We finally know who’s going to be filling Dave Strader’s shoes in Phoenix. It’s former Thrashers play by play man Matt McConnell. McConnell worked for the Thrashers in two different stints. He worked for the Wild in between. Before joining Atlanta as their original broadcaster, he worked in Anaheim and Pittsburgh. Like Strader, he also has some national work in his past as the voice of college hockey on CBS Sports Network for several years. In addition, he’s called games for Westwood One Radio, NHL Network and even filled in once on TNT’s NBA coverage. Tyson Nash and Todd Walsh are returning as the rest of the Fox Sports Arizona Coyotes broadcast team.
Category Archives: Fox Sports
Notes on NHL Territories and Sponsorships
It’s a holiday weekend here in the States but there’s some interesting news from the past week that should be noted. First up, let’s get to some news on NHL territories
ATLANTA TO GET CANES & PREDS ON TV
Since the Atlanta Thrashers are no more, that television market was up for grabs. Atlanta always struggled to gain viewership but it’s a large market and it shouldn’t be ignored. Nashville is the most obvious team to get the territory and they will get 40 games on the air there through Fox Sports South and SportSouth. But the Preds won’t have the territory to themselves, as the Hurricanes will also get to air 40 games in the market according to Canes beat writer Luke Decock. Decock also says that the Canes are looking into holding a preseason game in Atlanta next year. The Predators have also reached out to former Thrashers season ticket holders, trying to lure them to town.
WINNIPEG’S BROADCAST TERRITORY
There’s been lots of talk about the Jets and their broadcast territory and how it overlaps with Calgary and Edmonton. The three teams will share Saskatchewan, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Jets games will be blacked out in Alberta while Flames and Oilers games will be blacked out in Manitoba outside of national broadcasts and Centre Ice. As for Northwestern Ontario, it appears that Winnipeg will share that with Ottawa and Toronto as both Ontario teams claim it as part of their broadcast territories.
SPONSOR NEWS IN COLUMBUS, VANCOUVER AND NEW YORK & THE BEER WAR
While this blog mainly focuses on hockey media, I try to include some business stuff as well, especially sponsor deals. Everyone knows that the Columbus Blue Jackets are having some financial issues but there’s a new buzz in the air with their new players. This has helped translate to a boost in ticket sales and renewals with several large sponsors. Columbus Business First reports that the Jackets have renewed deals with Coldwell Banker King Thompson, Columbia Gas of Ohio and Medical Mutual of Ohio. The article mentions that several more deals are on the way and that the team will meet its target for sponsorships for the upcoming season.
Over in Vancouver, the Canucks are losing a large sponsor. The Vancouver Sun is reporting that BC Ferries is dropping their Canucks sponsorship. BC Ferries has sponsored the team for years but not without controversy as the company is publicly owned and they have refused to reveal how much they have spent on the sponsorship and on seats for Canuck games.
Meanwhile, the New York Islanders might have just signed the oddest sponsorship deal in the league. CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports that the Isles have inked a deal with Tattoo Lou’s to be the official tattoo shop of the team. The deal will put two tattoo artists and one piercer inside the Nassau Coliseum during 10 games. It’s the second odd deal for the Isles as the Isles had an official cupcake shop last season. The tattoo deal ranks up there with the San Jose Sharks and Bad Boys Bail Bonds as perhaps the oddest partnership in the league. Bad Boys has had dasher ads in San Jose and has sponsored some giveaways.
And finally, I’ve brought up the NHL official beer sponsor litigation several times and yes, it’s still going on. Last week, the parties were back in court and even NHL executive Bill Daly was on hand for the proceedings. The Toronto Star has a story on the latest court hearing and says Molson Coors is moving ahead with their plans to be the sponsor for the new season. It’s amazing that this case is dragging on so close to the start of the season and you have to wonder how much it will affect the league and it’s partners when it comes to advertising and marketing.
Bob Miller Signs Extension With L.A.
Bob Miller, the legendary voice of the Los Angeles Kings, has signed a two year extension with the franchise. That will put Miller at 40 seasons as the voice of the Kings. At 73, Miller isn’t ready to slow down just yet. He joins fellow Fox Sports West broadcaster Vin Scully as two of the longest serving regional play by play men in sports. Miller was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006.
