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
|
| Original 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) |
| Release | |
| Original network | SportsChannel America |
| Original release | 1988–89 – June 1, 1992 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Hockey Night in Canada (CBC) |
NHL on SportsChannel America was the presentation of National Hockey League broadcasts on the now defunct SportsChannel America cable television network.
Taking over for ESPN, SportsChannel's contract paid $51 million ($17 million per year) over three years, more than double what ESPN had paid ($24 million) for the previous three years SportsChannel America managed to get a fourth NHL season for just $5 million.
Unfortunately, SportsChannel America was only available in a few major markets, and reached only a 1/3 of the households that ESPN did at the time. SportsChannel America was seen in fewer than 10 million households. 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. When the SportsChannel deal ended in 1992, the league returned to ESPN 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, and often to justify the cost, some cable providers carrying it during the playoffs only carried it as a pay-per-view option. 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.
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