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EspañolNHL ON NBC
(Redirected from The NHL on NBC)
'''NHL on NBC''' is a TV show that televises National Hockey League games on NBC and is produced by NBC Sports.
Main articles: The NHL on NBC Commentators
In May 2004, NBC reached an agreement with the NHL to broadcast a handful of regular season games and the Stanley Cup Finals. The plan would call for NBC to air at least six weeks of regular season games (three regional games each week) on Saturday afternoons. Also, NBC will show eight weeks worth of playoff games. Games 3 through 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals would get prime time berths (OLN/Versus will cover the first two games). NBC plans to televise its primary game each week, as well as the Stanley Cup Finals in high definition.
Unlike previous network television deals with the NHL (like FOX, who had the rights from 1994-1999 and ABC, who had the rights from 1999-2004), NBC paid no rights fee, and the network and the league will split advertising revenue. In other words, the NHL will not receive any guaranteed money upfront. NBC would also cover its own production and distribution costs, whereas some minor sports leagues pay for broadcast time and production, but keep any advertising revenue.
The last time NBC Sports entered a television deal which didn't require them to pay any rights fees was in 1994-1995, when they were involved in the Major League Baseball joint venture called ''The Baseball Network''. To a lesser extent, NBC also had a similar sort of revenue-sharing agreement with the Arena Football League.
NBC's out-of-market games are available on ''NHL Center Ice''.
NBC's contract with the NHL runs for two years, with a network option to renew for two more. NBC's NHL coverage was delayed a year due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout, which wound up cancelling the entire regular season and playoffs. NBC instead, decided to replace five of its scheduled NHL broadcasts with alternate sports programming (such as reruns of ''NASCAR Year in Review'' and ''The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge''). NBC also decided to give one of the slots back to local affiliates.
''The NHL on NBC's new agreement debuted on January 14, 2006, with three regional games (New York vs. Detroit, Colorado vs. Philadelphia, and Dallas vs. Boston) to substantial praise among hockey fans and writers, who often compare national TV network's presentation to ''Hockey Night in Canada'', which is broadcast in full on the ''NHL Center Ice'' package (although some fans even speculated that NBC's playoff broadcasts were superior to CBC's, largely because of announcers and HD coverage of games prior to the Finals). NBC's out-of-market telecasts are also offered through this platform.
Main articles: NBC's 2005-06 NHL Schedule and Announcing Teams
For the 2006-2007 season, NBC will broadcast three regional games for nine weekend dates during the regular season. They will also broadcast on ten dates during the playoffs (not including Stanley Cup Finals). The additional broadcast windows are expected to replace the Arena Football League, which NBC dropped after the 2006 season. NBC will also broadcast two games per week in high definition, up from one in 2005-06.
The newly titled '''NHL on NBC Game of the Week''' premiered for a second season January 13, 2007 with three regional games (LA vs. STL, BOS vs. NYR, PIT vs. PHI) at 2:00 p.m. ET. Games will start at various times this season, ranging everywhere from 12:30 to 3:30 during the season (this variation primarily results from NBC's commitments to the PGA Tour and other programming). One or two games aired only on the West Coast (and on ''NHL Center Ice'') will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET, although NBC (and ABC before them) used to have more of these games.
It was also rumored that NBC wanted to broadcast an annual outdoor game (specifically, the New York Rangers vs. the New York Islanders at Yankee Stadium), but this will not happen until at least 2007-08. Having lost rights to the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day to CBS, the possibility of doing a New Year's Day game has increased, assuming NBC renews its broadcast contract.
''The NHL on NBC'' moved to Sundays after its season premiere (listed above) for the final eight dates of the season. NBC's nine games amounts to the most U.S. broadcast television coverage the league has had since 1998, at the end of FOX's run.
