LNH à RDS

LNH à RDS (English: NHL on RDS) is a French Canadian television program that broadcasts National Hockey League games on the cable speciality channel Réseau des sports (RDS).

Background

In 2003, the Montreal Canadiens announced a deal to licence its French-language broadcast rights for all of its preseason, season, and playoff games to RDS. This was controversial as it threatened the longest-running television show in Quebec, Radio-Canada's La Soirée du hockey. Days later, an agreement was reached whereby RDS and Radio-Canada would simultaneously broadcast Canadiens games on Saturday nights, saving the show. Within the province of Quebec, this arrangement stopped after the 2003–04 NHL season, and French-language Canadiens broadcasts now air only on RDS. Simulcasted coverage continued in regions that do not receive RDS on analog TV (all of Canada south/west of the Ottawa Region) on Radio-Canada until the 2006–07 NHL season. In addition to Canadiens games, RDS also televises a smaller package of Ottawa Senators games, which appear on either RDS or RIS as well as other games. RDS also has French-language rights to the Stanley Cup playoffs and Finals, regardless of what teams participate.

The NHL game broadcasts vary in name depending of the day of the week. Saturday games are known as Le hockey du samedi soir (Saturday Night Hockey) and Tuesday games are known as Les méchants mardis Molson-Ex (Molson-Ex Mad Tuesdays). Games involving the Montreal Canadiens on other days of the week are known as Le hockey Subway des Canadiens (Subway Canadiens Hockey) and Ottawa Senators games are similarly named Le hockey Subway des Sénateurs (Subway Senators Hockey). Games that do not involve the Canadiens or Senators are branded Le hockey Bud Light de la LNH (Bud Light NHL Hockey). The sponsor affiliations change from time to time.

Contract details

At the end of July 2007, RDS and the Montreal Canadiens extended their exclusive broadcasting rights contract through 2013. The deal includes all of the Canadiens' 82 regular season games and all of their playoff games, if need be (none of this precludes CBC Sports from televising games in English as part of Hockey Night in Canada). Also, RDS has exclusive rights to French television broadcasting rights for the NHL All-Star Game and Skills Contest, as well as one NHL game per week that does not involve the Canadiens and a minimum of 40 playoff games for either RDS or RIS. The Canadiens also granted RDS exclusive rights to 'new media' coverage for the team (i.e., cell-phone TV, pod-cast and others).^[1]

Most other broadcast contracts are acquired through TSN and ESPN.

Theme music

In June 2008, RDS's parent, CTV Inc., acquired the rights to "The Hockey Theme" after the CBC decided not to renew its rights to the theme song. A re-orchestrated version of the tune, which has been the theme song of La Soirée du hockey and Hockey Night in Canada since 1968, will be used for hockey broadcasts on RDS and TSN beginning in the fall of 2008.^[2]

Commentators

See also: Réseau des sports#Personalities

^[3]

Current

• David Arsenault - Montreal Canadiens reports and interviews/Ottawa Senators host
• Joel Bouchard - Montreal Canadiens studio analyst/rinkside reporter
• Yanick Bouchard - Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH host
• Benoît Brunet - Montreal Canadiens studio analyst
• Denis Casavant - Play-by-Play
• Alain Crête - Montreal Canadiens host/Ottawa Senators play-by-play
• Marc Denis - Montreal Canadiens colour commentator
• Norman Flynn - Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH colour commentator/studio analyst/Ottawa Senators colour commentator
• Denis Gauthier - Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH studio analyst/Ottawa Senators studio analyst
• Luc Gélinas - Montreal Canadiens interviewer
• Pierre Houde - Montreal Canadiens play-by-play
• Michel Y. Lacroix - Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH studio host
• Renaud Lavoie - Montreal Canadiens interviewer
• Patrick Lalime - Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH/Ottawa Senators Analyst
• Jocelyn Lemieux - Studio Analyst
• Chantal Machabée - Montreal Canadiens ice level reporter
• Claude Mailhot - Ottawa Senators studio host
• Sylvain Pedneault - Montreal Canadiens player profiler
• Félix Séguin - Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH play-by-play
• Mario Tremblay - Montreal Canadiens studio analyst

Former

• Guy Carbonneau - Montreal Canadiens studio analyst (2010–2011)
• Jacques Demers - Montreal Canadiens analyst (2000–2010)
• Michel Bergeron - Montreal Canadiens analyst (2008–2010)
• Bob Hartley - Ottawa Senators colour commentator/Le Hockey Bud Light de la LNH analyst (2008–2010)
• Dave Morissette - Ottawa Senators analyst
• Yvon Pedneault - Montreal Canadiens colour commentator (1998–2008)

References

1. ^ RDS - À RDS jusqu'en 2013
2. ^ "CTV acquires rights to hockey theme song", CTV News, June 9, 2008
3. ^ Our starting line for the coverage of games

External links

• RDS - Hockey (French)
  • RDS - Hockey (English)