NHL on ABC

The NHL on ABC is a former TV show that televised National Hockey League games on the American Broadcasting Company and was produced by ABC's corporate sibling (under the Walt Disney Company umbrella) ESPN.

Before the 1992–93 NHL season

After being dropped by NBC after the 1974–75 season,^[1][2][3] the NHL had no national television contract in the United States.^[4][5][6] In response to this, the league put together a network of independent stations covering approximately 55% of the country.^[7][8][9]

Games typically aired on Monday nights^[10] (beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET) or Saturday afternoons. The package was offered to local stations with no rights fee.^[11] 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.^[12] Viewers in New York City, Buffalo, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Los Angeles got the Game of the Week on a different channel than their local team's games. Therefore, whenever a team had a “home” game, the NHL Network aired the home team's broadcast rather than their own.

Initially, the Monday night package was marketed to ABC affiliates; the idea being that ABC carried Monday-night NFL football in the fall and (starting in May 1976) Monday-night Major League Baseball in the spring and summer, stations would want hockey to create a year-round Monday night sports block. But very few ABC stations picked up the package.

In 1979, ABC was contracted to televise Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.^[13][14] Since the Finals ended in five games, the contract was void.^[15] Had there been a seventh game, then Bob Wilson would have called play-by-play alongside Jim McKay (between-periods host), Bobby Clarke (color commentator), and Frank Gifford (reporter, who would have been in the winning team's dressing room to interview players and coaches as well as hand the phone to the winning team's coach that that would have allowed him to talk to both President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau). The game would have started at 5:10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on a Saturday, replacing Wide World of Sports and local news shows that typically followed it on ABC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones.

ABC Radio coverage

In 1989,^[16] the NHL signed a two year contract (lasting through the 1990–91 season) with ABC Radio for the broadcast rights to the All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals.^[17][18] ABC Radio named Don Chevrier and Phil Esposito as their main commentating crew.^{[19][20][21][22]}

1992–1994 version

In the 1992–93^[23] and 1993–94 seasons, ABC televised six weekly regional telecasts^[24][25] on Sunday afternoons beginning in March^[26] (or the last three Sundays^[27] of the regular season). This marked the first time that regular season broadcasts of National Hockey League games were aired on American network television^[28] since 1974–75 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). ABC would then televise three weeks worth of playoff games^[29][30] (or the first three Sundays^[31][32] of the playoffs^{[33][34][35][36]}). They didn't televise the Stanley Cup Finals which instead, were televised nationally by ESPN and by Prime Ticket in Los Angeles (1993) and MSG Network in New York (1994). Games televised on ABC were not subject to blackout.

These broadcasts (just as was the case with the 1999–2000–2003–04 package) were essentially, time buys^[37] by ESPN.^[38][39] In other words, ABC would sell three hour blocks of airtime to ESPN, who in return, would produce, supply broadcasters and sell advertising. The main difference is that the graphics were ABC Sports' instead of the ones seen on ESPN National Hockey Night. In later years, the roles would be reversed as ESPN's graphical style would be used with the exception of intermission reports. ABC even used ESPN's theme music^[40] for the 1992–1994 coverage. During ABC's next stint with the NHL, they had their own theme music^[41] (composed by Bob Christianson).

Overall, ABC averaged a 1.7 rating^[42] for those two seasons.

Announcers

Studio hosts

• John Saunders

Play-by-play men

1. Gary Thorne^[43]
2. Mike Emrick
3. Al Michaels^[44]
4. Tom Mees
5. Sam Rosen^[45]
6. Bob Miller

Color commentators

1. Bill Clement
2. Jim Schoenfeld
3. John Davidson
4. Darren Pang

Reporters

1. Al Morganti
2. Bob Neumeier
3. Tom Mees
4. Brenda Brenon^[46]

Schedules

1993-94

April 17,^[53][54] 24, May 1: Playoffs

Stanley Cup playoff commentator crews

1993

1994

1999–2004 version

In August 1998, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 signed a five year deal worth a total of approximately $600 million^[59][60] (or $120 million per year). The $120 million per year that ABC and ESPN paid for rights dwarfed the $5.5 million that the NHL received from American national broadcasts in 1991–92.^[61] As previously mentioned, as was the case with the 1992-1994 deal, ABC's subsequent NHL coverage was in reality, made up of time buys from ESPN. This was noted in copyright beds at the conclusion of the telecasts, i.e. "The preceding program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc." ESPN then signed a similar television rights contract in 2002 so it could produce and broadcast National Basketball Association games on ABC.

This time around, ABC televised four to five weeks worth of regional games on Saturday afternoons beginning in January. ABC also televised the National Hockey League All-Star Game^[62] and Games 3–7 of the Stanley Cup Finals^[63] in prime time. In the previous American network television deal with Fox, they split coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals with ESPN. Games 1, 5, and 7 were usually scheduled to be televised by Fox; Games 2, 3, 4, and 6 by ESPN. However from 1995 to 1998, the Finals were all four game sweeps; 1999 ended in six games. The consequence was that - except for 1995, when Fox did televise Game 4 - the decisive game was never on network television.

2003 was the only year that ABC broadcast both the NBA and the Stanley Cup Finals that involved teams from one city in the same year, as both the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils were in their respective league's finals. During ABC's broadcast of Game 3 between the San Antonio Spurs and the Nets in New Jersey on June 8, Brad Nessler, Tom Tolbert, and Bill Walton said that ABC was in a unique situation getting ready for both that game and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Devils and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim the following night, also at Continental Airlines Arena. Gary Thorne, Bill Clement, and John Davidson mentioned this the following night and thanked Nessler, Tolbert, and Walton for promoting ABC's broadcast of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.^[64]

Following the 2003–04 season, ESPN was only willing to renew for two years at $60 million per year. ABC refused to televise the Stanley Cup Finals in prime time, suggesting that their games of the Finals be played on weekend afternoons (including a potential Game 7). Disney executives later conceded that they overpaid for the 1999–2004 deal, so their offer to renew the TV rights was lower in 2004.^[65]

Additionally, there would have been far less exposure; reportedly, there only would have been about twenty regular season games on national TV. To break the things down, there would've been five weekend afternoons on ABC and some fifteen regular season games on ESPN2. As a likely consequence, the NHL would've taken a back seat to other events the ESPN networks had rights to.

Announcers

Studio hosts

• John Saunders, John Davidson (studio analyst from 1999–2000-2001–02), and Barry Melrose (studio analyst from 2003–04)

Stanley Cup Finals hosts

• Al Michaels (2000–2002); Chris Berman (2003-2004)

Play-by play men

1. Gary Thorne
2. Steve Levy
3. Mike Emrick
4. Dave Strader

Color commentators

1. Bill Clement and John Davidson (2002–03–2003–04)
2. Darren Pang
3. Barry Melrose (1999–2002), Brian Engblom (2002–2004)

Schedules

1999–2000

^[66]

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

^[67]

2003-04 season

Stanley Cup playoffs

Nielsen ratings

References

External links