The buzz this week has the CBC emerging as the favourite to retain National Hockey League broadcasting rights.
A source well connected to the NHL speculated the CBC will hang onto the rights by signing a relatively short-term deal with the league, perhaps only three or four years in length.
Insiders say the network made a presentation to the NHL about two weeks ago in New York and, as the incumbent rights holder, is operating now in a window of exclusive negotiation.
Although it has been speculated an agreement could be announced as early as this month, others say a complete presentation by Bell Globemedia, which owns CTV and TSN, has yet to be heard.
"It's way too early to say this deal is close," a source said. "Globemedia has had a few informal talks. That's all."
An important unknown is the level of interest CTV has in usurping broadcasting rights from the CBC. CTV's carriage of NHL games, it is believed, would be limited primarily to one game on Saturday nights and coverage of the Stanley Cup final.
There's certainly more on the line for the CBC than there is CTV. Losing hockey would trigger further cuts to CBC Sports. A defeat would also result in the brand name, music and tradition of the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, the longest-running show on Canadian TV, disappearing from television at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season, when the current deal expires.
Here's how some see the deal unfolding:
The CBC would continue to air Saturday night doubleheaders, but would be required to share Canadian games in the playoffs with TSN.
TSN would have its Canadian content increase dramatically. It would air a doubleheader Wednesday nights in which both games would involve Canadian teams. In the playoffs, TSN would get a first-round, and perhaps a second-round series involving a Canadian team if more than one was playing.
The CBC's rights fee would likely be in the range of $100-million a year. Right now, the network is paying $65-million annually and earning a profit of about $30-million. With the increased fee, that cash cow would disappear.
It is believed TSN is paying the NHL between $15-million and $20-million annually in its current cable agreement. With the added value of more Canadian games and playoff content, that fee would jump considerably.
Asking questions
Cassie Campbell's work as a reporter on Hockey Night is improving, but still weak.
That's not really her fault. Straight out of women's hockey, she's been thrown into a job she knows little about. (Commentary, which she has done for TV, is something altogether different.)
Campbell tends to ask leading questions that are likely to generate simple answers, such as, "How big was that first period?" to which a player is likely to say, "Real big."
There was less of that on the telecast last Saturday, but she did preface a question about the Montreal Canadiens' good season, with, "You've had such a great start." That made it easy for Habs defenceman Craig Rivet to agree and say the team is happy with the way they're playing.
Hockey Night's Kelly Hrudey made it clear about how he feels about interviews in a column that he wrote for The Province in Vancouver. "Basically, we give a free, half-hour infomercial for the team and its players by raving about their talent," he wrote about the postgame show. "Protecting a player is important, as is his time, but we basically play T-ball during our interview. We lob you an easy question, you hammer it out of the park, repeat the process 10 times, and in 30 minutes we all go home."
From the rail
There's been plenty of interest in rinkside play-by-play since TSN's telecast of the New York Rangers-Buffalo Sabres game last week in which announcer Chris Cuthbert and game analyst Glenn Healy were at ice level.
Cuthbert and Healy were between the benches again on Wednesday for the Ottawa Senators-Washington Capitals telecast. "I think the consensus was it was a better telecast than it would have been had we been upstairs [in the broadcast booth]," Cuthbert said Thursday.
Versus, the U.S. cable channel, is planning to produce an ice-level play-by-play broadcast. Next Tuesday, Detroit Red Wing announcer Ken Daniels will call the Senators-Wings game from the rail.
- Phil Piazza of Corus Entertainment, formerly of TSN, has been identified as a candidate for the job as head of CBC Sports. Toronto Argonaut president Keith Pelley has apparently taken a pass. TSN president Phil King probably tops the list, but is expected to stay where he is. Some see John Shannon, senior vice-president of broadcasting for the NHL, as the leading candidate.
- Hockey Night will air a tripleheader Saturday: New York Rangers at Ottawa (3 p.m. EST); Toronto Maple Leafs at Detroit (7 p.m.); and Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames (10 p.m.).
