THE NEXT CHL NATIONAL BRAOADCASTING DEAL PART 2
- Stephen Clark
- May 28
- 11 min read
PART TWO THE BROADCASTING LANDSCAPE TODAY AND WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE
Part one of this two part series featured a rough, somewhat incomplete history of CHL/Broadcasting history at the network level. From CHCH, to TSN to Sportsnet and even CTV, the CHL has had a rich history of television coverage.
TO QUOTE DAVID BYRNE OF THE TALKING HEADS IN THE SONG "ONCE IN A LIFE TIME": "HOW DID I GET HERE?"
Here's Part One:
TODAY
As I sit here and start to type this the Memorial Cup begins tonight on TSN in Kelowna, B.C. It will be their last duty in their current contract. Now, the CHL and TSN may have hammered out another agreement in principle with a similar structure to the last three years and this whole two part post might be redundant by the time I press send! However, and this is a point I've made several times, just because it was that way before, does not mean it has to be that way again.
Also, the changing landscape of not only media but junior hockey in question calls for creative solutions that maximize visibility for the leagues, the networks but more importantly the players. The spectre of the NCAA juggernaut and all the visibility that comes with it should put the leagues on notice when it comes to promoting, branding and broadcasting.
At this point, the waters are unchartered and the impact of the new NCAA deal likely will have any sort of conclusive pattern for a few years. Right now players are picking up stakes and moving to the NCAA, or some NCAA are headed to junior hockey. Not all talent is going to stick and retain a scholarship for four years, and not everyone is going to embrace the NCAA experience as a pathway to the pro's. So those players return to junior hockey. That is a different conversation for a different blog! Lets stick to broadcasing
CLARK SUGGESTION FOR A DEAL WITH THE NETWORKS
There are three network options: CBC, Sportsnet and TSN. As explained in the wildly exciting Part One, all have tried Junior hockey as a property, though CBC really only partnered up with TSN for one season before dropping their part in the coverage. Subscription based streaming services have now entered the chat, so to speak. Amazon coveted a younger audience for hockey and took over Monday nights from the original Rogers deal and broadasted games featuring at least one Canadian team. DAZN, which has had a ton of success with the NFL and the English Premier League, is part of a new CFL television deal and we will have Saturday night as their night for CFL broadcasts. There is a trend towards sports properties dominating a night or a holiday. The CHL can be a part of that and that is something I address in the body of the article. YouTube, Apple TV and Netflix have cannoballed into the deep end when it comes to live sports, a precious commodity for all content creators, channels and streaming services.
SUGGESTION #1- EVERY LEAGUE FOR ITSELF
As we all know the WHL, OHL and QMJHL operate under the same banner but they are very, very different leagues with very, very different rules and challenges. Schedule length, the draft, trading of first round picks and approaches to fighting are just some examples of the differences in the leagues. That approach should be same for a new television deal.
Each league should be free to strike their own independent deal with the networks and these should be deals that suit their needs and geopgraphical considerations. They should also mirror the NHL and the regional deals they have in Canada. In Canada each TV region is assigned a geographical area, so the Montreal Canadiens obviously get Quebec, but also parts of the Atlantic provinces. Toronto has a vast regional reach but it stops short of Ottawa in order to not encroach on their territory. This, by the way, causes no end of angst or anger in certain markets because if you are a Leafs fan in Ottawa (and there are a few), you have to pay extra to get your Leafs game on the regional Sportsnet or TSN networks. Hey, we are not going to please everyone here! Do not exclude subscription based streaming services either though I do think at this point it might be a stretch to get the major streaming services on board, but I sure hope that I am wrong. The CHL has FloSports in the OHL and QMJHL and Victory + in the WHL currently.
This local/regional approach maximizes regional audience, and puts the focus on the league and the local markets. The leagues deal can either be with Sportsnet, TSN or even CBC, though I have got a different focus for our national broadcaster. The pluses are that you might get different leagues with different partners and if you somehow hook in both TSN and Sportsnet then your reach has increased as well. Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror and say "We are just not a national league when it comes to television". Stop trying to be a national league, except for certain events (that's foreshadowing kids!)
I will fully admit that trying to carve up these leagues into regions is no small feat. While the OHL is relatively simple, save for the U.S. based franchises, The WHL spans Manitoba, Saskathewan, Alberta and B.C., along with the United States. The Q has major bodies of water dividing its league! Not easy, but its doable and in the Q, for example, if the Maritime teams get together and sign its own deal, and there is a separate deal for the rest of the Q, then so be it! Eastlink TV essentially does this right now! Respected broadcaster Mavs Gillis told me that they their Friday night games try to cover as many Maritime locations as possible during the season, and the playoffs.