Notes: Wild Move Games To Cable, MSG To Air Prospects, Mickey Redmond’s TV Career & ESPN Adds Custance
It’s Monday morning so let’s get caught up on some notes from the last few days to start off the week.
MINNESOTA WILD MOVE GAMES TO FS NORTH EXCLUSIVELY
The Minnesota Wild has been making some great moves when it comes to television. First off, there’s the terrific Becoming Wild series which has been a great summertime viewing for hockey fans. Now comes word that the Wild are taking all their local games to Fox Sports North. This is significant because in the past, KSTC-TV 45 aired a handful of games, primarily on weekends. One issue with KSTC is that their video quality was often terrible and was among the worst in the league. The Wild have also lacked high definition feeds over the past few seasons so hopefully, Fox will show some commitment and add more HD games. For such a popular team, it’s sad that the Wild still do not air all of their games in HD.
RANGERS SEPTEMBER TV SCHEDULE
HudsonValley.com is reporting that MSG will air five pre-season games during the month of September. In addition, MSG will feature live coverage of Rangers games at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament. The tourney features eight teams of prospects and is hosted by the Detroit Red Wings. MSG will air games daily Sept. 10-14. There’s no word yet if any other network will air games from the camp. Several years ago, the NHL Network aired the entire camp live but they pulled the plug on it after one season.
REDMOND ON HIS HHOF HONOR & CAREER
Detroit Red Wings analyst Mickey Redmond will receive the Foster Hewitt Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. The Macomb Daily’s Pat Caputo has a column up about Redmond as he gets ready for the honor. The story features how Redmond had to retire early and how he got involved in television. It’s a great read and while many non-Detroit fans aren’t enamored with Mickey, it’s easy to forget that Mick has broadcasted nationally for several networks including CBC. He’s a true legend in the business and the award is well deserved.
CUSTANCE JOINS ESPN
And finally on this Monday, we have word that Sporting News NHL writer Craig Custance is joining ESPN. Custance will be an ESPN Insider blogger on ESPN.com and will likely fill the shoes of the now departed E.J. Hradek. Congrats to Craig as ESPN is a much higher profile than SN and it does show that ESPN is still committed to hockey with Pierre Lebrun, Scott Burnside and now Custance in its stable.
Some Thoughts On NBC Sports
No, I haven’t disappeared or abandoned this space. I’m simply on vacation. Regular postings will be the norm soon.
Since, I have some free time I do want to write my thoughts about some news that’s come out about Versus and the upcoming NBC Sports Network. As I’m sure most know by now, NBC is replacing Fox Soccer Channel’s MLS broadcasts next season. This is a small but nice gain for NBC. It could pave the way for NBC to make a bid for the World Cup. NBC has Telemundo in it’s stable which would help any bid. NBCSN needs more content and the MLS delivers on that.
Variety has mentioned that NBC plans to feature several new programs on Versus in the near future including a sports business show featuring Darren Rovell and a Mike Florio helmed football program to complement the previously announced Turning Point. It’s good that NBC is using their deep bench to upgrade Versus and hopefully this will lead to more original programming.
The expected 6PM daily news show will be interesting to see how it develops. The plans sound similar to the old Fox Sports News as NBC will use its CSN networks to bring stories and content to the program. FSN struggled with that especially as programming costs ballooned. FSN was always a good show but never got off the ground nationally and couldn’t compete with SportsCenter. It’s hard to see how NBC will be more successful in this at least until there’s better lead in programming.
One key to helping promote the show is the possibility of NFL games on NBCSN. Even if it’s only for eight weeks, it would be a powerful promotional platform. Another possible get is the Big East college rights. While NBC lost out in gaining the Indy 500, NASCAR’s going to be up for bidding next year. More programming is the key to growing NBCSN. There are some worries that the NHL may get lost in this as NBC adds sports. I dont see that happening anytime soon. I see the league reaping the benefits of being on a better programmed network. That should be a boost for ratings and help NBCSN gain better cable carriage. It will be an interesting next couple of years as NBC gets aggressive in courting more sports.
