I'll always prefer to see two companies competing for my business.
That said, I understand that revenues can grow significantly without raising prices to viewers.
Right now, I only have a few options for viewing NHL Hockey (on a modest cable package with HD sports channels included) and if I don't like what is currently on TV then I'll either watch something else or turn off the TV.
If a new model gives me more options to watch more hockey than I will likely watch more hockey (hours per year). If millions of Canadians watch more hockey (hours per year), then more advertising spots can be sold at prices appropriate for those high ratings. The Rogers network can make more money by convincing me to spend more time watching hockey.
If the production value sucks, then I will be annoyed and I won't watch much more hockey then I already do. I will probably watch less. If they increase my prices then I won't watch as often.
I will go to the home games and will watch flames (away) games on TV. That might be enough for me.
Last edited by Loyal and True; 11-26-2013 at 07:49 PM.
As I understand it, there will still be regional games on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, and they may still be subject to out-of-region blackouts. However, there have also been suggestions that Rogers may offer some sort of package through the cable companies that will allow people to subscribe to all the regional SN channels with no blackouts for a price point that is lower than Centre Ice.
Regional broadcasts and agreements remain unchanged by today's deal. Regional broadcasts are only available in the applicable brodcast region, barring the introduction of the Rogers pay product for out of market Canadian teams on its other regional broadcasts or an existing product like Centre Ice.
Regional broadcasts and agreements remain unchanged by today's deal. Regional broadcasts are only available in the applicable brodcast region, barring the introduction of the Rogers pay product for out of market Canadian teams on its other regional broadcasts or an existing product like Centre Ice.
It sounds like Rogers will indeed by bringing in a mini-centre ice that will enable fans to get all the broadcasts carried by Sportsnet regional carriers for $5 or $6 a month.
Another change from this deal versus the last is if a game is on a Sporstnet regional station on a Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday it will be available nationally.
The end result is a lot more Flames hockey for fans outside Alberta/Saskatchewan/NWT but within Canada.
There was also some bit about how their will be a limited number of games Rogers can decide to "turn national" from their regional schedule. This already happens with TSN. Think of games where a player was traded and is returning to his former team, there's a game between two teams that had an incident or dust-up early in the season, a game takes on larger than expected significance because of a playoff race, etc.
This was discussed when Bettman and crew were on Primetime Sports (around the 3:50 mark).
It sounds like Rogers will indeed by bringing in a mini-centre ice that will enable fans to get all the broadcasts carried by Sportsnet regional carriers for $5 or $6 a month.
Another change from this deal versus the last is if a game is on a Sporstnet regional station on a Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday it will be available nationally.
The end result is a lot more Flames hockey for fans outside Alberta/Saskatchewan/NWT but within Canada.
Thanks for bringing that up, I've been glossing over it in my replies. You're right, this makes a pretty big difference. A glance at this season's remaining schedule shows this would impact 10 regional games if this deal were in place for this season. Probably some that have already been played would have been national as well.
So can tsn giveback the HNIC song back to cbc now that they aren;'t showing any NHL hockey.
TSN still has regional rights for the Jets and Canadiens, so the song will be used there. Also, this means anyone who cheers for Montreal and Winnipeg should save their money when it comes to Sportsnet's Centre Ice Lite. You won't be a part of it.
Sportsnet is a bush league organization, but the real bad guy in this is the NHL. This does nothing but hurt Canadian hockey fans by giving a single company such a large monopoly over a product. There's more than money to think about in a deal like this, there's also a brand to protect. And Sportsnet has been terrible at trying to promote the NHL, they can't even get the friggen audio in sync for live games
I'd actually be for some kind of government legislation to be implemented for scenarios like this. It's anti-competitive, it will likely drive up the price to get all the channels you need to watch your home team, and you're essentially letting a single family dictate how Canadians can watch our national sport. This was a terrible day for hockey fans in this country
The 12 years creates the problem. IMO it should have been a 4 year deal. Prove that you can do a good job and we'll resign you again for another 4. 12 years is mindboggling.
I'd actually be for some kind of government legislation to be implemented for scenarios like this. It's anti-competitive, it will likely drive up the price to get all the channels you need to watch your home team, and you're essentially letting a single family dictate how Canadians can watch our national sport. This was a terrible day for hockey fans in this country
The government is already on the "drive up the price" bandwagon. But they are actually calling it legislation to end the packaging of channels and forcing a la carte. Sufficed to say, when Sportsnet stops getting guaranteed revenue from every cable subscriber who has the appropriate tier, those who choose Sportsnet directly will be paying more.
