One day after finalizing a new six-year agreement with Canada's CBC, the NHL announced it was extending its U.S. TV deal with NBC through next season with an option on the 2008-2009 campaign.
A new twist in the NBC deal allows the network to select from a minimum of three games on Sunday afternoons. Two weeks before, the network will pick one matchup as the "Game of the Week" to be shown nationally. The other two games will be televised locally.
This new innovation can't come fast enough. In the midst of one of the most hotly contested playoff races in recent memory (six teams in the East are vying for just three playoff spots), NBC next Sunday is offering three games of marginal interest, while games featuring three teams battling to get into the playoffs are only available locally or on satellite.
That said, NBC has done a commendable job with the NHL in its second stint as hockey's broadcast home in the U.S. Bringing Brett Hull in to join Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro on the studio show was a great move. "The Golden Brett" has meshed well with his new teammates and is anything but shy when sharing his opinions on the state of the game. Clement has made a seamless transition from game analyst to studio host and Ferraro is solid as a studio analyst on the NBC telecasts as well as a game analyst on Canada's Rogers SportsNet.
Hockey has traditionally been a difficult sport to market on U.S. television (remember Fox's glowing puck?), but NBC and the cable network Versus have both done well to keep the Sports Spud engaged. We're glad both are staying in the game.
