NHL on SportsChannel America

NHL on SportsChannel America
Also known as	NHL on SportsChannel
Genre	Sports
Created by	SportsChannel America
Directed by	Larry Brown Billy McCoy
Starring	See announcers section below
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jeff Ruhe
Producer(s)	John Shannon
Cinematography	Terry Ford Dean Anderson Bob Boykin Marty Muzik
Running time	180 minutes or until game ends (including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	SportsChannel America
Original run	1988–89 – June 1, 1992

NHL on SportsChannel America was the presentation of National Hockey League broadcasts on the now defunct SportsChannel America cable television network.

Terms of the deal

Taking over for ESPN, SportsChannel's contract paid $51 million ($17 million^[1] per year^[2]) over three years, more than double what ESPN had paid ($24 million) for the previous three years^[3] SportsChannel America managed to get a fourth NHL season for just $5 million.^[4]

SportsChannel's availability

Unfortunately, SportsChannel America was only available in a few major markets,^[5][6] and reached only a 1/3 of the households that ESPN did at the time.^[7][8] SportsChannel America was seen in fewer than 10 million households.^[9] In comparison, by the 1991–92 season, ESPN was available in 60.5 million homes whereas SportsChannel America was available in only 25 million. As a matter of fact, in the first year of the deal (1988–89), SportsChannel America was available in only 7 million homes when compared to ESPN's reach of 50 million.^[10] When the SportsChannel deal ended in 1992, the league returned to ESPN^[11] for another contract that would pay $80 million over five years.

SportsChannel America took advantage of using their regional sports networks' feed of a game, graphics and all, instead of producing a show from the ground up, most of the time. Distribution of SportsChannel America across the country was limited to cities that had a SportsChannel regional sports network or affiliate. Very few cable systems in non-NHL territories picked it up as a stand alone service. Regional affiliates of the Prime Network would sometimes pick up SportsChannel broadcasts, but this was often only during the playoffs. SportsChannel America also did not broadcast 24 hours a day at first, usually on by 6 p.m., off by 1 or 2 a.m., then a sportsticker for the next 16 hours.

Philadelphia

Since SportsChannel Philadelphia did not air until January 1990, PRISM (owned by Rainbow Media, the owners of SportsChannel, at the time) picked up the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals. Other than that, there was no NHL television coverage in Philadelphia except for the Flyers for the first half of the original deal.

See also: 1988–89 Philadelphia Flyers season and 1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers season

Lawsuit

The NHL would return to ESPN following the 1991-92 season. Shortly after the ESPN deal was signed, SportsChannel America would contend that its contract with the NHL gave them the right to match third-party offers for television rights for the 1992–93 season. SportsChannel America accused the NHL of violating a nonbinding clause. SportsChannel America argued that it had been deprived of its contractual right of first refusal for the 1992–93 season. Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court justice Shirley Fingerwood would deny SportsChannel America's request for an injunction against the NHL. Upholding that opinion, the appellate court found the agreement on which SportsChannel based its argument to be "too imprecise and ambiguous" and ruled that SportsChannel failed to show irreparable harm.

Coverage overview

Regular season coverage

SportsChannel America would televise about 80–100 games a season (whereas ESPN aired about 33 in the 1987–88 season). Whereas the previous deal with ESPN called for only one nationally televised game a week, SportsChannel America televised hockey two nights a week in NHL cities and three nights a week elsewhere.

It was very rare to have a regular-season game on SportsChannel America that wasn't a regional SportsChannel production from the Chicago Blackhawks, Hartford Whalers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders or Philadelphia Flyers. The San Jose Sharks were added in 1991–92. As previously suggested, SportsChannel America for the most part, used the local telecasts. The dedicated SportsChannel America station was little more than an overflow channel in the New York area for SportsChannel New York.

Special programming

In 1989, SportsChannel America provided the first ever American coverage of the NHL Draft.^[12] In September 1989, SportsChannel America covered the Washington Capitals' training camp in Sweden and pre-season tour^[13] of the Soviet Union. The Capitals were joined by the Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames, who held training camp in Prague, Czechoslovakia and then ventured to the Soviet Union. Each team played four games against Soviet National League clubs. Games were played in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Riga. The NHL clubs finished with a combined 6–2 record against the top Soviet teams, including the Red Army club and Dynamo Moscow. Five of the eight contests were televised by SportsChannel America.