Main articles: NBC's 2006-07 NHL Schedule and Announcing Teams
On May 19, 2007, after regulation of a tied game during the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, NBC angered many fans when they went directly to their 2007 Preakness Stakes pre-race coverage (a horse racing broadcast generally contains several hours of pre-race coverage, and approximately 2 minutes of actual racing), pre-empting the end of the game. Overtime of the game was televised on Versus, a cable channel found in far less US households than NBC. This move sparked the ire of many Buffalo Sabres fans, who are found throughout Western and Central New York. The move was seen not only as a snub of small market teams (such as the Sabres), but the NHL in general. In 2006, NBC televised Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes on the same day as the Preakness. Before the game, Bill Clement advised the audience that in the event that the game went into overtime, it would be televised on Versus, or OLN as it was known at the time. The Sabres won the game in regulation. The incident could provoke memories of the Heidi Game, also televised by NBC back in 1968.
For the 2006-07 season, NBC added an online, broadband-only pregame show to its NHL coverage. This is similar to what it does with its Notre Dame football coverage. Titled '''NHL on NBC Countdown to Faceoff''', it airs for a half-hour before every ''NHL on NBC'' telecast on NBCSports.com. The show headquarters at "The Rink at 30 Rock" in New York City, hosted by Bill Clement, Ray Ferraro and Brett Hull, and features a breakdown of upcoming action, as well as reports from each of the game sites.
The show usually consists of analysis of the upcoming games, followed by in-depth reports from the announcers at each of the arena sites, then further analysis from the studio, plus a feature on an NHL player.
NHL on NBC
★ 2007–2014
On March 27, 2007, NBC Sports and the NHL agreed to a 1-year contract extension with an option for one more.
In 2007-08, NBC's nine dates will feature "Flex Scheduling", similar to what NBC does with NFL broadcasts. The league will select three potential games at the start of the season for each of the nine Sundays on which NBC will air games. Thirteen days prior to the game, NBC will select one to air as the ''Game of the Week'' and let the other two move outside of NBC's broadcast window and return to the regional carriers. Since the league made network coverage a priority in the 1990s, regionalized coverage had been the norm; NBC will be the first to try regularly presenting one game to the entire nation.
All games will be available in Hi-Def.
''The NHL on NBC'' usually only features teams whose home cities are in the United States, with the exception of games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when showing a Canadian team might be unavoidable. NBC is always given the first choice of games and times on its scheduled broadcast dates. Canadian broadcasters must adjust accordingly.
In 2008, this will change, as the Montreal Canadiens will be the first team featured on the ''NHL on NBC'' February 3. The game will also be on CBC.
Like its predecessors, NBC frequently chooses games with a focus on about five teams (New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Boston Bruins). The relation has very little correlation with team success; for instance, the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007, and the Buffalo Sabres have made it to the conference finals in both 2006 and 2007. Those teams received one and two games respectively in the 2008 season, compared to the seven games given to the Rangers (although, to their credit, they have been playoff contenders for the past two years) and the four games given to the Flyers, who finished dead last in 2007. The most frequently cited reasons for this bias are low ratings in said market (in the case of Anaheim) and market size (in the case of Buffalo, where hockey ratings are well above average).
Some of NBC's innovations included putting a star clock underneath the scoreboard at the top of the screen. During each game, NBC takes one player from each team (for example, during the 1/14/2006 Rangers-Red Wings game, Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan were used) and clocks how long that player is out on the ice each time he comes out for a shift. Also, goalies like Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury wore cameras inside their masks, much like ''Major League Baseball on FOX'' uses for catchers. Finally, in what may be one of the more drastic steps taken in broadasting to date, NBC placed analysts (see below for list) in between the two teams benches for what they call '''Inside the Glass''' reporting (loosely based on pit reporters used for auto racing telecasts).
Main articles: Ratings for The NHL on NBC
NBC previously televised the National Hockey League on three different occasions.
NBC was the first United States television network to air a national broadcast of a Stanley Cup Playoff game. They provided coverage of four Sunday afternoon playoff games during the 1966 postseason. On April 10 and April 17, NBC aired semifinal games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. On April 24 and May 1, NBC aired Games 1 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings respectively. Win Elliot served as the play-by-play man while Bill Mazer served as the color commentator for all four games.
