right?

I don't feel the frontline people in SBG outside the ones who advertise they're there because of the c-suite's views are that at all. Like the big gas station chain in Wisconsin, they give a lot of GOP money but the actual people working in the gas stations may share views, but it's not why they got a job there at all.

 

It's a stupid business decision to dump a network in another language that lets you only need to fill five hours of time a week for a lineup of declining English syndication surrounded by Blazers and (eventually I'm sure) other local sports. And I hope Univision gets an equal affiliate that isn't 260 miles away and requires LD stations to get to the city's main market. But it isn't racist.

 

They ruined a relationship burnished by Fisher to make in-roads with a community that wasn't often seen, just because they wanted to air sports, The CW, and have an overflow station for their news coverage (which for KATU and KOMO I will argue trades on appalling self-hating of Washington, Oregon, and its citizens...all of them). They lose that loyal audience that won't come back outside Blazer telecasts, and that own audience ain't gonna be loyal viewers of ARC Portland, AMG court shows and probably 50 episodes of Family Feud a week or whatever surrounds it. It's not a racist move, but just a plain idiotic move when KPDX, KRCW, or even KGWZ (KGW's LD sister carrying ODOT/weather 24/7) would've been much better partners that don't require you to buy or find 156 more hours of programming a week and run a failure of an indie around the NBA.

 

Honestly I wish the NBA would've made arrangements like the Padres, D-Backs and Rockies did for streaming and cable, but they have a different strategy, and they don't care whether nobody is watching KUNP the rest of the day, just during the game, and the team is definitely selling the online streaming much more in this arrangement.

[JTT 111]

I've already seen Amazon mentioning on Thursday night footnall that they'll get the NBA in the fall of 2025.  Has anyone noticed NBC mentioning that they'll get their part of the NBA deal on Sunday night football?  I haven't heard them announce anything yet on air.

Edited September 30, 2024 by JTT

[Viper550 289]

Panthers unsurprisingly have the Scripps graphics from Golden Knights games, which are serviceable

 

Meanwhile, the Utah HC games are still using the NHL/MLB Network graphics but with SEG Media branding, implicating that these are remaining team productions rather than Scripps Sports productions from the top down (as the Utah Jazz games also have that branding and a league-provided graphics package -- which is used primarily by some WNBA games)

 

 

Edited September 29, 2024 by Viper550

[nathannah 2400]

6 hours ago, JTT said:

I've already seen Amazon mentioning on Thursday night footnall that they'll get the NBA in the fall of 2025.  Has anyone noticed NBC mentioning that they'll get their part of the NBA deal on Sunday night football?  I haven't heard them annoj ce anything yet on air.

They did during the Olympics but that was during the off-season. You don't want to mention something that you don't have yet nearer or during the regular season to avoid viewer confusion, and when you don't have much of an on-air staff to promote it yet. Roundball Rock can only do so much right now, and you don't want to step on TNT's long and strangled goodbyes, either by rubbing it in.

[ekt8750 50]

8 minutes ago, mrschimpf said:

They did during the Olympics but that was during the off-season. You don't want to mention something that you don't have yet nearer or during the regular season to avoid viewer confusion, and when you don't have much of an on-air staff to promote it yet. Roundball Rock can only do so much right now, and you don't want to step on TNT's long and strangled goodbyes, either by rubbing it in.

It is interesting that Amazon would say anything as they're one of the defendants in WBD's suit with the NBA.

[JTT 111]

I notice that NBC did mention somethjng about it during the Olympics.  Since  Amazon mentioned about it during football, I have not seen NBC do that.  I agree that both companies should probably wait a bit longer before mentioning abiut it to avoid any legal issues.

[Georgie56 3292]

Chicago Sports Network launched today. Here’s their Blackhawks scorebug in action:

 

 

[Spring Rubber 699]

Thin vertical score bug on the left side of the screen? Reminds me of the shape of the early 2000s WGN scorebug, but of course, a lot more modern.

 

The huge GOAL graphic that takes up the left side of the screen looks ripe for social media thumbnails.

[Viper550 289]

On 10/3/2024 at 1:16 PM, Spring Rubber said:

Thin vertical score bug on the left side of the screen? Reminds me of the shape of the early 2000s WGN scorebug, but of course, a lot more modern.

 

The huge GOAL graphic that takes up the left side of the screen looks ripe for social media thumbnails.

Or HDNet's obscure NHL package from the early 2000s