All-Star Game coverage

SportsChannel America was the exclusive American broadcaster of the 1989 All-Star Game. The following year, they covered the first ever NHL Skills Competition and Heroes of Hockey game. SportsChannel America would continue their coverage of these particular events through 1992. In 1991, SportsChannel America replayed the third period of the All-Star Game on the same day that it was played. That was because NBC broke away from the live telecast during the third period in favor of Gulf War coverage.

Playoff broadcast anomalies

Taped delayed playoff broadcasts

Main article: Broadcast delay

Year	Round	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter(s)
1989	Divisional semifinals	Montreal-Hartford	Games 1–4	Rick Peckham	Gerry Cheevers
		Bruins-Buffalo	Game 5	Rick Peckham	Gerry Cheevers
	Divisional finals	Pittsburgh-Philadelphia	Games 1–5	Mike Emrick	Bill Clement
1990	Divisional semifinals	Boston-Hartford	Games 1, 3 and 5	Rick Peckham	Gerry Cheevers
		New York Rangers-New York Islanders	Games 2 and 4	Jiggs McDonald	Ed Westfall
	Divisional finals	Boston-Montreal	Games 1-2	Jiggs McDonald (Game 1) Rick Peckham (Game 2)	Ed Westfall (Game 1) Dave Maloney (Game 2)
		New York Rangers-Washington	Games 3-5	Jiggs McDonald (Games 3-4) Rick Peckham (Game 5)	Ed Westfall (Games 3-4) Dave Maloney (Game 5)
1991	Divisional semifinals	Boston-Hartford	Games 1-6	Rick Peckham	Gerry Cheevers
	Divisional finals	Pittsburgh-Washington	Games 1-5	Rick Peckham (Games 1-3) Mike Emrick (Games 4-5)	Gerry Cheevers (Games 1-3) Bill Clement (Games 4-5)
1992	Divisional semifinals	Montreal-Hartford	Games 1-7	Rick Peckham	Gerry Cheevers
	Divisional finals	Montreal-Boston	Games 2-4 (CBC's feed)	Bob Cole	John Garrett and Dick Irvin, Jr.	Ron MacLean

Playoff broadcasts that were joined in progress

Year	Round	Teams	Games	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter(s)
1990	Divisional semifinals	Calgary-Los Angeles	Games 5-6 (CBC's feed for Game 5)	Chris Cuthbert (Game 5) Mike Emrick (Game 6)	Jim Peplinski (Game 5) Bill Clement (Game 6)
	Divisional finals	Edmonton-Los Angeles	Games 1-4	Mike Emrick	Bill Clement
1991	Divisional semifinals	Los Angeles-Vancouver	Games 1-2, 5-6	Jiggs McDonald	Ed Westfall
		Calgary-Edmonton	Game 7	Pat Foley	Dale Tallon
	Divisional finals	Los Angeles-Edmonton	Games 1-6 (CBC's feed for Games 3-4, 6)	Mike Emrick (Games 1-2) Don Wittman (Games 3-4, 6) Rick Peckham (Game 5)	Bill Clement (Games 1-2) Harry Neale (Games 3-4, 6) Gerry Cheevers (Game 5)	Steve Armitage (Games 3-4, 6)
1992	Divisional semifinals	Los Angeles-Edmonton	Games 3-4, 6 (CBC's feed)	Don Wittman	Jim Peplinski	Steve Armitage
	Divisional finals	New York Rangers-Pittsburgh	Game 1	Jiggs McDonald	Ed Westfall
		Montreal-Boston	Game 1 (CBC's feed)	Bob Cole	John Garrett and Dick Irvin, Jr.	Ron MacLean
		Vancouver-Edmonton	Games 3-4 (CBC's feed)	Chris Cuthbert	Harry Neale	Scott Russell

Production

A fair amount of times in their first season, they would use their own production services for games. But very rarely would this sort of practice occur in the last three seasons. Since programming was so sparse otherwise on SportsChannel America, usually the games were replayed immediately following the live telecast.