NBC's coverage of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time that hockey games were televised in color. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation wouldn't follow suit until the following year. NBC's Stanley Cup coverage preempted a sports anthology series called ''NBC Sports in Action'' hosted by Jim Simpson and Bill Cullen. Some sources erroneously report that Simpson and Cullen were the hockey announcers.
From 1972-1975, NBC not only televised the Stanley Cup Finals (in actuality, a couple of games in prime time), but also weekly regular season games on Sunday afternoons. NBC also aired several regular season and playoff games in prime time during this period (namely, during the 1972-1973 season). Tim Ryan and Ted Lindsay (with Brian McFarlane as the intermission host) served as the commentators for NBC's Stanley Cup coverage during this period. Since most NHL teams still didn't have players' names on the backs of jerseys, NBC made teams put on players' names to help American viewers identify players.
NBC's NHL coverage during the 1970s was probably most notable for the introduction of the animated character Peter Puck. Peter Puck, whose cartoon adventures (produced by Hanna-Barbera) appeared on both ''NBC's Hockey Game of the Week'' and CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada'', explained hockey rules to the home viewing audience.
Besides Peter Puck, the 1970s version of ''The NHL on NBC'' had a between periods feature titled '''Showdown'''. The concept of ''Showdown'' involved with 20 (16 shooters and four goaltenders) of the NHL's greatest players going head-to-head in a penalty shot competition.
Prior to January 14, 2006, NBC's last regular season NHL game occurred on April 6, 1975. The game in question featured the Minnesota North Stars at the Chicago Blackhawks.
From 1990-1994, NBC only televised the National Hockey League All-Star Game. Marv Albert and John Davidson called the action while Bill Clement served as an ice-level reporter in 1992 and 1994. CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada'' personality Ron MacLean also served as an ice level reporter, and was the lone correspondent for NBC for the 44th National Hockey League All-Star Game in 1993.
The Montreal Canadiens were slated to host the 1990 All-Star Game, but however withdrew their bid to considerations due to the superb hosting by Quebec City of Rendez-Vous '87. This had allowed the Penguins, who wanted to host an All-Star Game in 1993, to move up three years early. For its part, Pittsburgh's organizers added much more to previous games, creating the first "true" All-Star weekend. Firstly was the addition of the ''Heroes of Hockey'' game, a two-period oldtimers' game between past NHL greats. The second was the addition of the National Hockey League All-Star Skills Competition, a competition between the players invited to the All-Star Game. The Skills competition was created by Paul Palmer, who adapted the "Showdown" feature seen on ''Hockey Night in Canada'' from 1973 to 1980. All-Star players would be rewarded with $2,500 for any win in the skills competition. To accommodate the altered activities, the game itself was played on a Sunday afternoon instead of a Tuesday night, as was the case in previous years. This allowed American broadcaster NBC to air the game live across the United States - marking (surprisingly) the first time that a national audience would see Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux play. Referees and other officials were also wired with microphones in this game, as was the two head coaches. Finally, NBC also was allowed to conduct interviews with players during stoppages in play, to the chagrin of the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' crew, whose attempts to do likewise were repeatedly denied by the league in past years.
In 1991, NBC broke away from the telecast in the third period to televise a briefing from the Pentagon involving the Gulf War. SportsChannnel America included the missing coverage in a replay of NBC's telecast.
There were reports about NBC making an arrangement to air four to eight regular season games for the 1992-1993 season but nothing materialized. NHL officials had arranged a 4-8 game, time-buy package on NBC, but that fell through when the NHL wanted assurance that all NBC affiliates would carry the games. (Since 2006, NBC has generally gotten all but a couple of affiliates in the Top-50 markets to carry the games.) ABC was the league's network broadcaster instead, and then FOX won a bidding war with CBS for TV rights lasting from the 1994-1995 through 1998-1999 seasons.
