CBC keeps weekend hockey for another six years

In the battle for the right to televise National Hockey League games on the weekend, the public sector has emerged victorious.Executive VP of CBC Television Richard Stursberg and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced a new agreement in Toronto today that will see the CBC retain broadcast rights to NHL games in English Canada through to the 2013-2014 season.The CBC's previous rights to broadcast NHL games expires after next year's 2007-2008 season. Neither Bettman nor Stursberg would confirm the amount CBC will pay for the rights - although the Globe and Mail pegged the amount at $100 million per year, a considerable increase on the current amount of approximately $65 million annually - but it's certain that the CBC would have paid almost any price to retain NHL hockey in its lineup.However, the decision to continue CBC's ownership of the rights wasn't a fait accompli at any stage, said Bettman. "We have an exclusive negotiating period under our current agreement with the CBC, but before we got serious I was given an opportunity to see if there was interest in the marketplace from other parties without specifically negotiating, and I satisfied myself that there was," he said.Private-sector competitor CTV Inc. and its TSN sports specialty channel were rumoured to be in the running for the rights to Saturday night games earlier this year. Indeed, the two have already wrested away such high-profile sporting events as the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games, the Canadian Football League's regular season and Grey Cup final, and curling's Brier and Scotties Tournament of Hearts from the CBC. The public broadcaster ceded the French-language rights to telecasts of Montreal Canadiens games to TSN's French-speaking service, RDS, in 2004.The CBC doesn't have a lock on bringing playoff hockey to English-speaking Canadian audiences either: under the terms of the deal, the CBC can pick the first, second, fourth and sixth series of the eight first-round pairings in the playoffs. The remaining four series kicking off the playoffs are up for bidding and available to other broadcasters."If we decide to do a national cable package, and obviously we'll have negotiations on that, the third, fifth, seventh and eighth series will be available for the other package, which means that if there are more than two Canadian series, then the Canadian series may be carried on the national cable outlet," Bettman said.The new deal also adjusts the number of games the CBC can show of Canada's two original teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. Starting with the 2008-2009 season, the public broadcast has the rights to air up to 23 Leafs games and up to 17 Canadiens games, meaning slightly fewer of the Toronto team's games and slightly more Canadiens matches than it presently broadcasts. "And, with respect to other Canadian teams, we've also provided for an additional couple of extra in each case as well. So, the mix may not be quite what it's been in prior years - it may be varied a little bit," Bettman said.Additionally, Canadian teams in Saturday afternoon timeslots will also have their games aired on the CBC, and coverage on its broadband network will also be expanded. In all, more games featuring Canadian teams will air on the public broadcaster during the six-year contract than under the previous agreement.

CBC keeps weekend hockey for another six years

Broadcast | March 26, 2007

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