The NHL Network (1975-1979 version)

The NHL Network was an American television syndication package that broadcast National Hockey League games from the 1975–76 through 1978–79 seasons. The NHL Network was distributed by the Hughes Television Network.

Overview

Conception

After being dropped by NBC after the 1974-75 season, the NHL had no national, network television contract in the United States. So in response to this, the league decided to put together a network of independent stations (covering approximately, 55% of the country).

Coverage summary

Games typically aired on Monday nights (beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET) or Saturday afternoons. The package was offered to local stations with no rights fee. Profits would be derived from the advertising, which was about evenly split between the network and the local station. The Monday night games were often billed as "The NHL Game of the Week".

During the 1975–76 season, the NHL Network showed selected games from the NHL Super Series as well as some playoff games. During the 1976–77 season, the NHL Network showed 12 regular season games on Monday nights plus the All-Star Game. By 1978-79 (the final season of the NHL Network's existence), there would be 18 Monday night games and 12 Saturday afternoon games covered.

When Saturday afternoon games were added, the NHL said that they would start at 1:00 p.m. and end by 4:00 p.m. ET. Apparently, markets with only three stations were reluctant to give up prime time programing slots. Ultimately, the plan failed, as not only did they not gain new markets, many stations that already carried the Monday game didn't pick up the Saturday one. A few of the markets in the Eastern Time Zone that aired the Saturday afternoon games included Boston, Buffalo, New York, and Washington.

In addition, the NHL gave stations the option of starting the Saturday afternoon broadcasts at 1:00 p.m., or starting at 2:00 p.m., with the full open and a first period summary preceding live action. WDCA (the Washington, D.C. affiliate) took that option. WPGH in Pittsburgh and WTCG in Atlanta didn't pick up the Saturday package, leaving their markets without Saturday coverage. WPGH and WTCG also showed the Monday games on tape delay at midnight and 11:30 p.m. ET, respectively. Meanwhile, by 1978, WUAB in Cleveland and WBFF in Baltimore dropped hockey coverage completely.

Also in Buffalo, the Saturday afternoon games during the months of January and February were on WGR. Meanwhile, the Saturday games during the month of March were on WUTV. WTUV carried the "Monday Night Hockey" package, while WGR was the over-the-air station for the Buffalo Sabres. In New York, WOR did not carry Saturday games in the months of January or February. Meanwhile, WNEW (also in New York) carried the March Saturday games (at 2:00 p.m.). In both Buffalo and New York, college basketball and World Championship Tennis knocked the NHL off its usual Monday night carrier.

In 1977-78, KBJR in Duluth picked up the Saturday afternoon package and dropped the Monday night games. In that same season, WHMB in Indianapolis joined the network with Saturday afternoon games at 2:00 p.m. and Monday night games at 11:00 p.m. In addition, the Iowa PBS stations has dropped the NHL by this point.

Affiliates

In most U.S. NHL cities, the Hughes NHL affiliate was the same one that aired the local team's games. About a couple of dozen other affiliates were UHF channels in the Hinterlands. The network had 47 stations for the 1976–77 season.

Despite the presence of the Minnesota North Stars, there was no NHL Network affiliate in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Ratings

By the time that NBC’s contract with the NHL ended after the 1974-75 season, they were getting a 3.8 rating. Meanwhile, the ratings for the NHL Network in its first month of existence were a 3.1 in New York, 1.9 in Los Angeles, and a 1.3 in Chicago. By 1978-79, the Monday night games were seen by about 1 million viewers; 300,000 of which were in the Boston area. Also in 1978-79, the 2 p.m. ET version of the Saturday broadcasts (with the first period cut out) was picked up by all participating affiliates except Boston.

Announcers

*Marv Albert
*Curt Bennett
*Bill Chadwick
*Ted Darling
*Jim Gordon
*Gene Hart
*Bobby Hull
*Dan Kelly
*Stan Mikita
*Bobby Orr
*Chico Resch
*Jim Simpson
*Dick Stockton
*Garry Unger

Marv Albert was the lead play-by-play man during the first season. During this particular period, he was paired with a local guest announcer. Meanwhile, Dick Stockton served as host for a season.

ources

* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sportscasting_history/ Sportscasting History]
* [http://www.dbsforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=69970 Help: The NHL Network (circa 1975-1979)]
* [http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1203920308/0#0 Monday Night Hockey (1970s)]