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NBCSN Shutting Down


Fanpuck33

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https://sports.yahoo.com/report-nbc-to-shut-down-cable-channel-nbcsn-by-end-of-2021-200634303.html

 

It looks like NBCSN will stick around through at least the end of NBC's contract with the NHL, but will be shutting down soon after. It seems unlikely that they would shut the channel down if they still expected to still have a flagship product going forward, so I think this sends a pretty strong signal that bidding on the next US TV deal is down to ESPN and FOX.

 

ESPN still has the most cache in terms of US sports coverage, so in that regard that are the better option. They cover the sports they carry a lot more than the ones they don't, so getting people talking hockey more on ESPN can only be a good thing. They also already have people who care about hockey, i.e. Levy, Cohn, Buccigross, and Melrose. On the other hand, the NHL would have to directly compete with the NBA for TV time. It would be really hard for them to be able to provide the level of coverage that NBC has provided (especially in the playoffs) without shifting content to ESPN+, which would not be good for the league.

 

FOX is definitely not in the same class as ESPN and I don't know how many people they already have who care about hockey. What they don't have is a lot of other content in the winter. They would be able to devote a lot of time to the NHL. FOX has also shown willingness to shift overflow sports coverage to other channels they own, such as FX. That makes it more likely that they would be willing to air all playoff games on regular television. If they are willing to show a real commitment to the league, they could be a really good option.

 

Or does CBS come out of nowhere to pick up the pieces of NBCSN and make their own run at trying to be a real player in cable sports? Right now, their cable sports channel is pretty much a joke. The biggest things they show are low level college football and the recently acquired Bellator MMA. This seems pretty unlikely. If NBC couldn't make it work with hockey, EPL, and Olympic sports, then CBS certainly won't expect to be able to succeed with those, minus Olympic sports.

 

To me, the best case scenario involves a non-exclusive deal. Other sports do very well having multiple TV deals. The NFL has deals with NBC, CBS, FOX, and ESPN. The NBA has ESPN and TNT. MLB has FOX, ESPN, and TBS.  I think it would great to have the NHL on both ESPN and FOX, but I kind of doubt either one would want to share the NHL with the other since they are direct competitors. But now that NBC will no longer be a direct competitor, maybe ESPN or FOX would be willing to share the NHL with them. Maybe USA Network serve the same role that TNT serves for the NBA. NBC could stay involved, but not have to build an entire network around the NHL. 

Edited by Fanpuck33
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1 hour ago, Fanpuck33 said:

It looks like NBCSN will stick around through at least the end of NBC's contract with the NHL, but will be shutting down soon after. It seems unlikely that they would shut the channel down if they still expected to still have a flagship product going forward, so I think this sends a pretty strong signal that bidding on the next US TV deal is down to ESPN and FOX ...

 

OR ... it signals that the NHL is not a sufficient flagship product to support a cable network ... NBC could still be in the bidding for the network broadcasts

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I've expected Fox to be more involved in the bidding and this might help that along.  By all accounts, it's expected that there won't be an exclusive deal this time around; it instead will have at least two partners.  (I also expect some sort of separate streaming arrangement.)

 

I wonder how willing ESPN is willing to be involved in this - they're cutting a lot of costs and how much do they want to bid for a league that's going to at best be on ESPN2?  Them and one of FOX/NBC makes some sense in terms of having a cable one coupled with a network broadcaster but if they're going to just get the same non-existent treatment they had the last time ESPN had the rights, maybe a FOX/NBC split is better, as odd of a duo as it could be.  I know hopes are high that this will be the big contract to help boost the cap again but this doesn't feel like an ideal time to trying to negotiate a new deal.

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Glad to hear that a partnership coverage is likely. NBC does done a lot of great things for the league, such as national coverage for every playoff game (with a handful of NHL Network exceptions in the first round) and the introduction of the Winter Classic. But I think the exclusivity has also held them back to some degree.

