Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey
GenreNHL hockey telecasts
Created byRogers Media
Sportsnet
Presented byCaroline Cameron
StarringVarious
Theme music composerStephan Moccio
(2014–2021)
Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker
(2021–present)
Opening theme"Sportsnet Refreshed Hockey Theme"
(2014–2021)
"Never Stop"
(2021–present)
Country of originCanada
Production
Production locationsRogers Building, Toronto
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time180 minutes or until end of the game
Original release
NetworkSportsnet
ReleaseOctober 8, 2014 (2014-10-08) –
present (present)
Related
Rogers Monday Night Hockey
NHL on Sportsnet
Hockey Night in Canada
NHL on ESPN
NHL on ABC
NHL on TNT

Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey is the branding used for Sportsnet’s flagship broadcasts of National Hockey League games on Wednesday nights. In November 2013, Rogers reached a 12-year deal to become the exclusive national television and digital rightsholder for the NHL in Canada, beating out broadcasters CBC Sports and TSN for the rights.

Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey debuted on October 8, 2014 with a doubleheader of the Montreal Canadiens at the Toronto Maple Leafs, then followed by the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks.

History

Background

On November 26, 2013, Rogers Communications publicly announced its 12-year deal to become the exclusive national rightsholder for the National Hockey League beginning in the 2014–15 season.

In the lead-up to the 2014–15 season, Rogers began to promote its networks as the new home of the NHL through a multi-platform advertising campaign; the campaign featured advertising and cross-promotions across Rogers' properties, such as The Shopping Channel, which began to feature presentations of NHL merchandise, and its parenting magazine Today's Parent, which began to feature hockey-themed stories in its issues.[1] On May 28, 2014, Rogers announced a six-year sponsorship deal with Scotiabank, which saw the bank become the title sponsor for Wednesday Night Hockey which had previously aired on TSN from 2002 to 2014.[2]

2014-2021

Sportsnet's coverage premiered on October 8, 2014, with an opening night doubleheader which featured the Montreal Canadiens vs the Toronto Maple Leafs, followed with the Calgary Flames against the Vancouver Canucks. The inaugural game was the most-watched program of the night in Canada, and the most-watched telecast in Sportsnet's history, with 2.01 million viewers (beating the previous record of 1.44 million set by the Toronto Blue Jays' home opener in 2013, but since surpassed by multiple games of the 2015 American League Division Series involving the Blue Jays, which topped out at 4.38 million viewers for game 4).[3][4] However, viewership was down from 2013's opening night game, which was televised by CBC.[5]

Sportsnet's NHL broadcasts, along with its studio show Hockey Central, originated from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the headquarters of former rightsholder CBC. Rogers rented Studio 41 of the facility, which is adjacent to Studio 42, the previous home of Hockey Night in Canada, to build an 11,000 square-foot studio for its NHL programming. The $4.5 million set, designed by Jack Morton/PDG, features fourteen cameras, a 38 feet (12 m) wide, 11 feet (3.4 m) high arc-shaped video wall nicknamed the "Goliath", and 9 distinct set areas that serve various functions. The set areas include a central, rotating desk, three separate set areas for regional games and other segments, a "demo wall" (a video wall with a screen under the floor directly in front of it; virtual ice markings can be projected on the floor for play analysis), an interactive "puck wall" that can display stats for specific teams by placing their corresponding puck prop into a reader. During his tenure as host, the set featured an informal interview area intended for Stroumboulopoulos, which featured red armchairs as an homage to his previous talk show. The studio can produce broadcasts for up to three channels at once using its various sets and cameras.[6][7][8]

