How long is the NHL contract with OLN? I watched about 30 seconds of the Bruins and Canadiens and it was horrible. The camera work was horrible, the commebtary was weird cause they were shouting. I see the viewership is down and I hope the NHL realizes their mistake and does something about it before they lose more viewers. OLN is on the upper tier of digital cable which is not the cheapest tier. NHL this isnt the way to lure fans back....
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
How long is OLN's NHL contract?
- Thread starter johnnyboots
- Start date
> How long is the NHL contract with OLN? I watched about 30
> seconds of the Bruins and Canadiens and it was horrible.
> The camera work was horrible, the commebtary was weird cause
> they were shouting. I see the viewership is down and I hope
> the NHL realizes their mistake and does something about it
> before they lose more viewers. OLN is on the upper tier of
> digital cable which is not the cheapest tier. NHL this isnt
> the way to lure fans back....
>
I tried to look it up tonight, but didn't have much luck...I did find that it's a multi-year deal...I wish they could have found a spot for Gary Thorne of ESPN to call some games.
> seconds of the Bruins and Canadiens and it was horrible.
> The camera work was horrible, the commebtary was weird cause
> they were shouting. I see the viewership is down and I hope
> the NHL realizes their mistake and does something about it
> before they lose more viewers. OLN is on the upper tier of
> digital cable which is not the cheapest tier. NHL this isnt
> the way to lure fans back....
>
I tried to look it up tonight, but didn't have much luck...I did find that it's a multi-year deal...I wish they could have found a spot for Gary Thorne of ESPN to call some games.
> How long is the NHL contract with OLN? I watched about 30
> seconds of the Bruins and Canadiens and it was horrible.
> The camera work was horrible, the commebtary was weird cause
> they were shouting. I see the viewership is down and I hope
> the NHL realizes their mistake and does something about it
> before they lose more viewers. OLN is on the upper tier of
> digital cable which is not the cheapest tier. NHL this isnt
> the way to lure fans back....
If the NHL and OLN were working together on a five- or even 10-year plan to grow the cable network and the sport simultaneously, then it might not be so bad.
But it's only a two-year deal ($100 million, IIRC). I sense this will be looked upon as just as bad, if not worse, than the old SportsChannel contract the NHL signed in the late '80s.
> seconds of the Bruins and Canadiens and it was horrible.
> The camera work was horrible, the commebtary was weird cause
> they were shouting. I see the viewership is down and I hope
> the NHL realizes their mistake and does something about it
> before they lose more viewers. OLN is on the upper tier of
> digital cable which is not the cheapest tier. NHL this isnt
> the way to lure fans back....
If the NHL and OLN were working together on a five- or even 10-year plan to grow the cable network and the sport simultaneously, then it might not be so bad.
But it's only a two-year deal ($100 million, IIRC). I sense this will be looked upon as just as bad, if not worse, than the old SportsChannel contract the NHL signed in the late '80s.
> If the NHL and OLN were working together on a five- or even
> 10-year plan to grow the cable network and the sport
> simultaneously, then it might not be so bad.
Ah, but you haven't read any of the back stories on this.
Comcast (OLN owner) is going to use this to transform the network into a national competitor to ESPN.
Period.
Comcast already has a few local sports networks (Philadelphia, Chicago, Northern California, etc.), but the NHL contract is a start to go after other pro sports contracts, and beef it up into a national companion to the local Comcast sports networks.
-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
> 10-year plan to grow the cable network and the sport
> simultaneously, then it might not be so bad.
Ah, but you haven't read any of the back stories on this.
Comcast (OLN owner) is going to use this to transform the network into a national competitor to ESPN.
Period.
Comcast already has a few local sports networks (Philadelphia, Chicago, Northern California, etc.), but the NHL contract is a start to go after other pro sports contracts, and beef it up into a national companion to the local Comcast sports networks.
-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
> > If the NHL and OLN were working together on a five- or
> even
> > 10-year plan to grow the cable network and the sport
> > simultaneously, then it might not be so bad.
>
> Ah, but you haven't read any of the back stories on this.
