NHL on SportsChannel America
| NHL on SportsChannel America | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | 'NHL on SportsChannel' |
| Genre | Sports |
| Created by | SportsChannel America |
| Directed by | Larry Brown Billy McCoy |
| Starring | See announcers section below |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jeff Ruhe[1] |
| Producer(s) | John Shannon |
| Cinematography | Terry Ford Dean Anderson Bob Boykin Marty Muzik |
| Running time | 180 minutes or until game ends (including commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | SportsChannel America |
| Original release | 1988–89 – June 1, 1992 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Hockey Night in Canada (CBC) |
NHL on SportsChannel America was the presentation of National Hockey League broadcasts[2] on the now defunct SportsChannel America cable television network.
Contents
Terms of the deal
Taking over for ESPN, SportsChannel's contract paid $51 million ($17 million[3] per year[4]) over three years, more than double what ESPN had paid ($24 million) for the previous three years[5] SportsChannel America managed to get a fourth NHL season for just $5 million.[6]
SportsChannel's availability
Unfortunately, SportsChannel America was only available in a few major markets,[7][8] and reached only a 1/3 of the households that ESPN did at the time.[9][10] SportsChannel America was seen in fewer than 10 million households.[11] In comparison, by the 1991–92 season, ESPN was available in 60.5 million homes whereas SportsChannel America was available in only 25 million. As a matter of fact, in the first year of the deal (1988–89), SportsChannel America was available in only 7 million homes when compared to ESPN's reach of 50 million.[12] When the SportsChannel deal ended in 1992, the league returned to ESPN[13] for another contract that would pay $80 million over five years.
SportsChannel America took advantage of using their regional sports networks' feed of a game, graphics and all, instead of producing a show from the ground up, most of the time. Distribution of SportsChannel America across the country was limited to cities that had a SportsChannel regional sports network or affiliate. Very few cable systems in non-NHL territories picked it up as a stand alone service. Regional affiliates of the Prime Network would sometimes pick up SportsChannel broadcasts, but this was often only during the playoffs, and often to justify the cost, some cable providers carrying it during the playoffs only carried it as a pay-per-view option. SportsChannel America also did not broadcast 24 hours a day at first, usually on by 6 p.m., off by 1 or 2 a.m., then a sportsticker for the next 16 hours.
Philadelphia
Since SportsChannel Philadelphia did not air until January 1990, PRISM (owned by Rainbow Media, the owners of SportsChannel, at the time) picked up the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals. Other than that, there was no NHL television coverage in Philadelphia except for the Flyers for the first half of the original deal.
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Lawsuit
As previously mentioned, the NHL would return to ESPN following the 1991-92 season. Shortly after the ESPN deal was signed, SportsChannel America would contend that its contract with the NHL gave them the right to match third-party offers for television rights for the 1992–93 season. SportsChannel America accused the NHL of violating a nonbinding clause. SportsChannel America argued that it had been deprived of its contractual right of first refusal for the 1992–93 season. Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court justice Shirley Fingerwood would deny SportsChannel America's request for an injunction against the NHL. Upholding that opinion, the appellate court found the agreement on which SportsChannel based its argument to be "too imprecise and ambiguous" and ruled that SportsChannel failed to show irreparable harm.
In the aftermath of losing the NHL, SportsChannel America was left with little more than outdoors shows and Canadian Football League games. For SportsChannel, the deal was a disaster overall. While the cable channel three years later, was available in 20 million homes (as previously mentioned), the broadcaster lost as much as $10 million on the agreement, and soon faded into obscurity.[14] Some local SportsChannel stations – which carried NHL games in their local markets – were not affected.
Coverage overview
Regular season coverage
SportsChannel America would televise about 80–100 games a season (whereas ESPN aired about 33 in the 1987–88 season). Whereas the previous deal with ESPN called for only one nationally televised game a week, SportsChannel America televised hockey two nights a week in NHL cities and three nights a week elsewhere.
It was very rare to have a regular-season game on SportsChannel America that wasn't a regional SportsChannel production from the Chicago Blackhawks, Hartford Whalers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders or Philadelphia Flyers. The San Jose Sharks were added in 1991–92. As previously suggested, SportsChannel America for the most part, used the local telecasts. The dedicated SportsChannel America station was little more than an overflow channel in the New York area for SportsChannel New York.
Special programming
In 1989, SportsChannel America provided the first ever American coverage of the NHL Draft.[15] In September 1989, SportsChannel America covered the Washington Capitals' training camp in Sweden and pre-season tour[16] of the Soviet Union. The Capitals were joined by the Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames, who held training camp in Prague, Czechoslovakia and then ventured to the Soviet Union. Each team played four games against Soviet National League clubs. Games were played in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Riga. The NHL clubs finished with a combined 6–2 record against the top Soviet teams, including the Red Army club and Dynamo Moscow. Five of the eight contests were televised by SportsChannel America.
