Hockey Night in Canada rights battle pits CBC against Rogers

Last night, when the Los Angeles Kings scored in overtime to beat the New Jersey Devils, 17,000 fans in the Newark, New Jersey Prudential Centre fell silent. The reaction of the roughly two million Canadians watching at home on Hockey Night in Canada is anyone's guess.

It's that crowd that's now up for grabs as media giants Rogers and Bell begin prepping their shot at owning the program. After 60 years of hosting HNIC, the CBC could find itself outbid when the rights comes up for renewal in 2014. For the public broadcaster, that would mean the loss of 450 hours of prime-time TV, a money-spinning prize that has underwritten much of their other programming.

Interestingly, the specter of CBC losing its most hallowed franchise has drawn almost no response from the broadcaster's usually staunch supports. This may be a function of HNIC's overtly commercial focus — this week's showcase between the Kings and the Devils hardly key to our cultural fabric — or it may be part of a Don Cherry malaise, the outspoken commentator being increasingly more of an embarrassment than an ambassador for this country. Could this be a sign that a critical crutch for the CBC may soon be gone?

"I think the chances of (retaining the contract) are low," former CBC VP Richard Stursberg told the Globe and Mail's Bruce Dowbiggin recently.

"It's going to be very, very difficult. The sports networks are jacking up the prices, so they're going to have even deeper pockets when they come to the table. TSN and Sportsnet have proven that they can get big TV audiences as easily as the CBC does. And that's very hard to fight against. Especially when their owners are very keen to have the property."

HNIC's value is driven in large part by the rapidly changing nature of people's viewing habits. Before YouTube, digital recording and high-powered smartphones, viewing anything meant appointment TV. The show would begin at, say, 7 p.m. whether you were watching or not. Now it starts when you hit play, and the choice of programs are seemingly endless. Reaching a massive audience at a set time is now a near impossibility for an advertiser; except with live sports. Games start at a set time, of course, and continue to amass a broad following.

It's the reason Rogers and Bell teamed up this year to spend $1.32-billion on Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. It wasn't for the luxury boxes or parking around the stadium, it was for the rights to broadcast Maple Leaf games.

According to Toronto Star reporters Vanessa Lu and Bob Mitchell, the CBC is believed to have paid $90 million to $100 million for HNIC in 2007, when the deal last came up for renewal. The contract was primarily for the TV rights, with mobile and digital thrown in almost as an afterthought, Stursberg told Dowbiggin.

Mobile and digital are now critical components, particularly for Rogers and Bell, which in addition to program advertising and cable revenue, drive a significant share of their earnings from Internet and smartphone data plans.

Neither Rogers nor Bell have yet to formally announce their plans, but their intentions seem clear. It's been reported that Rogers is hoping for a bidding war to ensue over the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics, in the hopes that it might weaken the CBC's capacity to control both the Olympics and HNIC.

Grappling with consistent budget cuts, it's believed the CBC would need to relinquish hockey to have any chance of financing an Olympic bid.

So far, the CBC isn't throwing in the white towel. In a recent article by the Globe and Mail's Steve Ladurantaye, CBC's executive vice-president of English services Kirstine Stewart said the public broadcaster would aggressively pursue a renewal of HNIC.

Similarly, Jeffrey Orridge, CBC's executive director of sports properties, told the Toronto Star, "It's a priority. It provides free over-the-air access to a cultural institution that we believe is part of the fabric of Canadian society."

With the battle lines now drawn, all sides appear to be marshalling their strengths. Ladurantaye's article documented the steps Rogers is now taking to stitch together a Canada wide network of stations, knowing that coast-to-coast reach is essential for both the NHL and advertisers wanting a national reach. Owning CTV, Bell already has that part covered.

Get ready for the puck to drop.