| NHL on USA | |
|---|---|
 The logo forUSA Network's regular season telecasts on Monday nights in1983. | |
| Also known as | USA Network Monday Night NHL USA Network Stanley Cup Playoffs USA Network Special Edition NHL USA Network NHL |
| Genre | Sports |
| Created by | USA Network Sports |
| Directed by | Henry Irizawa |
| Starring | Seelist of commentators section |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Jim Zrake |
| Producer | Mark D. Stulberger |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | USA Network |
| Release | 1979 (1979) – May 30, 1985 (1985-05-30) |
| Related | |
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TheNHL on USA was thede facto title of atelevision show that broadcastNational Hockey League games on theUSA Network.
Manhattan Cable (subsequently referred to as theMSG Network) debuted in the spring of 1969 and did all home events from theMadison Square Garden:New York Knicks basketball,New York Rangers hockey, college basketball, horse shows,Golden Gloves boxing, tennis, theWestminster Dog Show, ice capades, professional wrestling, etc. The first reference to the channel as “MSG Network” was sometime around 1971–72, although the name did not become official until 1977.
The first televised events wereNHL andNBA playoffs in the spring of 1969; in those playoffsMarty Glickman did play-by-play for theKnicks broadcasts whileWin Elliott did play-by-play for theRangers.
Meanwhile,HBO began simulcasting some MSG games in 1972 beginning with theRangers/Vancouver Canucks game on November 8,1972 (the first ever program televised on HBO, to a few subscribers inWilkes-Barre, PA). 1974–75 marked the only year in which HBO used MSG announcers for their feed. Because HBO is a premium cable service, this created a burden on announcers to fill in dead airtime on HBO while commercials aired on MSG Network. HBO did not broadcast Knicks or Rangers games after the 1976–77 season.
When the MSG/HBO marriage ended in 1977, Madison Square Garden proceeded to seek a new partner to launch a national network to show off its events. So for several years, beginning with the 1977–78 season, all MSG home events (such as those involving theKnicks,Rangers, etc.) were then televised on a fledgling network that would eventually become known as the USA Network. This channel, which debuted on September 22,1977, was a continuation of the existing MSG Network. The key difference, however, was that it was now nationally syndicated via satellite rather than terrestrially. It was also the first cable channel to be supported by advertising revenues. By this time (as previously alluded to), the channel was officially called the “Madison Square Garden Network” or MSG Network.
In1979–80, theNational Hockey League replaced theirsyndicated coverage packageThe NHL Network with a package on USA.[1] At the time, the USA Network was calledUA-Columbia.[2] As the immediate forerunner for the USA Network, UA-Columbia, served as the cable syndicated arm of not onlyMSG Network inNew York, but alsoPRISM channel inPhiladelphia, and whatever pay/cable outlets were around in1979.
On April 9,1980, the Madison Square Garden Network changed its name to theUSA Network.[3] This occurred when the ownership structure was reorganized under ajoint operating agreement by theUA-Columbia Cablevision cable system (now known asCablevision Systems Corporation) andMCA (then the parent ofUniversal Studios, now owned byNBC Universal). Things took a step further one year later whenTime Inc. (which eventually merged with Warner Communications to formTime Warner) andParamount Pictures Corp. (then a division ofGulf+Western, now owned byViacom) took minority ownership stakes in the USA. G+W also owned the New York Rangers and theMSG regional sports television network (both later owned by Cablevision, but spun off in 2010).
As previously mentioned USA's (or UA-Columbia as it was known at the time) coverage[4] begin in the1979–80 season as a Monday night series[5] withDan Kelly[6][7] doing play-by-play alongside a variety of commentators includingPete Stemkowski,Lou Nanne, andBrian McFarlane. Scott Wahle was the intermission host.
For the1980–81 season,[8] some Sunday night games were added. Dan Kelly once again, did most of the play-by-play alongsideMike Eruzione.[9][10][11] Dick Carlson andJiggs McDonald also did play-by-play work on occasion. In addition,Don Cherry was a commentator for at least one game. Meanwhile, Jim West was the host for most games.
With USA's coverage of the1981 Stanley Cup playoffs, it marked the first time that there was "blanket" American television coverage of the NHL playoffs. In other words, more often, whenever a game was played it was televised on a national outlet (whether it was broadcast or cable). USA however, did not televise Game 1 of the playoff series betweenPhiladelphia Flyers andCalgary Flames (April 16) because they were instead broadcasting abaseball game between thePittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. Meanwhile, they also skipped Games 2–6 (on April 17, 22, and 24) of the Philadelphia–Calgary series because of theircoverage of theNBA playoffs. USA also missed Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series between theCalgary Flames andMinnesota North Stars (April 30 and May 7 respectively) because of baseball games involving theMinnesota Twins vs. theBoston Red Sox and theLos Angeles Dodgers vs. thePhiladelphia Phillies respectively.
In the1981–82 season,[12]Al Trautwig[13] took over as studio host. Dan Kelly did play-by-play with eitherGary Green[14][15] orRod Gilbert on color commentary. For theplayoffs, Dick Carlson andAl Albert[16] were added as play-by-play voices of some games. Meanwhile,Jim Van Horne hostedStanley Cup Finals games played in Vancouver.