For playoff coverage^[14], if any of the aforementioned teams made the playoffs, SportsChannel America would focus on those teams, using their facilities. Sometimes, they would use the CBC feed for other series (the Boston Bruins–Montreal Canadiens series, for example). For the Stanley Cup Championship, SportsChannel America would use their own facilities. They would also use their own facilities for any Conference Final series that did not involve one of SportsChannel's regional teams.

John Shannon was the senior producer of The NHL on SportsChannel America.

Announcers

Bob Papa^[15] and Leandra Reilly were the studio hosts during the regular season coverage. For the Stanley Cup Finals, Jiggs McDonald served as the play-by-play man while Bill Clement was the color commentator. Also during the Stanley Cup Finals, Mike Emrick served as the host while John Davidson served as the rinkside and intermission anaylst.^[16][17]

Play-by-play

• Mike Emrick
• Pat Foley
• Steve Grad
• Dave Hodge
• Jiggs McDonald
• Rick Peckham
• Joe Starkey
• Gary Thorne
• Ken Wilson

Color commentary

• Herb Brooks^[18]
• Gerry Cheevers
• Bill Clement
• John Davidson
• Don Edwards
• John Kelly
• Craig Laughlin
• Dave Maloney
• Peter McNab
• Joe Micheletti
• Denis Potvin
• Jeff Rimer
• Pete Stemkowski
• Dale Tallon
• Ed Westfall

Studio/ice level personalities

• John Davidson
• Stan Fischler
• Al Koken
• Bob Papa
• Leandra Reilly

Commentating crews

• Chicago Blackhawks: Pat Foley and Dale Tallon
  • SportsChannel Chicago
• Hartford Whalers: Rick Peckham and Gerry Cheevers
  • SportsChannel New England
• New York Islanders: Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall
  • SportsChannel New York
• New Jersey Devils: Gary Thorne and Peter McNab
  • SportsChannel New York
• Philadelphia Flyers: Mike Emrick and Bill Clement
  • SportsChannel Philadelphia
• San Jose Sharks (1991–92 only): Joe Starkey and Pete Stemkowski
  • SportsChannel Pacific

See also

Chicago Blackhawks seasons

• 1988–89 Chicago Blackhawks season
• 1989–90 Chicago Blackhawks season
• 1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season
• 1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks season

Hartford Whalers seasons

• 1988–89 Hartford Whalers season
• 1989–90 Hartford Whalers season
• 1990–91 Hartford Whalers season
• 1991–92 Hartford Whalers season

New Jersey Devils seasons

• 1988–89 New Jersey Devils season
• 1989–90 New Jersey Devils season
• 1990–91 New Jersey Devils season
• 1991–92 New Jersey Devils season

New York Islanders seasons

• 1988–89 New York Islanders season
• 1989–90 New York Islanders season
• 1990–91 New York Islanders season
• 1991–92 New York Islanders season

Philadelphia Flyers seasons

• 1989–90 Philadelphia Flyers season
• 1990–91 Philadelphia Flyers season
• 1991–92 Philadelphia Flyers season

San Jose Sharks seasons

• 1991–92 San Jose Sharks season

Conference Finals broadcasters

Wales (Eastern)

Year	Teams	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter(s)
1989	Montreal-Philadelphia	Mike Emrick	Bill Clement
1990	Boston-Washington	Jiggs McDonald	Bill Clement	Mike Emrick
1991	Boston-Pittsburgh	Jiggs McDonald	John Davidson
1992	Pittsburgh-Boston	Jiggs McDonald	Bill Clement	Mike Emrick

Campbell (Western)

Year	Teams	Play-by-play	Color commentator(s)	Ice level reporter(s)
1989	Calgary-Chicago	Jiggs McDonald	Herb Brooks
1990	Edmonton-Chicago	Pat Foley	Dale Tallon
1991	Edmonton-Minnesota	Mike Emrick	Bill Clement
1992	Chicago-Edmonton	Pat Foley	Dale Tallon

See also

• Hawkvision
• List of Stanley Cup Final broadcasters
• List of NHL All-Star Game broadcasters