All-Star Game coverage
SportsChannel America was the exclusive American broadcaster of the 1989 All-Star Game. The following year, they covered the first ever NHL Skills Competition and Heroes of Hockey game. SportsChannel America would continue their coverage of these particular events through 1992. In 1991, SportsChannel America replayed the third period of the All-Star Game on the same day that it was played. That was because NBC broke away from the live telecast during the third period in favor of Gulf War coverage.
Playoff broadcast anomalies
Taped delayed playoff broadcasts
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Playoff broadcasts that were joined in progress
Production
A fair amount of times in their first season, they would use their own production services for games. But very rarely would this sort of practice occur in the last three seasons. Since programming was so sparse otherwise on SportsChannel America, usually the games were replayed immediately following the live telecast.
For playoff coverage,[17] if any of the aforementioned teams made the playoffs, SportsChannel America would focus on those teams, using their facilities. Sometimes, they would use the CBC feed for other series (the Boston Bruins–Montreal Canadiens series, for example). For the Stanley Cup Championship, SportsChannel America would use their own facilities. They would also use their own facilities for any Conference Final series that did not involve one of SportsChannel's regional teams.
John Shannon was the senior producer of The NHL on SportsChannel America.
Announcers
Bob Papa[18] and Leandra Reilly were the studio hosts during the regular season coverage. For the Stanley Cup Finals, Jiggs McDonald served as the play-by-play man while Bill Clement was the color commentator. Also during the Stanley Cup Finals, Mike Emrick[19][20] served as the host while John Davidson served as the rinkside[21] and intermission anaylst.[22][23]
Play-by-play
- Mike Emrick
- Pat Foley
- Steve Grad
- Dave Hodge
- Jiggs McDonald
- Rick Peckham
- Joe Starkey
- Gary Thorne
- Ken Wilson
Color commentary
- Herb Brooks[24]
- Gerry Cheevers
- Bill Clement
- John Davidson
- Don Edwards
- John Kelly
- Craig Laughlin
- Dave Maloney
- Peter McNab
- Joe Micheletti
- Denis Potvin
- Jeff Rimer
- Pete Stemkowski
- Dale Tallon
- Ed Westfall
Studio/ice level personalities
- John Davidson
- Stan Fischler
- Al Koken
- Bob Papa
- Leandra Reilly
Commentating crews
- Chicago Blackhawks: Pat Foley and Dale Tallon
- Hartford Whalers: Rick Peckham and Gerry Cheevers
- New York Islanders: Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall
- New Jersey Devils: Gary Thorne and Peter McNab
- Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Emrick and Bill Clement
- San Jose Sharks (1991–92 only): Joe Starkey and Pete Stemkowski
See also
Chicago Blackhawks seasons
- 1988–89 Chicago Blackhawks season
- 1989–90 Chicago Blackhawks season
- 1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season
- 1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks season
Hartford Whalers seasons
- 1988–89 Hartford Whalers season
- 1989–90 Hartford Whalers season
- 1990–91 Hartford Whalers season
- 1991–92 Hartford Whalers season
New Jersey Devils seasons
- 1988–89 New Jersey Devils season
- 1989–90 New Jersey Devils season
- 1990–91 New Jersey Devils season
- 1991–92 New Jersey Devils season
New York Islanders seasons
- 1988–89 New York Islanders season
- 1989–90 New York Islanders season
- 1990–91 New York Islanders season
- 1991–92 New York Islanders season
Philadelphia Flyers seasons
- 1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers season
- 1990–91 Philadelphia Flyers season
- 1991–92 Philadelphia Flyers season
San Jose Sharks seasons
Conference Finals broadcasters
Wales (Eastern)
Campbell (Western)
See also
- Hawkvision
- Hockey Night in Canada
- List of Stanley Cup Finals broadcasters
- List of NHL All-Star Game broadcasters
References
- ↑ Cup Finals Close 1992 SC America on YouTube
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- ↑ [1]
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- ↑ Flames win Stanley Cup SC America 1989 on YouTube
- ↑ 5/25/91 - Penguins Win First Stanley Cup (3 - SportsChannel) on YouTube
- ↑ 5/25/91 - Penguins Win First Stanley Cup (1 - SportsChannel) on YouTube
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External links
- The DrewL Bucket: Can OLN Help Rescue NHL?
- NHL inks SCA deal for $5.5m. (cable television contract between National Hockey League and SportsChannel America) (Multichannel News)
- CBA: TV and the price of expansion
- Is the NHL better off?
- ESPN fails to match, Comcast gets NHL
- Dear Uncle Erza
- The NHL on SportsChannel America (1988-1992)
- Great Moments From, er, uh, NHL On SportsChannelAmerica?
- The NHL's latest TV deal is a bad one for fans
- NHL on SportsChannel America - Google Search (timeline)
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| Preceded by | NHL pay television carrier in the United States 1988 - 1992 |
Succeeded by ESPN |
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