Title/Author:
“Hockey Fight in Canada: The
Big Media Faceoff over the NHL” by David Shoalts
Tags:
Ice Hockey,
professional, business, broadcasting
Publish
date:
September
29, 2018
Length:
224 pages
Rating:
5 of 5
stars (outstanding)
Review:
“Hockey
Night In Canada” has been a Saturday night tradition in the country for over 60
years. The government-run Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) had the broadcasting rights for decades, but in
2014 Rogers Communications paid 5.2 billion dollars to gain the exclusive broadcast
rights for NHL hockey games for the entire nation, including “Hockey Night in
Canada.” How this deal did not go
exactly as planned for Rogers, as well as the wheeling and dealing behind the
scenes by all parties involved are told in this excellent book by veteran
Toronto sportswriter David Shoalts.
There
were many reasons given by the author as to why the CBC lost the rights to “Hockey
Night”, but the biggest seemed to be complacency. Since the program has been
such a staple in the country and was aired on the one broadcasting network that
covered the entire nation, it was figured that they would simply be awarded the
next contract. Like all other television
networks, CBC was losing viewers as more people looked to cutting the
proverbial cord and view programs on other platforms. Rogers was experiencing
similar issues, especially with a drop in cable subscriptions, but was
confident they could satisfy the wants of the NHL to expand viewership of its
product on other digital platforms. This eventually became a winning strategy
as Rogers beat out not only CBC but the other major Canadian broadcaster, Bell
Canada.
When
Rogers won the contract, it controlled all aspects of hockey broadcasts in Canada,
with many games broadcast on its SportsNet regional networks. However, in a deal
reached with the CBC, the latter was allowed to continue to broadcast “Hockey
Night in Canada” but Rogers called all the shots – they collected all the
revenue from advertising as well as forcing CBC into other concessions.
These
concessions included a major change in the on-air talent. Popular (at least
with viewers) long-time host of “Hockey Night”, Ron McLean, was replaced with George
Stroumboulopoulos. While he was
considered more “hip” and the set for “Hockey Night” had been modernized by
Rogers, Stroumboulopoulos never seemed comfortable in his new role. McLean had not disappeared, however, as he
still teamed up with Don Cherry on the very popular “Coach’s Corner” segment. However, even that was affected by Rogers as
they cut the amount of air time for the very popular coach and, like with any
other topic, Cherry wasn’t afraid to air his opinion of the situation.
Complaints about “Coach’s Corner” was just one of a myriad of issues Rogers had with its contract. The information about all the other problems and issues that affected the ratings and telecasts was compelling and made the book a very lively read about a topic that normally would not be considered exciting reading material. In a very short summarization of the first two years of the contract, Rogers’ ratings over all its services for hockey would depend on two factors – the success of the seven Canadian teams in the league (in 2016, none of the seven teams would qualify for the playoffs and the ratings tanked) and more specifically, the success of the Toronto Maple Leafs. To illustrate the power the Maple Leafs have on the broadcasting fortunes in Canada. The 2016 draft in which the Maple Leafs selected Auston Matthews drew higher ratings than any series in the playoffs that year, including the Stanley Cup Finals.
Complaints about “Coach’s Corner” was just one of a myriad of issues Rogers had with its contract. The information about all the other problems and issues that affected the ratings and telecasts was compelling and made the book a very lively read about a topic that normally would not be considered exciting reading material. In a very short summarization of the first two years of the contract, Rogers’ ratings over all its services for hockey would depend on two factors – the success of the seven Canadian teams in the league (in 2016, none of the seven teams would qualify for the playoffs and the ratings tanked) and more specifically, the success of the Toronto Maple Leafs. To illustrate the power the Maple Leafs have on the broadcasting fortunes in Canada. The 2016 draft in which the Maple Leafs selected Auston Matthews drew higher ratings than any series in the playoffs that year, including the Stanley Cup Finals.
Information
like this is why any reader who enjoys reading about sports business or
broadcasting will thoroughly enjoy this book. It is a fascinating look at the
cutthroat nature of negotiating for broadcasting rights for live sports, which
are still in high demand today.
I wish to
thank Douglas and McIntyre for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an
honest review.
Book Format
Read:
E-book (PDF)
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