In April 1982, USA outbidESPN for the NHL's American national television cable package with $8 million (at least $2 million more than what ESPN was offering).[17]
Things pretty much remained the same for USA during the1982–83 season.[18] Dan Kelly and Gary Green called most games, while Al Albert did play-by-play or hosted on severalplayoff[19] games, including two games of theStanley Cup Finals fromNassau Coliseum.[20][21] USA didn't cover any playoff games on April 7, 1983, because they werebroadcasting second-round highlights ofThe Masters. This was followed by aWest CoastNBA telecast.
In the1983–84 season, USA covered over 40 games[22][23] including theplayoffs.[24] While Gary Green did all games, Dan Kelly and Al Albert did roughly 20 games each. Meanwhile, Jiggs McDonald helped broadcast at least one game.
Because the USA Network was airingMasters highlights, Game 1 of the 1984 playoff series between theMinnesota North Stars andSt. Louis Blues (April 12) and Game 2 of the playoff series between theNew York Islanders and Washington Capitals (April 13) were aired ontape delay at 10 p.m.Eastern Time.
For USA's final full season of NHL coverage in1984–85,[25][26] Dan Kelly[27] and Gary Green once again, did most games, while Al Albert and Green called the rest. In all, the USA Network covered about 55 games, including 33 in the regular season.[28] Also,Hartford Whalers goaltenderMike Liut was added as a studio analyst for theStanley Cup Finals.[29][30]
Meanwhile, for increased publicity opportunities, theStroh Brewing Company[31] turned to such sports as hockey—which had been overlooked byAnheuser andMiller—and sponsored broadcasts of National Hockey League games on the USA cable network.[32]
Seldom during the early rounds of the playoffs did USA carry an away game of one of the three New York-area teams (New York Rangers,New York Islanders, orNew Jersey Devils) sinceWOR-TV New York, at the time available on most of the nation's cable television systems, often carried that away game of the New York-area team both locally in New York and on its "superstation" feed. One exception was a playoff game between two of the New York-area clubs, since WOR was usually barred from carrying it since the home team's cable-television contract superseded the visiting club's over-the-air television deal.
After the 1984–85 season, theNHL Board of Governors chose to have the USA Network andESPN submit sealed bids. ESPN won by bidding nearly $25 million for three years, about twice as much as the USA Network had been paying. The contract called for ESPN to air up to 33 regular season games each season, the NHL All-Star game, and the Stanley Cup playoffs.[33][34]
After the USA Network lost the rights to the NHL to ESPN, they largely abandoned sports after the early 1990s as thechannel shifted almost exclusively to scripted entertainment. Beginning in 2006, USA began carrying some coverage of top level hockey by cooperating withNBC's coverage ofice hockey at the Winter Olympics in2006,2010, and2014; these games were mostlydaytime contests that would not preempt the network's increasingly popular prime time programs.
As part of a 2011 contract renewal,Comcast's properties earned exclusive national rights for allStanley Cup playoffs through 2021. Because NBC andNBC Sports Network cannot carry all of the games on those two outlets alone, other Comcast properties would need to be used; USA was initially not used, due to the risk of preempting its popular prime time lineup, and the company instead usedCNBC andNHL Network as the overflow channels for the first four years of the contract. In 2015, Comcast announced that the USA Network would carry some games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, mainly on Tuesday and Wednesday nights,[35][36][37] returning the NHL to USA Network for the first time since 1985.[38]
On January 22, 2021, an internal memo sent by NBC Sports president Pete Bevacqua announced that NBCSN would cease operations by the end of the year, and thatUSA Network would begin "carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming," including the Stanley Cup playoffs andNASCAR races, before NBCSN's shutdown.Peacock, NBCUniversal's new streaming service, will also carry some of the network's former programming starting in 2022.[39][40] The move was cited by industry analysts as a response to the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on thesports andtelevision industries, the acceleration ofcord-cutting, as well as formidable competition from rival sports networks such asESPN andFox Sports 1.[41]
But with the NBC Sports contract expiring at the end of the2020–21 season, the league desired to split its U.S. national media rights between multiple broadcasters.[42] On March 10, 2021, the NHL announced thatESPN/ABC would serve as one of the new rightsholders under a seven-year contract. Its deal included 25 regular season games forESPN andABC (including opening night, the All-Star Game, and other special events), 75 exclusively telecasts and all out-of-market games onESPN+, rights to half of the Stanley Cup playoffs, first choice of Conference Finals, and four Stanley Cup Finals over the length of the contract.[43][44] On April 26, 2021,Sports Business Journal reported[45] that NBC had officially pulled out[46] of bidding for future NHL rights. The next day,Turner Sports announced that they had agreed to a seven-year deal to be the other NHL rightsholder, including up to 72 regular season games including theWinter Classic, the other half of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and three Stanley Cup Finals.[47] Analysts believed that once ESPN obtained not only more Stanley Cup Finals (four out of three) than NBC desired but also overall hockey content, it was not worth spending more money on a smaller package in contrast to what they were last paying the NHL.[48]