The CBC's reliance on Don Cherry's NHL cost them dearly
On Tuesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a 12-year, $5.2-billion deal awarding Rogers Communications exclusive rights to all NHL games on all platforms -- cable, internet and mobile. In an instant, the Canadian sports media landscape shifted. TSN, the Canadian sports broadcasting leader for years, appeared to lose everything. Meanwhile, the CBC's venerable Hockey Night in Canada franchise, still reeling from losing their famous anthem a few years earlier (to none other than TSN), was reduced to a mote in the eye of Rogers' massive telecommunications network.
Stripped of editorial control, HNIC will show one or two games a week (of Rogers' choosing) until they fizzle out four years from now when their contract is up. Call it a parting gift from Bettman for their six decades of service to the NHL.
The deal has huge implications for hockey fans, of course -- Saturday night's big Canadian team games will no longer stream for free on cbc.ca, nor will they be available on public airwaves. It also signals a shift in the way media rights are distributed. CBC lost the television rights to 2010 Vancouver Olympics because they were outbid by CTV -- but it seems no amount of money would have saved them this time around.