College Hockey’s Instability
The folks at College Hockey, Inc. are dealing with plenty of issues. CHI’s job is to market NCAA ice hockey and for the most part, it has succeeded. Since the quasi-lobbying group’s founding, college hockey has seen growth in virtually all facets. Even with that, college hockey is now at a crossroads. The folks at the Big Ten have decided to start their own hockey conference, and while on paper, that’s a good thing, especially for TV purposes, it’s also leading to an upheaval of several conferences and that instability may be sending players to the Canadian Hockey League just as college hockey is on the brink of signing a major broadcast deal with Versus.
Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?
With Mike Emrick and Dave Strader giving up their regional gigs, there are a couple of big job openings out there. Both are among the biggest names in the business so it won’t be easy for whomever takes over for them. In the case of the Phoenix Coyotes, the team is in charge of filling the job, while for the New Jersey Devils, MSG will primarily be handling the search. Today, we look at some of the candidates. There’s no guarantee that any of these guys will get any of the open jobs out there but they are good possibilities. They are names to keep in mind and it wouldn’t surprise me to see any of them fill the openings and at the very least you will likely be hearing more about them in the future.
Steve Cangialosi- He’s the Devils MSG host and reporter and has already been Doc’s fill-in. He’s an obvioius choice since he’s comfortable with the team. He’s improved year after year and may be ready to get a shot.
Kenny Albert- He already works for MSG as the Rangers’ radio voice. He also has a full plate with his national broadcasting gigs. That said, he’s a big name and would help keep Devils games a premier broadcast.
John Giannone- Another MSG employee, he’s filled in for Sam Rosen in the past. He’s not as polished as Cangialosi but he’s put in his time with the network and he lives in New Jersey. Maybe he wants to work for “Jersey’s Team.”
Matt Loughlin- The Devils’ radio man has also filled in for Doc in the past. He’s fairly popular and previously had Cangialosi’s reporting job. Might be the easiest transition of any of the other MSG/Devils employees.
Matt McConnell, Dan Kamal- Former Thrashers voices looking for work. McConnell has worked on a national stage before so he’s pretty well known. Kamal has a pretty loyal following but he was under in the radar in Atlanta so most people aren’t familiar with him.
Dan Duva, Josh Heller- The Devils’ minor league broadcasters. Duva is now without a job with the Trenton team folding. He has very little experience. Heller formerly worked for Toledo and South Carolina in the ECHL.
Doug McLeod- If the Coyotes want a blast from the past, McLeod would be that guy. He left the Yotes in 2002 to take a job with the Avs. He was fired after working a handful of games for the Avs and now works in marketing.
Bob Heethuis- The Yotes’ radio voice. He has been with the Yotes for over a decade in various capacities and has lots of experience calling games on a minor league level. It might be time for another promotion.
Dan Weiss- The voice of the San Antonio Rampage. The Rampage are no longer the Yotes’ AHL affiliate but he’s familiar with their prospects. He’s popular and has a loyal following on Twitter.
Curt Keilback- Worked for the Yotes/Jets franchise for decades. Ended up being let go with some controversy is now angling to work in Winnipeg once again.
Todd Walsh- Works as host for Coyotes broadcasts. He has little experience calling hockey games. Also juggles reporting gigs on FS Arizona for the Diamondbacks.
Peter Loubardias- Just lost his Rogers/Calgary Flames gig. Is somewhat controversial, but he’s high profile and one of the most knowledgable people about hockey.
Gary Thorne- A true wild card. Former Devils voice but ESPN and baseball are his current priorities.
Paul Hamilton, Dan Dunleavy- A couple of radio guys. Hamilton works in Buffalo and has worked a few Sabres games. With Kevin Sylvester getting the part-time Sabres PXP job, he may be looking to go somewhere else. Dunleavy works in Toronto and was a candidate to replace Loubardias. He’s best known for calling the Olympics and the World Junior Hockey Championships on The Fan radio network across Canada.
Strader Joins NBC & Versus Full-Time
As we previously speculated in an earlier post when Pierre McGuire made his move, NBC is adding more of their own full-time broadcasters. The latest to make the move is Phoenix Coyotes broadcaster Dave Strader. Strader first joined NBC during their days of having regional games and has since filled in for Mike Emrick on a couple of occasions. When Versus joined the NBC Sports Group, he took on a more active role, becoming their number 2 play by play man, replacing Joe Beninati.