 

I think your assessment of the ESPN coverage is overly harsh. It certainly was almost non-existent once the league moved to NBC, but they treated the NHL pretty well while they had the contract.  They showed a lot of games, gave a decent amount of time to hockey on SportsCenter, and even had a nightly NHL highlight show, NHL 2nite. The 1990s ESPN coverage was HUGE for the league after non-existent regular season national coverage in the late 80's and early 90's. Their previous Sports Channel USA partner only reached one third the households ESPN reached.

 

That being said, I am still somewhat bitter about how they ignored the sport after they lost the contract. The thing I also would worry about with ESPN is that they would see it more on par with the UFC than the NBA and put the majority of their coverage on ESPN+. That would be fine for me since I already have it for UFC coverage, but I think it would be a step back to not have a cable network hosting most of the coverage.

 

I think the best case scenario would be FOX as the primary coverage, USA with secondary coverage, and maintain the 1-2 daily NHL.tv simulcasts on ESPN+.

 

I'm just not sure how much sports content NBC wants to put on USA.  USA used to air a decent amount of sports in the 80's and 90's, but there were already mostly out of sports even before the introduction of NBCSN. Are they just going to finish out their existing contracts on USA and get out of cable sports (I already suspect all Olympic Channel content is going to move to Peacock Premium at some point), or do they want to stay involved with sports in cable, just without a dedicated network?

 

 

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The big question in the next TV contract is streaming. It's going to become more and more important -- how will they handle it? Sell exclusive rights? NHL also keeps rights? Or only NHL?

 

And, in the new world of streaming, they need to figure out a more sensible local blackout policy.

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11 minutes ago, Fanpuck33 said:

I think your assessment of the ESPN coverage is overly harsh. It certainly was almost non-existent once the league moved to NBC, but they treated the NHL pretty well while they had the contract.  They showed a lot of games, gave a decent amount of time to hockey on SportsCenter, and even had a nightly NHL highlight show, NHL 2nite. The 1990s ESPN coverage was HUGE for the league after non-existent regular season national coverage in the late 80's and early 90's. Their previous Sports Channel USA partner only reached one third the households ESPN reached.

 

As you know, I'm based in Canada so I can't comment from first-hand memories but everything I've read about this over the last couple of years suggests the NHL was extremely unhappy with their coverage on ESPN which is why they went to OLN/Versus in the first place, eschewing the top-rated option with the thought that things couldn't be worse.

 

1 minute ago, tomh009 said:

And, in the new world of streaming, they need to figure out a more sensible local blackout policy.

 

That one's not changing.  MLB and the NBA both have similar restrictions in place and have done deals in the last few years. 

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2 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

That one's not changing.  MLB and the NBA both have similar restrictions in place and have done deals in the last few years. 

 

Once you are streaming "local broadcasts" don't really exist any more. They may hang on to blackouts for a few more years, but eventually they'll need to adopt a new model.

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17 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Once you are streaming "local broadcasts" don't really exist any more. They may hang on to blackouts for a few more years, but eventually they'll need to adopt a new model.

 

Other leagues have streaming deals in place already and still have blackouts.  The streaming deal will be for an exclusive game each week as MLB has, exclusive streaming rights for network games (the NFL has that one I think), or something like that. 

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7 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

As you know, I'm based in Canada so I can't comment from first-hand memories but everything I've read about this over the last couple of years suggests the NHL was extremely unhappy with their coverage on ESPN which is why they went to OLN/Versus in the first place, eschewing the top-rated option with the thought that things couldn't be worse.

 

Never heard anything about the NHL being unhappy with ESPN, but I can see them feeling threatened by ESPN gaining NBA coverage towards the end of their time there. My impression was always that coming out of the lockout, ESPN felt like they were in a position of power and it was ESPN that turned down an offer from the league and countered with a profit sharing offer. Then when Comcast stepped in with a guarantee d offer, ESPN simply didn't match.