★ Hockey broadcasting
★ ''Hockey Night in Canada''
★ ''ESPN National Hockey Night''
★ ''FOX NHL Saturday''
★ ''The NHL on ABC''
★ ''The NHL on CBS''
★ ''The NHL on SportsChannel America''
★ ''The NHL on Versus''
★ ''La Soirée du hockey''
★ List of Stanley Cup Finals broadcasters
★ ''Preakness Game''
★ NHL - NBCSports.com
★ NHL on NBC Countdown to Faceoff- NBCSports.com
★ The NHL on NBC theme music
★ Emrick, Davidson, Clement, Ferraro Join NHL on NBC for Inaugural Broadcast Season
★ DBSForums Discussion Forums - NHL on NBC
★ NHL and NBC: Perfect Together?
★ NHL Cuts New Broadcast Deals with NBC and ESPN
★ NHL returns to NBC Saturday with season preview
★ CBA: NBC goes to the dogs in wake of lockout
★ ON THE BRINK OF IRRELEVANCE: Hockey Through American Eyes
★ NBC will start to feature regional games Saturday as league seeks to build audience in relaunch.
★ NBC set to take shot at NHL
★ Stanley Cup to appear in NBC Store to launch "NHL on NBC"
★ The NHL on NBC - Coverage map
★ Hockey's here! NHL returns to NBC today
★ NBC has special chance to shine with reporters
★ NBC returns to pro hockey
★ NBC to televise Philadelphia contest
★ After Long Hiatus, NHL Games Return To NBC Today Open this result in new window
★ NBC promises new approach to TV hockey when broadcasts start Saturday
★ Kukla's Korner- Hockey :: The NHL On NBC
★ NHL ON NBC: DIDN’T SUCK
★ Hockeybird.com: The NHL on NBC
★ NHL, NBC won't be sharing CBC's joy
★ STANLEY CUP FINAL RETURNS TO NBC FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1975
★ NHL Game 3 could bottom out TV ratings
★ NHL ratings rise on NBC
★ NBC to add extra coverage of NHL in '06-'07
★ Eddie Olczyk named lead analyst for NHL on NBC
★ Retrophisch: Hockey Archives - Saturday, 04 February 2006
★ NHL, NBC discussing TV contract extension
'''NHL on NBC''' is a TV show that televises National Hockey League games on NBC and is produced by NBC Sports.
Personalities
Main articles: The NHL on NBC Commentators
Terms of the deal
In May 2004, NBC reached an agreement with the NHL to broadcast a handful of regular season games and the Stanley Cup Finals. The plan would call for NBC to air at least six weeks of regular season games (three regional games each week) on Saturday afternoons. Also, NBC will show eight weeks worth of playoff games. Games 3 through 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals would get prime time berths (OLN/Versus will cover the first two games). NBC plans to televise its primary game each week, as well as the Stanley Cup Finals in high definition.
Unlike previous network television deals with the NHL (like FOX, who had the rights from 1994-1999 and ABC, who had the rights from 1999-2004), NBC paid no rights fee, and the network and the league will split advertising revenue. In other words, the NHL will not receive any guaranteed money upfront. NBC would also cover its own production and distribution costs, whereas some minor sports leagues pay for broadcast time and production, but keep any advertising revenue.
The last time NBC Sports entered a television deal which didn't require them to pay any rights fees was in 1994-1995, when they were involved in the Major League Baseball joint venture called ''The Baseball Network''. To a lesser extent, NBC also had a similar sort of revenue-sharing agreement with the Arena Football League.
NBC's out-of-market games are available on ''NHL Center Ice''.
2004-05 NHL lockout
NBC's contract with the NHL runs for two years, with a network option to renew for two more. NBC's NHL coverage was delayed a year due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout, which wound up cancelling the entire regular season and playoffs. NBC instead, decided to replace five of its scheduled NHL broadcasts with alternate sports programming (such as reruns of ''NASCAR Year in Review'' and ''The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge''). NBC also decided to give one of the slots back to local affiliates.
2005-06 NHL season
''The NHL on NBC's new agreement debuted on January 14, 2006, with three regional games (New York vs. Detroit, Colorado vs. Philadelphia, and Dallas vs. Boston) to substantial praise among hockey fans and writers, who often compare national TV network's presentation to ''Hockey Night in Canada'', which is broadcast in full on the ''NHL Center Ice'' package (although some fans even speculated that NBC's playoff broadcasts were superior to CBC's, largely because of announcers and HD coverage of games prior to the Finals). NBC's out-of-market telecasts are also offered through this platform.
