NHL on PBS

*NHL on PBS*
NHL on PBS
Genre	Sports
Presented by	#Presenters
Theme music composer	N/A
Opening theme	"Hockey Night"
Ending theme	"Hockey Night"; (Instrumental)
Composer	N/A
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	16
No. of episodes	4,391
Production
Production locations	Various NHL arenas (game telecasts); PBS Studios, New York City, New York (studio segments, pre-game and post-game shows);
Camera setup	Multi-Camera
Running time	193 minutes
Production company	PBS Sports
Budget	$25M
Original release
Network	PBS
Release	1975 –; present

NHL on PBS is an the branding used for broadcasts of National Basketball Association (NBA) games that will be produced by PBS Sports and exclusively televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) under two separate tenures; The first tenure was July 1975-April 1991, whilst the second tenure has been active since May 2021.

Tenure(s)

First Tenure: 1975-1991

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] However, the NHL rendered those plans void after an new deal was surprisingly struck with Ontario Public Television to distribute games nationwide across all PBS stations. Games typically aired between Monday-Saturday (around 8PM). Profits would be derived from the advertising, which was about evenly split between the NHL and all PBS stations across the United States. During the 1975–76 season, the NHL Network showed selected games from the NHL Super Series made specifically for PBS viewers.^[10] Funding for NHL on PBS was mainly provided by McDonald's Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Polaroid Corporation. The network's first tenure of hockey broadcasting officially ended when it decided not to renew its contract with the league.

Second Tenure: 2021-present

On 10 March 2021, the Public Broadcasting Service officially confirmed within an unexpected conference call livestreamed via YouTube with its investors that PBS Sports had secured an agreement with the NHL on an 6-year media rights deal beginning in the 2021–22 season, marking the NHL's return onto PBS. An official announcement of the agreement was released by the NBA and PBS the following day, alongside other deals with ABC/ESPN and Netflix. The agreement, which is valued at $2.5 billion per season, will see games broadcast on PBS Kids and streaming on their secondary channels Create and World:

PBS and World will carry a triple-header of daily games on both Monday and Saturday nights.
Create will carry a doubleheader of primetime games on Wednesday nights. These games will primarily air on every official PBS affiliated station live during the game broadcasting time.
World Channel will also carry a doubleheader of MLK Day games, as well as coverage of All-Star Weekend and the NHL All-Star Game.
PBS Kids will also carry a doubleheader of Summer league games, as well as coverage of all Stanley Cup Finals games within odd-numbered years.

References

↑ Klein, Frederick C. (March 25, 1977). "Hockey, Violence and Movies". Wall Street Journal.
↑ Atkin, Ross (June 9, 1975). "Sports check on what's new". Christian Science Monitor. p. 19.
↑ "5 New Coaches Will Try to Dethrone the Flyers". Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1975. p. D8.
↑ Langford, George (October 5, 1975). "Hockey in battle for TV life!". Los Angeles Times. p. I3.
↑ Durso, Joseph (1977-07-13). "Problems of Overexpansion Continue: to Haunt N.B.A. and N.H.L." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
↑ Herman, Robin (1977-06-28). "N.H.L.'s President‐Elect Scores Points With His Take‐Charge Attitude". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
↑ "Holiday TV Hurts Series". The New York Times. 1975-12-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
↑ "N.H.L. Plans Cup TV; Seeks New York Outlet". The New York Times. 1976-03-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
↑ Verdi, Bob (January 17, 1979). "Hockey needs TV blanket to keep it warm in U.S.". Chicago Tribune. p. E1.
↑ Hardy, Holman, Stephen, Andrew C. (5 November 2018). Hockey: A Global History. ISBN 9780252050947.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1] Klein, Frederick C. (March 25, 1977). "Hockey, Violence and Movies". Wall Street Journal.

[2] Atkin, Ross (June 9, 1975). "Sports check on what's new". Christian Science Monitor. p. 19.

[3] "5 New Coaches Will Try to Dethrone the Flyers". Los Angeles Times. October 8, 1975. p. D8.

[4] Langford, George (October 5, 1975). "Hockey in battle for TV life!". Los Angeles Times. p. I3.

[5] Durso, Joseph (1977-07-13). "Problems of Overexpansion Continue: to Haunt N.B.A. and N.H.L." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

[6] Herman, Robin (1977-06-28). "N.H.L.'s President‐Elect Scores Points With His Take‐Charge Attitude". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

[7] "Holiday TV Hurts Series". The New York Times. 1975-12-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

[:0-8] "N.H.L. Plans Cup TV; Seeks New York Outlet". The New York Times. 1976-03-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-24.

[9] Verdi, Bob (January 17, 1979). "Hockey needs TV blanket to keep it warm in U.S.". Chicago Tribune. p. E1.

[10] Hardy, Holman, Stephen, Andrew C. (5 November 2018). Hockey: A Global History. ISBN 9780252050947.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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