In fact, TSN's value in such a free-for-all world is severely diminished by losing the NHL rights, because lets face it, the CFL and curling just aren't important enough.
This deal is important to Rogers, not only because it gives them, essentially, the sole rights to the NHL on television, but also, and more importantly, because it allows them to have total control over the digital rights of the NHL in Canada.
The trend of television consumption is changing, albeit slowly, from the traditional cable model, to that of the "a la carte" model. Netflix, iTunes, etc. has and will continue to make serious dents in the cable companies profits. The only television rights deals that still ties the consumer with the cable company is Live Sports.
The music industry suffered when it could no longer control the means by which music media was being consumed. More and more people are watching NHL games through means other than cable subscriptions. More and more people are using services like unblockus to to watch their local team, avoiding local blackout restrictions. The games are essentially available " a la carte".
Without live sports TV, cable subscriptions would plummet...and it would happen quickly. Rogers already knows this.
Currently, NHL games which are broadcast nationally in Canada are blacked out on NHL Game Centre. What happens if the sole provider of the NHL games in Canada also has total control of NHL Game Centre and Centre Ice in Canada? Does Rogers provide these games through Game Centre in Canada? I don't mean simply black these games out..I mean provide at all, in all of Canada. I doubt it and I would suspect that this is the real driver for this 5.2 Billion dollar deal.
We are already hearing snippets of this outcome. "Rogers Sportsnet will offer all Canadian content, without blackouts, for a cheaper price than Centre Ice." The sell job is already happening.
It's not and will not be cheaper than it currently is. The cost of game centre is approximately $150.00 per year. Using sites like unblock us, etc. will increase the cost to approximately $210.00/year total. Games can be viewed on television through set top boxes like AppleTV, Xbox, etc. Many who use this service, do not have cable and it's my guess that this in an increasing trend.
The average cost of cable is approximately $700 to $1000 per year (with blackout restrictions). I believe that Rogers will try to proactively halt the consumption of live NHL hockey through NHL game Centre and, by doing so, force the consumer to either switch back to paying for cable service or inhibit them from doing so in the first place.
Will it work? Probably for a short time....
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Currently, NHL games which are broadcast nationally in Canada are blacked out on NHL Game Centre. What happens if the sole provider of the NHL games in Canada also has total control of NHL Game Centre and Centre Ice in Canada? Does Rogers provide these games through Game Centre in Canada? I don't mean simply black these games out..I mean provide at all, in all of Canada. I doubt it and I would suspect that this is the real driver for this 5.2 Billion dollar deal.
I've read this four or five times and I don't know what you're asking. I mean, more national TV games means less games available on GameCentre in Canada that aren't blacked out. Is that what you're driving at?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacFlame
I believe that Rogers will try to proactively halt the consumption of live NHL hockey through NHL game Centre and, by doing so, force the consumer to either switch back to paying for cable service or inhibit them from doing so in the first place.
Yeah, no. There's 1,230 games a season, Rogers doesn't have the ability to broadcast all of them. Game Center and CI will still be around for out of market games and for non-regional games.
Last edited by TurnedTheCorner; 11-26-2013 at 08:50 PM.
The 12 years creates the problem. IMO it should have been a 4 year deal. Prove that you can do a good job and we'll resign you again for another 4. 12 years is mindboggling.
It's too risky for the NHL. Who knows where the state of television will be at in four years? Or the state of the North American economy for that matter. Those cable dollars might not be there in four years time and at the end of the day it's about the dollars. I think the NHL did very well here.
I've read this four or five times and I don't know what you're asking. I mean, more national TV games means less games available on GameCentre in Canada that aren't blacked out. Is that what you're driving at?
Yeah..its a bit of a run on sentence..my apologies. What I'm driving at is that this deal not only gives rogers exclusive rights to Canadian content on TV, but more importantly total control of game centre. I believe that Rogers will probably remove the games, not simply black them out, but actually remove the Canadian games from NHL game centre. My belief is that, eventually, they will only make the games available through a sports net subscription and with an added fee to remove the blackouts. They've already alluded to this today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner
, no. There's 1,230 games a season, Rogers doesn't have the ability to broadcast all of them. Game Center and CI will still be around for out of market games and for non-regional games.
You're right, but it will broadcast the important ones. The "out of market" games will be available on sportsnet without blackouts, for an additional fee of course, outside of game centre.