NBC's 2005-06 schedule and announcing teams
Main articles: NBC's 2005-06 NHL Schedule and Announcing Teams
2006-07 NHL season
For the 2006-2007 season, NBC will broadcast three regional games for nine weekend dates during the regular season. They will also broadcast on ten dates during the playoffs (not including Stanley Cup Finals). The additional broadcast windows are expected to replace the Arena Football League, which NBC dropped after the 2006 season. NBC will also broadcast two games per week in high definition, up from one in 2005-06.
The newly titled '''NHL on NBC Game of the Week''' premiered for a second season January 13, 2007 with three regional games (LA vs. STL, BOS vs. NYR, PIT vs. PHI) at 2:00 p.m. ET. Games will start at various times this season, ranging everywhere from 12:30 to 3:30 during the season (this variation primarily results from NBC's commitments to the PGA Tour and other programming). One or two games aired only on the West Coast (and on ''NHL Center Ice'') will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET, although NBC (and ABC before them) used to have more of these games.
It was also rumored that NBC wanted to broadcast an annual outdoor game (specifically, the New York Rangers vs. the New York Islanders at Yankee Stadium), but this will not happen until at least 2007-08. Having lost rights to the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day to CBS, the possibility of doing a New Year's Day game has increased, assuming NBC renews its broadcast contract.
''The NHL on NBC'' moved to Sundays after its season premiere (listed above) for the final eight dates of the season. NBC's nine games amounts to the most U.S. broadcast television coverage the league has had since 1998, at the end of FOX's run.
NBC's 2006-07 schedule
Main articles: NBC's 2006-07 NHL Schedule and Announcing Teams
2007 Playoffs Controversy
On May 19, 2007, after regulation of a tied game during the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, NBC angered many fans when they went directly to their 2007 Preakness Stakes pre-race coverage (a horse racing broadcast generally contains several hours of pre-race coverage, and approximately 2 minutes of actual racing), pre-empting the end of the game. Overtime of the game was televised on Versus, a cable channel found in far less US households than NBC. This move sparked the ire of many Buffalo Sabres fans, who are found throughout Western and Central New York. The move was seen not only as a snub of small market teams (such as the Sabres), but the NHL in general. In 2006, NBC televised Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes on the same day as the Preakness. Before the game, Bill Clement advised the audience that in the event that the game went into overtime, it would be televised on Versus, or OLN as it was known at the time. The Sabres won the game in regulation. The incident could provoke memories of the Heidi Game, also televised by NBC back in 1968.
''NHL on NBC Faceoff''
For the 2006-07 season, NBC added an online, broadband-only pregame show to its NHL coverage. This is similar to what it does with its Notre Dame football coverage. Titled '''NHL on NBC Countdown to Faceoff''', it airs for a half-hour before every ''NHL on NBC'' telecast on NBCSports.com. The show headquarters at "The Rink at 30 Rock" in New York City, hosted by Bill Clement, Ray Ferraro and Brett Hull, and features a breakdown of upcoming action, as well as reports from each of the game sites.
The show usually consists of analysis of the upcoming games, followed by in-depth reports from the announcers at each of the arena sites, then further analysis from the studio, plus a feature on an NHL player.
2007 and beyond
NHL on NBC
★ 2007–2014
On March 27, 2007, NBC Sports and the NHL agreed to a 1-year contract extension with an option for one more.
In 2007-08, NBC's nine dates will feature "Flex Scheduling", similar to what NBC does with NFL broadcasts. The league will select three potential games at the start of the season for each of the nine Sundays on which NBC will air games. Thirteen days prior to the game, NBC will select one to air as the ''Game of the Week'' and let the other two move outside of NBC's broadcast window and return to the regional carriers. Since the league made network coverage a priority in the 1990s, regionalized coverage had been the norm; NBC will be the first to try regularly presenting one game to the entire nation.
All games will be available in Hi-Def.
