COMCAST vs DirecTV

[The_Admiral]

It just seems to me Gary Bettman never does what is best for the sport of hockey or the true hockey fan, he keeps wanting to change the sport and make unrecognizable from what we watched and enjoyed for years.

I'm a Hawks fan. Struggling to find hockey on television is very recognizable to me.

[ElwoodCuse]

Do you really want hockey back on ESPN? So they can bury it in the D block of SportsCenter? So they can promote it less than the WNBA? ESPN had largely themselves to blame for the poor ratings. And them getting the NHL back isn't going to stop "Coming up: does Brett Favre drink Ensure? John Clayton paws through his trash right after this" and other nonsense from being crammed down our throats.

If anything, I wish the NHL Network showed more live games.

[jkrdevil]

I think this will be resolved before the season starts for two reasons. Texas and Florida State. VS. has one of the game for each team coming up. The Florida State game is a very good non-conference game vs BYU.

[RETROJR79]

I hope that Comcast and Directv makes a new agreement before the NHL season start.

Why? So you can see the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Penguins, or Rangers every night? Center Ice is where it's at man. I won't be too disappointed if I lose Versus since I'll still have Centre Ice.

Youre right friend but at least its better then NBC where they show Rangers games every week. I wouldn't mind if DirecTV could get channel from Canada and i am thinking of getting Center Ice.

[RETROJR79]

I think what Versus trying to do is that they wanted another sport to join the NHL. They tried to get the NFL contract for Thursday and MLB for Saturday Night but no luck. I think USA should get the NHL since NBC owned USA.

[dfwabel]

I think this will be resolved before the season starts for two reasons. Texas and Florida State. VS. has one of the game for each team coming up. The Florida State game is a very good non-conference game vs BYU.

They also have the Mountain West, but the nation does not care as a whole for that conference.

[NJTank]

I think what Versus trying to do is that they wanted another sport to join the NHL. They tried to get the NFL contract for Thursday and MLB for Saturday Night but no luck. I think USA should get the NHL since NBC owned USA.

That would not be an awful idea, USA has full market coverage which is what is wrong with VS. VS does not have full market coverage and I dont think they ever will, and the NHL should be trying to get as many eyeballs as possible.

[RETROJR79]

I think what Versus trying to do is that they wanted another sport to join the NHL. They tried to get the NFL contract for Thursday and MLB for Saturday Night but no luck. I think USA should get the NHL since NBC owned USA.

That would not be an awful idea, USA has full market coverage which is what is wrong with VS. VS does not have full market coverage and I dont think they ever will, and the NHL should be trying to get as many eyeballs as possible.

I think that the NHL should put thier games on USA & NBC from OCT-DEC and ESPN & ABC from JAN-APR just like what NASCAR do with thier contract.

[dfwabel]

I think what Versus trying to do is that they wanted another sport to join the NHL. They tried to get the NFL contract for Thursday and MLB for Saturday Night but no luck. I think USA should get the NHL since NBC owned USA.

That would not be an awful idea, USA has full market coverage which is what is wrong with VS. VS does not have full market coverage and I dont think they ever will, and the NHL should be trying to get as many eyeballs as possible.

I think that the NHL should put thier games on USA & NBC from OCT-DEC and ESPN & ABC from JAN-APR just like what NASCAR do with thier contract.

You're kidding, right? The NHL can't just "put" their games somewhere, the carrier must WANT them. ESPN does not want or apparently need the NHL.

ESPN/ABC already has the following from January-April: NCAA basketball (Big Monday, Super Tuesday... ), NBA (Friday). Plus, starting last month, ESPN began its $2.25 Billion committment the SEC for all programming rights not taken by CBS through 2025.

NBC has Notre Dame football, NFL football (which actually makes money), and USA network is NBCUniversal's biggest cable revenue generator and shelling out for a sports contract is not part of their strategy as a June 2009 Newsweek story on their CEO illustrates

[BBTV]

I think what Versus trying to do is that they wanted another sport to join the NHL. They tried to get the NFL contract for Thursday and MLB for Saturday Night but no luck. I think USA should get the NHL since NBC owned USA.

That would not be an awful idea, USA has full market coverage which is what is wrong with VS. VS does not have full market coverage and I dont think they ever will, and the NHL should be trying to get as many eyeballs as possible.

I think that the NHL should put thier games on USA & NBC from OCT-DEC and ESPN & ABC from JAN-APR just like what NASCAR do with thier contract.