References

1. ^ Demak, Richard (September 2, 1991). "Scorecard". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Scorecard+-+09.02.91+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431505592&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1140587%2F3%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
2. ^ Greenberg, Jay (October 8, 1990). "The Bucks Start Here". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=This+off-season+the+Blues+unexpectedly+made+two+players+-+10.08.90+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431505652&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1136324%2F2%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
3. ^ .Murphy, Austin (March 18, 1991). "Shooting Star". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Brett+Hull+has+become+a+goal+scorer+of+near+Gretzkian+-+03.18.91+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431505807&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1118975%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
4. ^ Demak, Richard (February 17, 1992). "Scorecard". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Scorecard+-+02.17.92+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431505877&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1003400%2F4%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
5. ^ Swift, E.M. (August 22, 1988). "Woe, Canada". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=A+nation+wept+as+its+hero%2C+NHL+star+Wayne+Gretzky%2C+was+-+08.22.88+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431512307&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1067639%2F4%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
6. ^ Martzke, Rudy (May 2, 1989). "NHL broadcast boss pleased with cable move". USA Today: p. 3C. 
7. ^ Staudohar, Paul D. (1996). Playing for dollars: labor relations and the sports business. Cornell University Press. p. 137. http://books.google.com/books?id=Zma1OwOhQJIC&pg=PA137&dq=National+Hockey+League+on+SportsChannel+America&hl=en&ei=kDtHTe7kApP2tgP5kJDIAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=National%20Hockey%20League%20on%20SportsChannel%20America&f=false. 
8. ^ Taaffe, William (June 27, 1988). "A Better Open; Too Much Brent". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=ABC+improved+at+Brookline%2C+but+Brent+Musburger%27s+ego+-+06.27.88+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431512522&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1067469%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
9. ^ "Scorecard". Sports Illustrated. January 16, 1989. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Scorecard+-+01.16.89+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431512642&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1126461%2F2%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
10. ^ Greenberg, Jay (October 7, 1991). "Greed, Indeed". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=In+its+expansion+strategy%2C+as+in+too+many+other+matters%2C+-+10.07.91+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431512732&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1140460%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
11. ^ Swift, E.M. (October 19, 1982). "Don't Change That Channel". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Contrary+to+conventional+wisdom%2C+the+NHL+can+make+it+on+-+10.19.92+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=431512817&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1004366%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
12. ^ Allen, Kevin (June 16, 1989). "A look at the NHL's 27th draft". USA Today: p. 8C. 
13. ^ Fachet, Robert (December 26, 1988). "Soviets In, With Army and Dynamo". Washington Post. 
14. ^ Hiestand, Michael (April 5, 1990). "Schmidt tries to ease into broadcasting job". USA Today: p. 3C. 
15. ^ Woodward, Steve (April 12, 1990). "Lighter load at ABC doesn't bother McKay". USA Today: p. 3C. 
16. ^ Bradley, Jeff (May 13, 1991). "A Strong Voice For Hockey". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=John+Davidson+has+become+his+sport%27s+top+broadcaster%2C+in+-+05.13.91+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=408422837&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1139830%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
17. ^ Scher, Jon (June 8, 1992). "Swept Away". Sports Illustrated. http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=The+Penguins+staked+a+claim+to+greatness+by+winning+-+06.08.92+-+SI+Vault&expire=&urlID=411698607&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1003855%2F2%2Findex.htm&partnerID=289881. 
18. ^ Schuster, Rachel (May 11, 1989). "NBC's O'Neil known for boldness, making changes". USA Today: p. 3C. 

External links

• The DrewL Bucket: Can OLN Help Rescue NHL?
• NHL inks SCA deal for $5.5m. (cable television contract between National Hockey League and SportsChannel America) (Multichannel News)
• CBA: TV and the price of expansion
• Is the NHL better off?
• ESPN fails to match, Comcast gets NHL
• Dear Uncle Erza
• The NHL on SportsChannel America (1988-1992)
• Great Moments From, er, uh, NHL On SportsChannelAmerica?
• The NHL's latest TV deal is a bad one for fans
• NHL on SportsChannel America - Google Search (timeline)
  • 1988-89
  • 1989-90
  • 1990-91
  • 1991-92
  • 1992-93