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Rogers and the NHL: a half-season report card

Colin Slark
Team Member

he 2014-2015 NHL season is nearly at

its midpoint. There have been very few
surprises in store for Canadian hockey fans,
unless you are surprised that Edmonton can
actually play that poorly. However, there is
one thing that Canadian hockey fans are still
getting used to: the Rogers takeover of NHL
TV broadcasts. Last year, Rogers signed a5.2
billion dollar, 12-year deal with the NHL to
be the exclusive broadcaster of NHL games
in Canada. The way this country watches
hockey has changed, but not necessarily for
the better.

No matter what channel you used to watch
hockey on, the on-air talent should be
familiar to you. Much of CBC’s talent made
the jump to the Sportsnet-run broadcasts,
along with a couple of guys from TSN. As

a result, there is a massive pool of analysts
at Rogers’ disposal. In fact, there are far
too many analysts at Rogers’ disposal.
During a typical Hockey Night in Canada
broadcast, they seem to want to get an

opinion from absolutely everyone. Rogers
is ruining the ability for its analysts to
provide insightful commentary, because no
one has a chance to fully voice a thought
before their turn with the conch shell is
over. Coach’s Corner is shorter because of
this, and a visibly frustrated Don Cherry
grumbles about how he keeps getting cut
off, which honestly is more entertaining
than listening to his rambling about

how things happened back in his day.

The presentation of games under the Rogers’
regime has been mixed. There is a real sense
that work has been done to make some
games as appealing as possible for viewers,
while some games feel as though they were
abandoned and left to die. Hockey Night in
Canada games on City TV and CBC are the
best presented. They have the best in-game
commentators, the best analysts, good
picture quality, and high quality sound. As
soon as you turn to Sportsnet, things start
to go downhill. When I watch Sportsnet, I
get screen tearing and choppy sound that I
just don’t get on any other channel, sports

or otherwise - this may be an issue with my
service provider, so experiences may vary.

The Sportsnet regional broadcasts (the games
that are not on Wednesdays, Saturdays,

and Sundays) feature a wide range of
commentators that are frequently listless and
unfamiliar with the teams they are talking
about. There are some pairs of commentators
that are clearly more suited to talking about
certain teams, but the problem of needing

to give all of their large staff airtime creeps
in once again, which leads to mismatches.
The regional broadcasts also feature much
more advertising, leading to annoying ads
being superimposed over the glass behind
the nets as well as awkward advertising copy
being forced upon commentators as they

call a game. It is painful to hear a couple

of men try and fail to organically bring up
the subject of their favourite Kraft cheeses
and its myriad of uses in everyday dishes
during a slow moment. This was present in
Sportsnet games before Rogers’ takeover,

but it now contrasts with the national
broadcasts where it is not as prevalent.

For a Prince George resident watching
hockey, I really hope you are a Canucks fan.
With a basic cable bundle, a Canucks fan

in PG will probably be able to watch all 82
Canucks games this season. If you follow

a team that is not the one from British
Columbia, be prepared for blackouts on
many weekday games. There are possible
solutions for diehard fans, but that involves
paying over 200 dollars for an extra cable
package or an Internet service. If you

don’t want to fork over the additional
cash, enjoy the dull occasional Florida-
Buffalo game that is not blacked out.

That all being said, this is only the first
year of Rogers’ control of Canadian
hockey broadcasts. There is room to
improve if they can remove some of their
excess baggage and be more consistent
from game to game. However, if they are
unable or unwilling to put effort into
their presentation, be prepared for a long
eleven and a half years until the next
time hockey rights are up for grabs.