1 of 1- RadioActive
- Moderator
Online! 
Do We Really Need The Stanley Cup Finals Broadcast On 4 Stations?
Nobody can doubt the popularity of the Stanley Cup finals with viewers, but how does having four stations broadcasting the games at the same time make any sense? The last NHL games of the year can be found on Sportsnet, the CBC and a separate version for American fans on ABC (WKBW-TV in these parts.)
But why in the world is the Canadian feed also being picked up by City TV? That's four places you can watch the grand finale and it makes no sense to use valuable airtime to have three Canuck outlets show the exact same thing. I get the Rogers connection - Sportsnet, which owns the rights to everything NHL. And the CBC is de rigueur across the country. But City? Seems to me they could be showing alternative programming for those who don't care about hockey.
Did the same thing happen last year?
- Glen Warren
- Member
Offline
Re: Do We Really Need The Stanley Cup Finals Broadcast On 4 Stations?
Did City take the ABC feed in order to get the sim sub on WKBW in this area? more eyeballs... Everywhere
- RadioAaron
- Member
Offline
Re: Do We Really Need The Stanley Cup Finals Broadcast On 4 Stations?
Glen Warren wrote:
Did City take the ABC feed in order to get the sim sub on WKBW in this area? more eyeballs... Everywhere
Yep, that's why
- paterson1
- Member
Offline
Re: Do We Really Need The Stanley Cup Finals Broadcast On 4 Stations?
Rogers paid a fortune for the NHL rights and they finally have a Canadian team in the final so I don't begrudge them at all simsubbing the US signal on City which they did last year too. They paid for exclusive rights and this is what they are getting. Also they are protecting their advertisers who will be paying a premium to advertise in the playoffs.
ESPN/ABC does a great job of the games and they are a nice change and a chance to compare how the two networks handle the broadcast. Sportsnet did have a coup with Wayne Gretzky on during the first intermission. But the US version have Mark Messier and PK Subban as part of their on air crew.
In addition to City, CBC, ABC, Sportsnet, ESPN, the playoffs are also on OMNI in Punjabi, and TVA Sports in French.
Those that only have OTA TV or basic cable and weren't interested in hockey were likely watching Elvis on CTV last night. A great counter programming move in my opinion. They must have had the North American network premiere for this epic biographical drama on "The King."
- ckg927
- Member
Offline
Re: Do We Really Need The Stanley Cup Finals Broadcast On 4 Stations?
I would HIGHLY dispute that ESPN does a good job doing NHL games in the States. To me, at least, TNT does a better job at doing the NHL than ESPN does.