Teams featured
''The NHL on NBC'' usually only features teams whose home cities are in the United States, with the exception of games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when showing a Canadian team might be unavoidable. NBC is always given the first choice of games and times on its scheduled broadcast dates. Canadian broadcasters must adjust accordingly.
In 2008, this will change, as the Montreal Canadiens will be the first team featured on the ''NHL on NBC'' February 3. The game will also be on CBC.
Like its predecessors, NBC frequently chooses games with a focus on about five teams (New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Boston Bruins). The relation has very little correlation with team success; for instance, the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007, and the Buffalo Sabres have made it to the conference finals in both 2006 and 2007. Those teams received one and two games respectively in the 2008 season, compared to the seven games given to the Rangers (although, to their credit, they have been playoff contenders for the past two years) and the four games given to the Flyers, who finished dead last in 2007. The most frequently cited reasons for this bias are low ratings in said market (in the case of Anaheim) and market size (in the case of Buffalo, where hockey ratings are well above average).
Innovations
Some of NBC's innovations included putting a star clock underneath the scoreboard at the top of the screen. During each game, NBC takes one player from each team (for example, during the 1/14/2006 Rangers-Red Wings game, Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan were used) and clocks how long that player is out on the ice each time he comes out for a shift. Also, goalies like Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury wore cameras inside their masks, much like ''Major League Baseball on FOX'' uses for catchers. Finally, in what may be one of the more drastic steps taken in broadasting to date, NBC placed analysts (see below for list) in between the two teams benches for what they call '''Inside the Glass''' reporting (loosely based on pit reporters used for auto racing telecasts).
Ratings
Main articles: Ratings for The NHL on NBC
Past history
NBC previously televised the National Hockey League on three different occasions.
1960s
NBC was the first United States television network to air a national broadcast of a Stanley Cup Playoff game. They provided coverage of four Sunday afternoon playoff games during the 1966 postseason. On April 10 and April 17, NBC aired semifinal games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. On April 24 and May 1, NBC aired Games 1 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings respectively. Win Elliot served as the play-by-play man while Bill Mazer served as the color commentator for all four games.
NBC's coverage of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time that hockey games were televised in color. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation wouldn't follow suit until the following year. NBC's Stanley Cup coverage preempted a sports anthology series called ''NBC Sports in Action'' hosted by Jim Simpson and Bill Cullen. Some sources erroneously report that Simpson and Cullen were the hockey announcers.
1970s
From 1972-1975, NBC not only televised the Stanley Cup Finals (in actuality, a couple of games in prime time), but also weekly regular season games on Sunday afternoons. NBC also aired several regular season and playoff games in prime time during this period (namely, during the 1972-1973 season). Tim Ryan and Ted Lindsay (with Brian McFarlane as the intermission host) served as the commentators for NBC's Stanley Cup coverage during this period. Since most NHL teams still didn't have players' names on the backs of jerseys, NBC made teams put on players' names to help American viewers identify players.
NBC's NHL coverage during the 1970s was probably most notable for the introduction of the animated character Peter Puck. Peter Puck, whose cartoon adventures (produced by Hanna-Barbera) appeared on both ''NBC's Hockey Game of the Week'' and CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada'', explained hockey rules to the home viewing audience.
Besides Peter Puck, the 1970s version of ''The NHL on NBC'' had a between periods feature titled '''Showdown'''. The concept of ''Showdown'' involved with 20 (16 shooters and four goaltenders) of the NHL's greatest players going head-to-head in a penalty shot competition.
Prior to January 14, 2006, NBC's last regular season NHL game occurred on April 6, 1975. The game in question featured the Minnesota North Stars at the Chicago Blackhawks.
1990s
From 1990-1994, NBC only televised the National Hockey League All-Star Game. Marv Albert and John Davidson called the action while Bill Clement served as an ice-level reporter in 1992 and 1994. CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada'' personality Ron MacLean also served as an ice level reporter, and was the lone correspondent for NBC for the 44th National Hockey League All-Star Game in 1993.