SUGGESTION #2 -FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE
Friday night is your night junior hockey. Now that it has been stated, and is on the internet, it must be so! Friday night is not perfect as both Sportsnet and TSN did games on Friday night and essentially abandoned them. It is the best night though. You are not going to go head to head with Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday Night and you are not touching the NFL on Thursday nights or any part of the day on Sunday. Wednesday night is a national night for Sportsnet, and likely will continue to be so for the next 12 years. Amazon has taken up Monday nights, and might do so again, and there's also the damn NFL again! Curse you NFL, and your juggernaut league with your marketable stars and smug, huggy commissioner!
So, you are left with Tuesday nights, or Friday nights. If you want to try Tuesday's, go for it. I used to love Tuesday nights for TV watching and got my Happy Days/Who's the Boss?/Growing Pains fix, but the 80's were a long time ago. The audience both live and on TV just will not be there. If games are on TSN, whomever has the agreement can just take over the Friday Night Football slot occupied by the CFL. The CFL season is now ending earlier, so it's a win-win. You can use Saturday afternoon as an alternate day. There are junior teams who are considering, or are already playing Saturday aftenoons so it makes sense. In Part One, I talked about the Global TV OHL Game of the Week that they had for years on Saturday afternoons. A Saturday afternoon timeslot like Sportsnet's Saturday Afternoon Showcase most definitely could be part of the broadcasting equation.
SUGGESTION #3: INTERLEAGUE GAMES ARE YOUR FRIEND! BUILD THEM AND BRAND THEM
The CHL is dipping a few toes in the water when it comes to interleague play. Ottawa and Gatineau normally play a home and home. Sudbury played Rouyn Noranda, and there are exhibition games planned for the '26-27 season featuring London and Kitchener vs WHL team, among others. Cornwall is getting a couple of regular season games this too, ostensibly as a test market for a new franchise.
I do love the idea as long as they do not water it down like Major League Baseball as. Keep it somewhat unique, and you might capture a bit more of the audience. I am assuming that interleague play does have some sort of endgame and structure and there will more of it in the years to come. Once these games expand to the regular season, or whatever the plan is, they should be televised by whomever the rights holders are. Make them as unique an event as the Top Prospects Games/ USA v Canada Challenge games and I think there is something there. The OHL has developed something called Rivalry Weekend. That also could be a good event to broadcast too. For all these events/games there has to be a structured plan in place and cannot be events for the sake of having events.
SUGGESTION #4: TELL GOOD STORIES
Wow! Tell good stories. There's something that is not exactly earth shattering, creative or compelling! Bear with me as I expand! Content, content and more content is king! Leagues are consistently pumping out content on social media and their websites. Highlights, player profiles, draft content, Saves of the Night, Highlights of the Night, and First Goals, just to name a few. Leagues are also investing in year round content to help make their league relevant with content like schedule releases being a big deal now. Content should be highlighted, packaged and profiled in order to try and get SOME national notice. Here are some suggestions, or improvements on existing selections.
Bring back a CHL focused national radio/audio show that shines a focus on all leagues. Get a key contributor from each league, profile draft prospects and/or great hometown stories. TSN radio used to do a national radio show, and I think a reboot could have legs, if done right. Get the right personalities, contribubors, have some fun and don't shy away from controversy or debatable topics Failing that, each league should have league endorsed audio platform that can either be put on radio, and/or podcast platforms. In the OHL there are some great podcasts out there that could certainly be tweaked for league purposes and could use a higher profile.
Focus on the hometown aspect. Rogers does a great job with its Hockey Day in Canada. It's just good comfort food and puts a spotlight on a local community and how hockey is part of the local fabric. It's a good idea for a special. Here in the OHL we have Hockey Day in the OHL, which is a triple header of games that go out province wide on Cogeco/YourTV stations and weave interviews and local features in between the game stories. I think that could be great ancilary programming though I would like Hockey Day in the OHL to take on a more issues based approach, on top of some of the hometown, feel good content out there.