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4 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

Other leagues have streaming deals in place already and still have blackouts.  The streaming deal will be for an exclusive game each week as MLB has, exclusive streaming rights for network games (the NFL has that one I think), or something like that. 

 

Yes, if they just do baby steps toward streaming, they can do that and keep the local blackouts. But some day Amazon, Disney+ or someone similar will throw bunch of money at NHL for unlimited streaming, and then they'll need to make a decision on whether they want to fish or cut bait.

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47 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

As you know, I'm based in Canada so I can't comment from first-hand memories but everything I've read about this over the last couple of years suggests the NHL was extremely unhappy with their coverage on ESPN which is why they went to OLN/Versus in the first place, eschewing the top-rated option with the thought that things couldn't be worse.

 

 

That one's not changing.  MLB and the NBA both have similar restrictions in place and have done deals in the last few years. 

I know ESPN’s prioritizing non-major sorts was an issue, but wasn’t the bigger issue that ESPN didn’t think there was any competition and gave a lowball offer for renewal.

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49 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

I know ESPN’s prioritizing non-major sorts was an issue, but wasn’t the bigger issue that ESPN didn’t think there was any competition and gave a lowball offer for renewal.

 

It certainly didn't help their case but I don't think they were the preferred option at that time anyway.

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Just found an old Puck Daddy article about the ESPN and NHL splitup. It does mention some displeasure from the league about losing some time to other programming, but it still seems like the biggest issue was a low-ball ESPN offer and the league took the money from Comcast.

 

Looking back, I still can't decide if the league made the right choice taking the money. Even though OLN showed more games than ESPN had been showing, they lost A LOT of visibility being on such a ridiclous channel. It reached a fraction of the household that ESPN reached and was a place where casual fans could not be expected to find the games. Rebranding as Versus was a step forward, but it wasn't really until Comcast merged with NBC and it became NBCSN did it feel like the NHL had a legitimate home. 

 

At that point, it finally began to feel like being away from ESPN was a positive. Versus' reach had expanded because of the NHL, but being able to package it with NBC Universal's other content really got its carriage near the level of ESPN. The money in the second deal was great. They expanded their coverage pretty much every year and their playoff coverage became incredible. So does the last 10 years of growth and great coverage make up for the damage the first five years did?  Probably.

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Everything I hear is that ESPN is planning on coming hard for the NHL. 

 

Yes they are cutting costs, but not on programming, they are cutting costs on on-air talent. 

 

ESPN is of the belief that they need content to sell cable packages and ESPN+.  Upper management believes having the rights to broadcast leagues is very important, but that you can stick a talking monkey in the broadcast booth and it doesn't matter, the game draws the ratings not the announcer.

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4 minutes ago, Commandant said:

ESPN is of the belief that they need content to sell cable packages and ESPN+.  Upper management believes having the rights to broadcast leagues is very important, but that you can stick a talking monkey in the broadcast booth and it doesn't matter, the game draws the ratings not the announcer.

 

If there's a talking monkey calling the game, I'm watching that one for sure...(and probably for the monkey, not the team).

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9 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

If there's a talking monkey calling the game, I'm watching that one for sure...(and probably for the monkey, not the team).

NBC did well with their talking monkey Milbury and CBC made a killing with their Neanderthal Cherry.

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27 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

If there's a talking monkey calling the game, I'm watching that one for sure...(and probably for the monkey, not the team).

Are you certain there aren't already?

 

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  • 1 month later...

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sources-nhl-espn-reach-seven-year-u-s-broadcast-deal/

 

As expected, it looks like ESPN has jumped on board for a shared TV rights deal. Also sounds like streaming is involved in the deal. I wonder if that means they will continue to simulcast one or two NHL.tv broadcasts a night, or if they will entirely encompass NHL.tv like they did with MLS.

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ESPN had a press release posted, but has since taken it down. From what I am piecing together from people who saw it, the deal is heavily focused on streaming. In addition to the previously indicated 4 of the next 7 Cup Finals, they appear to only be showing 25 regular season games on television. The heart of the deal is 75 games exclusive to ESPN+ and making ESPN+ the home for out-of-market streaming.

