Hockey Change In Canada

Hockey Night in Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For over 60 years on Saturday nights, Canadians from Victoria to Halifax to Toronto to the Yukon would gather in front of their TV sets to watch many of their native sons perform on the ice in their national sport.  They called it "Hockey Night In Canada".

Now the TV landscape is changing north of the border.  Rogers Communications is paying the National Hockey League five billion dollars (Canadian) for the rights to televise games in that country starting next season, running through 2026.

Rogers is a major communications force in Canada, with holdings in cable, wireless and broadcasting.  They own Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays and the stadium they play in, which just happens to be named Rogers Centre.  They also have their name on an arena in Vancouver.

Rogers used to own some cable systems in the United States, including the one that serves Minneapolis and its western suburbs.  Comcast now owns it.

NBC, which is part of Comcast, has the American TV rights to NHL games, and is in the middle of a ten-year, two-billion dollar deal.

Rogers will soon hold the rights to carry the NHL on several of the networks it owns, replacing rival TSN, which is considered Canada's version of ESPN.  But they were nice enough to allow CBC, the Canadian government-run network that's been televising hockey since forever, to continue its Saturday night "HNIC' doubleheaders for at least four more seasons.

"Hockey Night In Canada" has long been considered the standard against which all other sports telecasts in North America are measured.  With Rogers now running the show, will that brand be strengthened or diluted?

For instance, will the new arrangement result in the breakup of the comedy team of Don Cherry and his straight man Ron McLean?  Anyone who has watched "Coach's Corner" over the past two decades (the NHL Network runs it on this side of the border most Saturdays during the regular season, when the Toronto Maple Leafs are usually playing) has been a witness to Cherry's outrageousness, whether it's in his commentary and/or his choice of wardrobe.  Cherry insisted on his November 30 broadcast that Rogers might want him to stick around.  But given the possibility that some Canadians might be getting tired of his act, Cherry could be in for a rude surprise.

This deal is more than just the changing of the guard in Canadian TV.  All NHL teams on both sides of the border will benefit from Rogers' and NBC's cash, whether it's in increasing players' salaries, possible expansion, or in keeping certain Sunbelt-based franchises afloat.

For Canadian viewers, they'll be seeing more hockey than ever before.  They'll also be paying more, too, to gain access to those games on Rogers-owned cable and wireless devices.  Blue Jays fans have known that for years.

But Rogers could be making a mistake in weaning "Hockey Night In Canada" off of CBC.  Remember what happened to "Monday Night Football" after it moved from ABC to ESPN?  It became just NFL football on Mondays with a smaller audience.  Is it worth messing with Canadian tradition, or are traditions made to be broken for the right price?.