A Business of OHL type show. Again, this is not a new idea. Bob MacCown did a "Business of Sports" show for years, and Tom Mayenecht has one on TSN radio. In an age of fierce competition with the NCAA, a show that shines a light on the business side of junior hockey would be educational and compelling. The OHL is upping its game in terms of expansion possibilities, player amenities, so a feature on new dressing rooms, new arenas as a means to draw in players I think has some legs as a monthly or bi-weekly show
The OHL has started to pay more attention to its own draft, as well as the U16AA circuit that provides a lot of the draft picks. Their OHL Cup each year is seen as one of the last opportunities for scouts to see the U16 class for the upcoming draft. This year they are making the choice to broadcast the draft live from an arena, rather than using a TV studio/league offices. It is an amibitious undertaking, fraught with challenges. There will be hiccups, but I do commend them for doing so. Weaving both OHL and NHL Draft coverage throughout your coverage is paramount. The OHL is taking the existing structure of their draft show and ehancing and improving it. Content is currency these days, and the more the better, especially if it is taking an existing infrastructure and improving it.
SUGGSTION #5 CBC BROADCASTS THE MEMORIAL CUP ON A NATIONAL LEVEL
I love the CBC I really do. I will defend the CBC to the ends of the earth against those who think its bias, or agenda driven or should be defunded. As a school resource for me as a teacher, it's balanced, detailed and generally outstanding. As an amateur sports arm, it's unparalleled and goes beyond the Olympics. I get that there are debates of how much of an amateur sport junior hockey is, but for now it is still a development league and should fall under the CBC umbrella. For whatever reason the CBC has largely ignored junior hockey, save for the first year of the TSN deal. Was it the Punchout in Piestany? All the scandals? Too much money? Would it cut into Coronation Street or Anne Of Green Gables time? Who knows! The CBC is well funded, and the government has made a large investment in sport in this company so having some trickle down to junior hockey could be invested wisely
Another suggestion could be to be like the NFL and rotate the Memorial Cup between Sportsnet, TSN and the CBC, or whatever other broadcasting entity that chooses to step up.
SUGGESTION #6 CHANGE THE MEMORIAL CUP FORMAT TO MAKE IT TV FRIENDLY
A few years ago I wrote about changing the Memorial Cup to an eight or 16 team format and had some suggestions in how to make work. Some were convuluted, and some had merit. The bottom to me is that I think it is time to upgrade and update the format and feature more teams, be they eight or 16. You can still have your final four teams, but I think there is merit in branding and marketing a more focused format. Sure it rips off the NCAA Basketball Tournament, now up to unwieldly number in the high 70's or low 80's, but it has been a branding success.
The format of the one game a day four team round robin, a play in game, a semi-final game and the final makes for an awfully long tournament. If you are going to make it that long, I think you can make it more compelling by adding teams. This is a "down the road"suggestion that the leagues need to look at. I do not have any insight, but do have a sneaking suspicion that the interleague games the CHL is trying might be leading to something related to the Memorial Cup, but I could be way off base on that.
CLARK'S IDEAL SOLUTIONS
What it was Year One: 30 games a year, followed by select playoff games and the whole Memorial Cup. It was a product of TSN, CBC and RDS
What it was Year Two, Three and Four: no regular season games, save for the CHL Prospects Game/ USA Canada Challenge, all the league championships and the whole Memorial Cup- all on TSN/RDS
What it can be : Separate league agreements with either TSN or Sportsnet for a total of approximately 40 games/events on Friday Night with some on Saturday Afternoon. Add in select playoff/championship games and the whole Memorial Cup (which would be nationally on CBC).
Ensure that CBC has content leading into the Memorial Cup, be in the form of a TV show, also CHL hockey needs to be a part of all TSN broadcasts, on Sportscentre, part of Hockey Central, Hockey Night in Canada as well as Hockey Day in Canada
IN CONCLUSION
Live sports is seen as a coveted broadcasting property because it is one of the few things people do not DVR and watch at a later date. People watch live sports and therefore are more likely to warch the commercials that pay the bills. Hence the attraction of what I would call a secondary live property like the CHL. However, right now I think the CHL as a major network property needs to keep up with and adapt to the changing landscape of sports. The competition for eyeballs and attention is fierce both on and off the ice. The PWHL, along with the national women's hockey team are much more of a centrepiece of content than the CHL on both TSN and CBC. Add in the NHL, Hockey Canada, the NCAA and the other major sports, you cannot fall too far down in terms of broadcasting viability and attention. The CHL can get a valuable part of broadcasting real estate back, but it does need a fresh and creative approach in its next broadcasting deal.
Steve Clark
Steve has been broadcasting on TV for the OHL and the Niagara IceDogs since 2007. He has also called games for the Oshawa Generals, Barrie Colts, Hamilton Bulldogs and Hockey Canada
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