 

I was hoping for more in the TV side of things, but since I already subscribe to ESPN+ for UFC content, I'm very happy that I'll be getting so much NHL content. I haven't been willing to throw down for NHL.tv the last few years and I'll now be getting all those games again. It won't feel like I absolutely have to watch every minute of every game to get my money's worth, which had started to feel more like work than entertainment. Especially when the team isn't doing well.

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10 minutes ago, Fanpuck33 said:

ESPN had a press release posted, but has since taken it down. From what I am piecing together from people who saw it, the deal is heavily focused on streaming. In addition to the previously indicated 4 of the next 7 Cup Finals, they appear to only be showing 25 regular season games on television. The heart of the deal is 75 games exclusive to ESPN+ and making ESPN+ the home for out-of-market streaming.

 

I was hoping for more in the TV side of things, but since I already subscribe to ESPN+ for UFC content, I'm very happy that I'll be getting so much NHL content. I haven't been willing to throw down for NHL.tv the last few years and I'll now be getting all those games again. It won't feel like I absolutely have to watch every minute of every game to get my money's worth, which had started to feel more like work than entertainment. Especially when the team isn't doing well.


Sounds similar to what we have here now sort of. 
 

Bottom line is if you want to watch hockey you gonna pay for it. Gone are the days of hockey being on regular tv

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On 3/10/2021 at 2:18 PM, Prime Minister Koivu said:


Sounds similar to what we have here now sort of. 
 

Bottom line is if you want to watch hockey you gonna pay for it. Gone are the days of hockey being on regular tv

 

Keep in mind there is going to be going to be another network involved. Given how extensive the streaming package is with the ESPN deal, I think they are pretty much locking down online content. So I expect the other partner is going to be more of the television home for NHL games.

 

This makes me think that it's going to be FOX that ends up signing the other deal. With NBCSN shutting down, I think the only way NBC was going to stay involved was if they got the major steaming rights to put on Peacock. With that out the window, I don't think they're going to spend new money to put games on USA. I can't see CBS stepping up and investing more in their sports network, so I think that leaves FOX. They've got a big hole in terms of winter programming, so getting the NHL would be great for them.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Not exactly coming from the horse's mouth, but one of NBC Universal's other major players seems to be under the impression that NBC will, indeed, be walking away from the NHL after this season. Given that this has been my belief ever since they announced NBCSN would be shutting down, I tend to believe this isn't just wishful thinking on the WWE's part. What is surprising is that the article mentions that there is a possibility that the NHL could possibly abandon the two-partner model and double down on ESPN. The article also mentions that Turner Sports could be looking to expand their sports content by adding hockey. That was a player I hadn't even considered getting involved.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nbc-may-abandon-nhl-partnership-173238962.html

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With ESPAN and Turner Sports now the national NHL broadcasters in the US, the NHL now has one less reason to allow NHL players to play at the Winter Olympics next year ... NBC has the Olympics rights but no longer has any relation to the NHL ... it will likely be "an interesting discussion" between the NHL and the NHLPA.

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24 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

With ESPAN and Turner Sports now the national NHL broadcasters in the US, the NHL now has one less reason to allow NHL players to play at the Winter Olympics next year ... NBC has the Olympics rights but no longer has any relation to the NHL ... it will likely be "an interesting discussion" between the NHL and the NHLPA.

 

I thought the NHL agreed in the CBA to allow the players to go to the Olympics. 

 

The only thing holding it up right now is if Canada/US/other western countries, will boycott games in China and what the status of the pandemic and restrictions on travel are.

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

I thought the NHL agreed in the CBA to allow the players to go to the Olympics. 

 

The only thing holding it up right now is if Canada/US/other western countries, will boycott games in China and what the status of the pandemic and restrictions on travel are.

And whether IIHF/IOC will pay for travel expenses (which really should not be a big issue for the NHL or NHL players, though).

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