>
> Comcast (OLN owner) is going to use this to transform the
> network into a national competitor to ESPN.
>
> Period.
>
> Comcast already has a few local sports networks
> (Philadelphia, Chicago, Northern California, etc.), but the
> NHL contract is a start to go after other pro sports
> contracts, and beef it up into a national companion to the
> local Comcast sports networks.
>
> -OA
>
Comcast will never have a national competitor to ESPN since it distributes very few of its channels on the dish. None of the regional sports nets are available on the dish. They're intended to be properties to boost up the cable systems. A decent amount of people (let's say 20 percent of pay TV subscribers) have DirecTV or Dish Network. How can you be a true competitor without reaching out to them?
And not many leagues are gonna take a risk on a start-up network. They're nowhere near where Fox was when it picked up the NFL contract in 1994.
> even
> > 10-year plan to grow the cable network and the sport
> > simultaneously, then it might not be so bad.
>
> Ah, but you haven't read any of the back stories on this.
>
> Comcast (OLN owner) is going to use this to transform the
> network into a national competitor to ESPN.
>
> Period.
>
> Comcast already has a few local sports networks
> (Philadelphia, Chicago, Northern California, etc.), but the
> NHL contract is a start to go after other pro sports
> contracts, and beef it up into a national companion to the
> local Comcast sports networks.
>
> -OA
>
Comcast will never have a national competitor to ESPN since it distributes very few of its channels on the dish. None of the regional sports nets are available on the dish. They're intended to be properties to boost up the cable systems. A decent amount of people (let's say 20 percent of pay TV subscribers) have DirecTV or Dish Network. How can you be a true competitor without reaching out to them?
And not many leagues are gonna take a risk on a start-up network. They're nowhere near where Fox was when it picked up the NFL contract in 1994.
> Comcast will never have a national competitor to ESPN since
> it distributes very few of its channels on the dish. None of
> the regional sports nets are available on the dish. They're
> intended to be properties to boost up the cable systems. A
> decent amount of people (let's say 20 percent of pay TV
> subscribers) have DirecTV or Dish Network. How can you be a
> true competitor without reaching out to them?
Actually, OLN is available, as far as I know, on both satellite services. If it's OLN they're transforming, then it's already on DirecTV and Dish Network. It's a different situation than the regional nets. (And isn't the DC-area Comcast net on the dish services?)
> And not many leagues are gonna take a risk on a start-up
> network. They're nowhere near where Fox was when it picked
> up the NFL contract in 1994.
Well, I didn't say it was gonna work, just that it's the plan.
They obviously can't transform OLN into a true competitor to ESPN with only the NHL contract. But it's the first step, because Comcast owns NHL teams and has the rights to them in many northeastern U.S. markets (like Philadelphia and DC).
If they get any of the other three (larger) pro sports networks, that might change things. They're presumably interested in the NFL's new Thursday night package, if I remember right.
-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
> it distributes very few of its channels on the dish. None of
> the regional sports nets are available on the dish. They're
> intended to be properties to boost up the cable systems. A
> decent amount of people (let's say 20 percent of pay TV
> subscribers) have DirecTV or Dish Network. How can you be a
> true competitor without reaching out to them?
Actually, OLN is available, as far as I know, on both satellite services. If it's OLN they're transforming, then it's already on DirecTV and Dish Network. It's a different situation than the regional nets. (And isn't the DC-area Comcast net on the dish services?)
> And not many leagues are gonna take a risk on a start-up
> network. They're nowhere near where Fox was when it picked
> up the NFL contract in 1994.
Well, I didn't say it was gonna work, just that it's the plan.
They obviously can't transform OLN into a true competitor to ESPN with only the NHL contract. But it's the first step, because Comcast owns NHL teams and has the rights to them in many northeastern U.S. markets (like Philadelphia and DC).
If they get any of the other three (larger) pro sports networks, that might change things. They're presumably interested in the NFL's new Thursday night package, if I remember right.
