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FredLeonard
Guest
Looks like the suits really screwed the pooch, and as usual, the troops are the ones who suffer.
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Maybe you haven't heard, but the CBC is in big trouble financially. Government funding is drying up, and ad sales is down. In this deal, they at least get rent money, which is far more dependable that advertising money. Reminds me of what happened to KCET in LA.
The other thing I've heard is that Rogers really overpaid for this, to the point where they're going to have to raise the salary cap for players!
The other thing I've heard is that Rogers really overpaid for this, to the point where they're going to have to raise the salary cap for players!
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CBC couldn't have made money outbidding Rogers. Rogers will lose their shirt on this. You're right, the workers will lose the most and then Rogers subscribers who will end up paying higher rates as a result, that is, if the Canadian Government allows them to increase rates.
That said, CBC should've not agreed to carry the Rogers HNIC broadcast without some revenue, or a fixed fee per broadcast, or getting some slots to sell, say 15% of the total. That way, it would be guaranteed profit and they'd still retain the leverage to get advertisers for the rest of their schedule.
I agree with the article when it asks why the CBC exec hired to negotiate the deal still has a job. My guess is that his contract is too much to buyout right now. I also have no trouble beliving that Rogers and the NHL aren't being completely forthright when they describe the limited HNIC deal they offered to the CBC.
The NHL was luck to have found someone foolish enough to pay these kinds of bucks. In the US, they basically have had to give the national rights away, although with the proliferation of new all sports nets, they will likely get a decent bid next time around, but nothing like the Rogers deal.
That said, CBC should've not agreed to carry the Rogers HNIC broadcast without some revenue, or a fixed fee per broadcast, or getting some slots to sell, say 15% of the total. That way, it would be guaranteed profit and they'd still retain the leverage to get advertisers for the rest of their schedule.
I agree with the article when it asks why the CBC exec hired to negotiate the deal still has a job. My guess is that his contract is too much to buyout right now. I also have no trouble beliving that Rogers and the NHL aren't being completely forthright when they describe the limited HNIC deal they offered to the CBC.
The NHL was luck to have found someone foolish enough to pay these kinds of bucks. In the US, they basically have had to give the national rights away, although with the proliferation of new all sports nets, they will likely get a decent bid next time around, but nothing like the Rogers deal.
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Robnoxious
Star Participant
Public broadcaster KCET in Los Angeles sat on it's butt in complacency for many many years under the watchful eye of Al Jerome (who hasn't taken a pay cut in the 18+ years of his employ). Despite having it's own studio lot, KCET did next to nothing in the form of in house production since Carl Sagan's Cosmos series in the late 1970's. While public powerhouses like WGBH-Boston and WETA-Washington have been producing the bulk of PBS's acclaimed programming for years, KCET sat idly and begged the Southland for pledge dollars year after year while never returning their promised commitment to Los Angeles or PBS as a whole. Then they got the bright idea to try and strongarm PBS to lower their affiliate price or they would walk. PBS called them on their bluff and went to secondary outlet KOCE-Huntington Beach where business resumed as normal. Since 2011, KCET has floundered in subpar programming as a completely independent non-commercial outlet which has resulted in less pledge dollars. To add insult to injury, KCET has been selling any and all assets it has owned for decades including it's once iconic studios (the very one Carl Sagan gave us his "Pale Blue Dot" commentary) to the Church of Scientology full part and parcel. In another cash grab, KCET teamed up with the Los Angeles School District's non-com KLCS to auction off additional broadcast spectrum back to the FCC that will ultimately be up for bid to private wireless broadband companies.
Maybe there are some parallels you can draw with KCET and the Ceeb but last I checked CBC still gets "some" funding from the Canadian taxpayers. KCET gets no tax cushion and deservedly so... it's complete garbage unworthy of anyone's hard earned dime.
The NHL has been very happy with the NBC deal in the US. NBC Sportsnet however you may think about them showcase the NHL front and center. Personally, I preferred ESPN but Bristol always have had a love/hate relationship with hockey. It was always an after thought well under the NFL, MLB, NBA & NCAA. Canadians always equate the NHL in the US with the glowing puck and fire trails era when FOX had the NHL contract 20 years ago.
As far as the NHL and the Ceeb, they got clowned by the private sector and their current 4 year "deal" is a laughable mess. At least these new Front Street West occupants on the 8th Floor aren't a bunch of nutty Scientologists.
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While KCET withdrew from PBS, it is still a CPB qualified station, and therefore still received CPB funding, as well as state grants. It isn't a lot of money, but they receive funding, plus they operate as a non-profit with all of the associated tax benefits.
Consider the alternative...which would be no network TV coverage at all. Not everything is about money. Sometimes it's about access to an audience. They get a whole lot more access from NBC than they would from their own NHL Channel. And that's all they'd have if NBC pulled out.
Robnoxious
Star Participant
Hockey is not the audience drawing behemoth like it is North of the 45th parallel. It's likely always going to be a niche sport despite some in roads to change that. It runs concurrently with other leagues (NFL & NBA & NCAA FB & NCAA BB) that are frankly just more popular and get more eyeballs in the U.S. I'm certainly not telling you anything you don't already know. Fact is, the NHL doesn't get high priced broadcast contracts in the states because the numbers show it doesn't deserve it.
$200 million a year is nothing for the NHL to sneeze at when it comes to the U.S. broadcast contract. It was triple what they were getting before and was unprecedented until the recent NBA broadcast contract blew that out of the water.
I wasn't even aware they were getting $200M per year from NBC, so you did tell me something I didn't know.
I agree, the NHL needs to take what they can get. They likely get good deals from the regional sports nets in areas where hockey is popular (MidWest and NorthEast).
Bettman seems to have pulled off a great financial deal for the Canadian rights. The owners must be happy, because he's still commissioner. I think CBC is important to many Canadians, and the fact that HNIC is still broadcast there on Saturday nights demonstrates this. In the end though, I'm not sure CBC had the resources to bid for any sort of package for themselves. The article seems to paint this as a complete failure of CBC Management, and while that might possibly be true, it could equally be true that they were so hamstrung by budget cuts from the Canadian Government, they never had a chance to bid for even a small package of their own.
I agree, the NHL needs to take what they can get. They likely get good deals from the regional sports nets in areas where hockey is popular (MidWest and NorthEast).
Bettman seems to have pulled off a great financial deal for the Canadian rights. The owners must be happy, because he's still commissioner. I think CBC is important to many Canadians, and the fact that HNIC is still broadcast there on Saturday nights demonstrates this. In the end though, I'm not sure CBC had the resources to bid for any sort of package for themselves. The article seems to paint this as a complete failure of CBC Management, and while that might possibly be true, it could equally be true that they were so hamstrung by budget cuts from the Canadian Government, they never had a chance to bid for even a small package of their own.
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