Article

Versus / TSN Hockey TV Schedules … Fair and Balanced? Riiiight!

Written by Bill Brister on August 17th, 2008 | 6 Comments

I wonder who, how or what picks the TV schedule for the networks that broadcast the NHL games on TV. Seriously, is there a person, a computer program or a monkey picking these games to show on TV. Is it just me that looks at the list of games being broadcast and wonders how the league or networks pass out the games to air on TV? I was just checking out Versus and TSN (don’t even ask about NBC, they are still snuggling up to the IOC in Beijing). I did notice some things:

1. Versus is covering 4% of the San Jose Sharks games (3 out of 82 games!!!).

2. TSN is covering 2.5% of the San Jose Sharks games (2 out of 82 games!!!).

3. NBC, has not decided which games they want yet … still to busy in China.

Needless to say … Thank GOD for Center Ice!

OK OK … I am sure it comes as NO surprise to you that I am a little San Jose biased in my post here … thats what we have comments for … speak up, tell us what you think about these TV schedules for those fans who are “Sans-Center Ice.”

Lets take a look at the number of games each team will play on broadcast TV. I have broken this list out by number of games being shown on Versus. The numbers across the top are number of televised games and the teams listed under them will have that many games broadcast. This does not take into account Home or Away – this is just a total number. On interesting thing that hits me is San Jose ONLY gets 3 televised games? Out of 82 … Really? Next, it does not take long to see the East Coast teams get the attention (don’t worry, wait till you see what TSN does!). To top it all off … LA Kings, Edmonton and Calgary will have NO games broadcast on Versus next year. LA I can understand … but Edmonton? I know Clint is putting his money on Edmonton coming on strong this year … we’ll see if he is right, and if Versus missed out.

Versus NHL Schedule

Now – take a look at the TSN.ca schedule … yea … I know! Not really surprising though … they are based in Canada! Ha ha … what kills me the most here is San Jose ONLY gets 2 games! I give up … $160 is completely worth it when I only have the opportunity to watch 5 games out of 82! Shockingly though on the TSN.ca schedule they are only showing Minnesota Wild once. They have given Florida 3 nights … hmmmm, I wonder if those are “premium surcharge” nights? With that said … I wonder what viewership during those “premium surcharge” games for Florida will bring in TV ratings! Since, in my opinion, most fans would rather watch it on TV than pay $50 for a nosebleed ticket. I know I would! I just love how Canada team heavy the TSN.ca schedule is.

TSN NHL Schedule

All this said … is there ANYONE who can help me flash forward August? I know there are about 4 weeks till the pre-season starts and all the international games start around the world … if there was one game I would LOVE to go see it would be Tampa in Prague! However, I have to save my money for the Winter Classic tickets I’ll be purchasing soon. So, what do you all think about the TV Schedule … are you happy to see a certain team play more games than another … are you wondering how one team has more games being broadcast than another?

Comment below …

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About Bill Brister
I am married to a wonderful woman ... she allows me to play with these guys every Tuesday night and talk hockey, and sometimes she likes to joing the conversation. I also play hockey and roller blade. Love to ride my motorcycle and learn more about Social Media. You can see my personal blog @ http://billanddawn.blogspot.com
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6 Responses to “Versus / TSN Hockey TV Schedules … Fair and Balanced? Riiiight!”

  1. Grant Beery
    August 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    One of the things TSN prides itself on is having a Canadian team in every game they broadcast. Now, I can see where they’re coming from considering most if not all of the Versus games feature at least one American team.

    The one thing that bothers me about it though is that by limiting themselves to 6 teams, they’ll probably miss some really killer matchups, and I think that’s much more important.

  2. Paul Barton
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am

    I don’t get a chance to watch TSN and I don’t pay attention to the national games that much. I am a cheapskate and don’t get the package but if I did I don’t know if i would watch anything other than Detroit and Dallas games that I get most on local TV. What I would like is the schedule to go back to everybody plays everybody so I would get the chance every year to see the other teams when they come into town, rather than every 2 or 3 years.

  3. Bill Brister
    August 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    Paul -

    This year the NHL has adjusted their schedule to reflect every team play the other 29 teams at least once a season. I think this is GREAT news and look forward to seeing the Sharks play Tampa Bay in Tampa!

    I would also like to see great rivalies have precedence over any other match up when selecting games to broacast.

    We’ll see how this goes … and we’ll wait to see what Versus is able to do with the amazing opportunity they have with the NHL.

    Thanks for the comment.

    Bill

  4. Charlie
    October 3rd, 2008 at 7:18 am

    Hi again Bill! So far you’ve written about my two sore spots with the NHL…Balsilly and the NHL broadcast thing. I live in Western N.C.,(where apparently there are NO hockey fans according to the Raleigh News and Observer)and honestly if not for ESPN/ESPN2 broadcasts(and AFN Europe)I would have never been exposed to the NHL. My biggest complaint about Gary Bettman is how badly he missed the boat when it came to giving ESPN the broadcasting rights to games. I remember him crying about basically having to pay extortion money to ESPN to broadcast games. I don’t know any of the intricacies involved in those negotiations, but if it were me, I think I would have gone for a 3-4 year contract with ESPN regardless of the money just so I could expand the interest as much as possible before renegotiating with stronger leverage. Instead he took the highest money offer he could get and I think it hurts hockey long-term. Outdoor Life Network? Versus? Really? WTF? Just my two cents worth.

  5. Chad
    October 9th, 2008 at 9:32 am

    You forgot about the TSN2 and CBC schedule. TSN2 will be showing an additional 34 games: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=11662 and CBC shows 2 games every Saturday night: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hnic/tvschedule.html

  6. Bill Brister
    October 9th, 2008 at 9:36 am

    Chad -

    Right you are! I will have to check my cable provider to see if I get those channels. More than likely - NOT!

    Thank GOD for the Center Ice package.

    Bill

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