-OA<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
>
> Actually, OLN is available, as far as I know, on both
> satellite services. If it's OLN they're transforming, then
> it's already on DirecTV and Dish Network. It's a different
> situation than the regional nets. (And isn't the DC-area
> Comcast net on the dish services?)
>
Comcast SportsNet Chicago is available to dish owners.
> Actually, OLN is available, as far as I know, on both
> satellite services. If it's OLN they're transforming, then
> it's already on DirecTV and Dish Network. It's a different
> situation than the regional nets. (And isn't the DC-area
> Comcast net on the dish services?)
>
Comcast SportsNet Chicago is available to dish owners.
M
mc1974
Guest
> >
> > Actually, OLN is available, as far as I know, on both
> > satellite services. If it's OLN they're transforming,
> then
> > it's already on DirecTV and Dish Network. It's a
> different
> > situation than the regional nets. (And isn't the DC-area
> > Comcast net on the dish services?)
> >
>
> Comcast SportsNet Chicago is available to dish owners.
>
And Dish Network just dropped OLN from its service yesterday.
> > Actually, OLN is available, as far as I know, on both
> > satellite services. If it's OLN they're transforming,
> then
> > it's already on DirecTV and Dish Network. It's a
> different
> > situation than the regional nets. (And isn't the DC-area
> > Comcast net on the dish services?)
> >
>
> Comcast SportsNet Chicago is available to dish owners.
>
And Dish Network just dropped OLN from its service yesterday.
S
ShawnHill
Guest
> Comcast will never have a national competitor to ESPN since
> it distributes very few of its channels on the dish. None of
> the regional sports nets are available on the dish. They're
> intended to be properties to boost up the cable systems. A
> decent amount of people (let's say 20 percent of pay TV
> subscribers) have DirecTV or Dish Network. How can you be a
> true competitor without reaching out to them?
>
Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is the one not available on satellite. Their regional sports network in the Southeast, in partnership with Charter Communications, isn't available on satellite either. The Chicago, Mid-Atlantic (Baltimore/DC), and West (Northern California) channels are available on both Dish and DirecTV. They're also starting up a regional network with Time Warner Cable in New York City and the Mets called SportsNet NY. It will begin this coming spring. One of the other New York area hockey teams (Islanders or Devils) might join this new network, and the Devils were suppose to go to the YES Network before the YankeesNets partnership dissolved a couple years ago (YankeeNets owned a piece of the Devils). If that happens, it could effectively spell the end of Fox Sports Net New York.
> it distributes very few of its channels on the dish. None of
> the regional sports nets are available on the dish. They're
> intended to be properties to boost up the cable systems. A
> decent amount of people (let's say 20 percent of pay TV
> subscribers) have DirecTV or Dish Network. How can you be a
> true competitor without reaching out to them?
>
Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is the one not available on satellite. Their regional sports network in the Southeast, in partnership with Charter Communications, isn't available on satellite either. The Chicago, Mid-Atlantic (Baltimore/DC), and West (Northern California) channels are available on both Dish and DirecTV. They're also starting up a regional network with Time Warner Cable in New York City and the Mets called SportsNet NY. It will begin this coming spring. One of the other New York area hockey teams (Islanders or Devils) might join this new network, and the Devils were suppose to go to the YES Network before the YankeesNets partnership dissolved a couple years ago (YankeeNets owned a piece of the Devils). If that happens, it could effectively spell the end of Fox Sports Net New York.
> And Dish Network just dropped OLN from its service
> yesterday.
Yes, and the you-know-what match started a little earlier, when OLN didn't get what they wanted from EchoStar, and suddenly subbed a non-NHL version of OLN on Dish Network.
Egads.
Perhaps the biggest impediment to OLN becoming a nationwide competitor to ESPN - Comcast and its dealings with the satellite networks.
-OA <P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
> yesterday.
Yes, and the you-know-what match started a little earlier, when OLN didn't get what they wanted from EchoStar, and suddenly subbed a non-NHL version of OLN on Dish Network.
Egads.
Perhaps the biggest impediment to OLN becoming a nationwide competitor to ESPN - Comcast and its dealings with the satellite networks.
-OA <P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
- Status