Strader is a familiar voice to hockey fans after getting his NHL start with the Detroit Red Wings in the 1980’s and then moving to ESPN as Tom Mees’ successor. After ESPN, he was with the Florida Panthers for two seasons. He leaves the Coyotes and FS Arizona after four seasons as their play by play voice.
This is a great move by NBC to make their broadcasts more professional. A long pet peeve of mine has been the rotating wheel of personalities on Versus, and it appears that the wheel is finally slowing down. I for one applaud this move and Strader is one of the best in the business.
The Coyotes are already looking to fill the post. Even with all the uncertainty that the franchise has, I have to believe that people will be lining up for a shot at the job. For those interested, apply within – National Hockey League Jobs
NOTES: Jets To Play on HDIC, Daniels Wins Award, Watters Under Fire & NeuLion GCL Stats
It’s Saturday, so I’m going to clean out my e-mail box and catch up on some stories from the past week. I’ll start with a schedule change.
WINNIPEG JETS TO PLAY ON HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA
When the 2011-12 NHL schedule was released, many Winnipeg Jets fans were disappointed to find their team without a date for CBC’s annual Hockey Day in Canada all day broadcast. Jets fans can now rest easy, as the NHL has moved their February 10 game at Pittsburgh to the next afternoon to be a part of HDIC. The Jets game will apparently be shown on a regional basis as it’s scheduled to air at 2PM EST which is currently scheduled the same time as an Ottawa/Edmonton game. Other HDIC matchups feature Toronto/Montreal and Vancouver/Calgary.
KEN DANIELS WINS AWARD
The television voice of the Detroit Red Wings, Ken Daniels was honored with an award on Tuesday evening. Daniels claimed the Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting for work in the sports year 2010-11. The award is voted on by Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association. Previous winners of the Tyson Award include current Wings radio voice Ken Kal and former Wings broadcasters Ray Lane and Budd Lynch.
BILL WATTERS PUTS FOOT IN MOUTH
Former Rogers Sportsnet analyst Bill Watters ran into some trouble after making some comments on his AM640 radio show. Watters used a possible slur to describe new Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Cody Franson. The blog, Pension Plan Puppets quoted Watters as saying the following –
Well, I’m at a loss. The only… you’ve got to look through his statistics, he’s got some offensive flair, he is not what you would call a rugged, truculent, testosteronic, guy… He’s more of a 3rd of July parade guy. He likes to enjoy the good life and I don’t, I just can’t put a reason behind why you’d give up on a 6’5 defenceman with offensive skill unless he’s just a bit too soft.
The comments raised plenty of eyebrows especially with Leafs GM Brian Burke an active participant when it comes to GLBT issues and July 3 was the date of Toronto’s Pride parade. Corus Radio officials later tried to say that Watters meant that Franson likes “to party” but the damage was done. There have been rumors for weeks that Watters may lose his radio show soon and these comments aren’t helping things.
NEULION ANNOUNCES GAMECENTER STATS
Digital broadcaster NeuLion announced some stats about NHL Gamecenter Live for 2010-11. NeuLion handles all the infrastructure of GCL. They announced that GCL saw a subscription gain of 31 percent. GCL also saw an 83 percent gain in subscription renewals. Also, NHL smartphone apps were downloaded 2 million times this past season. New York Islanders owner Charles Wang is among the investors in NeuLion and is Chairman of the Board. In addition, Wang’s wife, Nancy Li is the CEO and President of NeuLion.
Sources & More Info:
Winnipeg Game Changed to Sat. Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. – Pittsburgh Penguins – News.
FSD’s Daniels wins Ty Tyson Award.
Bill Watters Audio and AM640’s Response – Pension Plan Puppets
Pan The Parade – Pension Plan Puppets
Pacific Division TV Season in Review
The Pacific Division ends our season in review of NHL television teams. I hope you’ve enjoyed our look back at the 2010-11 season in terms of each team. Our final review is after the jump. For our previous reviews, click on the following links –
https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/attv/ https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/netv/
https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/nwtv/ https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/cetv/
https://paranoidpuck.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/setv/
The Paranoid Puck 