Yeah, so just when the causal fan gets in to watching the games, just switch it up on them so they don't know where to find them. There is no benefit to switching networks mid season. Adding? sure. Switching? no way.

[RETROJR79]

Well I guess you guy have a point there I was just thinking of what MLB used to do when they had contract with both ABC & NBC.

NBC need to do a better job with thier coverage and not put Rangers vs. Bruins or Penguins every week and I would have USA do NHL games on Tuesday night and put some games on NBC Universal too.

[dfwabel]

Well I guess you guy have a point there I was just thinking of what MLB used to do when they had contract with both ABC & NBC.

NBC need to do a better job with thier coverage and not put Rangers vs. Bruins or Penguins every week and I would have USA do NHL games on Tuesday night and put some games on NBC Universal too.

The timeslot make it that NBC shows Atlantic Division teams. Those game air at Noon/9 AM Pacific. Nobody is going to watch the NHL game that early with the Kings, Sharks, or Ducks. Plus, NBC gets only a 1 share. That means that only 1.2 million homes actually see a game. Why should they do more? All of those numbers come from the Eastern time zone, so I think they are doing just fine, especially as they get the NYC/NJ. PHI, PIT, DC, and BOS markets at noon.

The NFL is great as they have standard times, so even churches know when it starts. People know 1 and now 4:15 as when it is on.

[RETROJR79]

I just found out that DirecTV have NBC Universal.

[zmspartans]

if direcTV loses versus, your options for watching hockey games are only NBC, unless your lucky like me and have center ice. but the point being this will hurt the NHL because they will get EVEN LESS coverage. the NHL needs to find a station that everyone has to put their games on .

[RETROJR79]

How about this friends

USA - Tuesday Night

NBCU- Saturday Night

NBC- Sunday (W/ occasional DH so we could see the West teams too)

WGN AMERICA -Sunday Night

[logodawg]

So DISH Network has decided to give VS. to all of it's subscribers until at least Dec 2, adding 9 million HHs in the process.

[Your Name Here]

The league made the deal with NBC because ABC refused to televise the NHL in primetime any longer. If Bettman hadn't made the deal with NBC, it would mean the Stanley Cup being on ESPN and ESPN only, which is dog . If it were up to me, the cable deal would be USA or TBS, but it is what it is. OLN/Versus was the only entity offering money.

[oddball]

A lot of you people are forgetting that bad promotions on ESPN is better than anything Versus does. Most people couldn't find or never even heard of Versus even if it's in their package. ESPN is a recognizable brand, Versus is well... not much. How much better would it be to be on ESPN, well it is ESPN alone that keeps the WNBA alive. Any other network, the WNBA would've been long gone 10 years ago. It's what has kept MLS in business. It's the 800 pound gorilla that if you are a smaller tiered sport, it makes you a name and the NHL is that.

[RETROJR79]

The league made the deal with NBC because ABC refused to televise the NHL in primetime any longer. If Bettman hadn't made the deal with NBC, it would mean the Stanley Cup being on ESPN and ESPN only, which is dog . If it were up to me, the cable deal would be USA or TBS, but it is what it is. OLN/Versus was the only entity offering money.

The NHL on TBS is not a bad idea YNH. Thier doing a good job with MLB.

[Waleslax]

I am getting here late so I am a little confused, but the last time I checked, hadn't the NHL signed with the Outdoor Life Network? Man, I can't even find that channel anywhere!

Sorry I don't have a sarcasm font; hopefully everyone got it though.

As for ESPN, the NHL would be better off putting games on ESPN for nothing than getting paid to put them on a channel that reaches so few homes. For proof of this, I offer the Chicago Blackhawks - taking the sport off TV does not force people to go to games or miss it, it causes them to forget it. A lot of us here are avid hockey fans so we forget that most people don't care about what isn't right in front of them. What ESPN did was to get the NHL free advertising. That is valuable. Especially when it comes from such a widely watched brand. American consumers care less about what is good than what they are told is good (see: reality TV); if ESPN tells people the NHL is good, people will watch.

As for ESPN hating the NHL, I may be dating myself here, but when ESPN started, they covered UConn basketball and the Whalers. Christ Berman is known to be a HUGE hockey fan. Just because he (and Disney) wouldn't overpay for the NHL doesn't make them like the sport any less.

Rob