The Montreal Canadiens were slated to host the 1990 All-Star Game, but however withdrew their bid to considerations due to the superb hosting by Quebec City of Rendez-Vous '87. This had allowed the Penguins, who wanted to host an All-Star Game in 1993, to move up three years early. For its part, Pittsburgh's organizers added much more to previous games, creating the first "true" All-Star weekend. Firstly was the addition of the ''Heroes of Hockey'' game, a two-period oldtimers' game between past NHL greats. The second was the addition of the National Hockey League All-Star Skills Competition, a competition between the players invited to the All-Star Game. The Skills competition was created by Paul Palmer, who adapted the "Showdown" feature seen on ''Hockey Night in Canada'' from 1973 to 1980. All-Star players would be rewarded with $2,500 for any win in the skills competition. To accommodate the altered activities, the game itself was played on a Sunday afternoon instead of a Tuesday night, as was the case in previous years. This allowed American broadcaster NBC to air the game live across the United States - marking (surprisingly) the first time that a national audience would see Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux play. Referees and other officials were also wired with microphones in this game, as was the two head coaches. Finally, NBC also was allowed to conduct interviews with players during stoppages in play, to the chagrin of the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' crew, whose attempts to do likewise were repeatedly denied by the league in past years.
In 1991, NBC broke away from the telecast in the third period to televise a briefing from the Pentagon involving the Gulf War. SportsChannnel America included the missing coverage in a replay of NBC's telecast.
There were reports about NBC making an arrangement to air four to eight regular season games for the 1992-1993 season but nothing materialized. NHL officials had arranged a 4-8 game, time-buy package on NBC, but that fell through when the NHL wanted assurance that all NBC affiliates would carry the games. (Since 2006, NBC has generally gotten all but a couple of affiliates in the Top-50 markets to carry the games.) ABC was the league's network broadcaster instead, and then FOX won a bidding war with CBS for TV rights lasting from the 1994-1995 through 1998-1999 seasons.
See also
★ Hockey broadcasting
★ ''Hockey Night in Canada''
★ ''ESPN National Hockey Night''
★ ''FOX NHL Saturday''
★ ''The NHL on ABC''
★ ''The NHL on CBS''
★ ''The NHL on SportsChannel America''
★ ''The NHL on Versus''
★ ''La Soirée du hockey''
★ List of Stanley Cup Finals broadcasters
★ ''Preakness Game''
External links
★ NHL - NBCSports.com
★ NHL on NBC Countdown to Faceoff- NBCSports.com
★ The NHL on NBC theme music
★ Emrick, Davidson, Clement, Ferraro Join NHL on NBC for Inaugural Broadcast Season
★ DBSForums Discussion Forums - NHL on NBC
★ NHL and NBC: Perfect Together?
★ NHL Cuts New Broadcast Deals with NBC and ESPN
★ NHL returns to NBC Saturday with season preview
★ CBA: NBC goes to the dogs in wake of lockout
★ ON THE BRINK OF IRRELEVANCE: Hockey Through American Eyes
★ NBC will start to feature regional games Saturday as league seeks to build audience in relaunch.
★ NBC set to take shot at NHL
★ Stanley Cup to appear in NBC Store to launch "NHL on NBC"
★ The NHL on NBC - Coverage map
★ Hockey's here! NHL returns to NBC today
★ NBC has special chance to shine with reporters
★ NBC returns to pro hockey
★ NBC to televise Philadelphia contest
★ After Long Hiatus, NHL Games Return To NBC Today Open this result in new window
★ NBC promises new approach to TV hockey when broadcasts start Saturday
★ Kukla's Korner- Hockey :: The NHL On NBC
★ NHL ON NBC: DIDN’T SUCK
★ Hockeybird.com: The NHL on NBC
★ NHL, NBC won't be sharing CBC's joy
★ STANLEY CUP FINAL RETURNS TO NBC FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1975
★ NHL Game 3 could bottom out TV ratings
★ NHL ratings rise on NBC
★ NBC to add extra coverage of NHL in '06-'07
★ Eddie Olczyk named lead analyst for NHL on NBC
★ Retrophisch: Hockey Archives - Saturday, 04 February 2006
★ NHL, NBC discussing TV contract extension
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