Sportsnet staff emphasized a focus on storytelling throughout its NHL coverage, with a particular focus on the personal lives of the league's top players. Although Sportsnet executive Scott Moore did explain that Sportsnet's overall goal was to "celebrate" hockey and downplay some of the NHL's recent issues, such as labour disputes, he emphasized that the network would not be the NHL's "cheerleaders", and would still be prepared to discuss issues that affect the game.[9][10] Sportsnet's coverage also places an emphasis on new technology; referees can be equipped with helmet cams for first-person perspectives, and a Skycam was installed at Air Canada Centre for use in aerial shots. Rogers plans to install Skycam units at each Canadian NHL arena for use in its coverage and the GameCentre Live GamePlus features.[11]

Sportsnet's NHL broadcasts, along with its studio show Hockey Central, originated from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, the headquarters of former rightsholder CBC. Rogers rented Studio 41 of the facility, which is adjacent to Studio 42, the previous home of Hockey Night in Canada, to build an 11,000 square-foot studio for its NHL programming.

2021-present

In June 2021, Rogers announced that it would move its NHL studio from the Canadian Broadcasting Centre to the Rogers Building for the 2021–22 season. Two new sets were constructed as part of the "Sportsnet Studios" project, with one area incorporating a 50 foot (15 metres) curved video wall, as well as support for a virtual set extension via green screens, and augmented reality graphics.[12][13] A new on-air graphics package was also adopted, as well as new theme music by the alternative rock duo Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (USS).[14]

Personalities

While primarily using existing Sportsnet talent, a number of CBC Sports personalities, including the lead play-by-play crew of Jim Hughson, Craig Simpson and, until 2016, Glenn Healy, veteran play-by-play man Bob Cole, rinkside reporter Scott Oake and studio analyst Elliotte Friedman,[15][16] joined Rogers to participate in Sportsnet's coverage and Hockey Night. These CBC alumni were joined by two former TSN personalities, Dave Randorf and Paul Romanuk.[17][18]

From 2021 to now, Caroline Cameron is the host of Wednesday Night Hockey, while she also hosts Thursday night games along with Hockey Central Saturday.

On June 5, 2020, Sportsnet announced that it had hired TSN commentator and former Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Chris Cuthbert.[19] Cuthbert replaced both Dave Randorf (no. 2 announcer) and John Bartlett (Maple Leafs regional announcer); Randorf left Sportsnet to join the Tampa Bay Lightning as its television voice, while Bartlett continued to call select national games. Greg Millen, who like Bartlett was also reassigned to national game duty, was replaced by Craig Simpson on the Maple Leafs' regional broadcasts.[20]

During the 2020–21 season, Cuthbert filled-in for Jim Hughson as the lead play-by-play voice of Sportsnet after Hughson opted to call only nationally televised Canucks home games and was promoted full-time the following season after Hughson's retirement.[21][22] Meanwhile, HNIC Punjabi-language voice Harnarayan Singh was promoted to secondary play-by-play announcer, filling in the role originally given to Cuthbert and fully replaced Cuthbert full-time.[20]

In the summer of 2021, Sportsnet talents Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Leah Hextall joined the NHL on ESPN broadcast team in the U.S. Similar to the situation involving TSN and fellow ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, Campbell-Pascall and Hextall would continue to work with Sportsnet whilst making occasional appearances south of the border on ESPN.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ "Rogers ramps up NHL ad buys". The Globe & Mail. July 6, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ Campbell, Morgan (May 28, 2014). "Rogers and Scotiabank reach NHL sponsorship deal". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Great Canadian Ratings Report: Blue Jays continue to set records for Sportsnet". Yahoo! Sports Canada. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sportsnet Delivers Highest Audience in Network History & No. 1 Show of the Night as Canadiens vs. Leafs Attracts 2.01 Million Viewers". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Rogers Sportsnet draws fewer viewers to NHL opening night than CBC, still sets network record". National Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  6. ↑ Wong, Tony (June 15, 2013). "George Stroumboulopoulos's CNN debut gets dismal ratings". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Sportsnet unveils new Hockey Central studio". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ "10 things to know about Hockey Central studio". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  9. ↑ Bradshaw, James. "Rogers' Hockey Night in Canada will be a whole new game for viewers". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  10. ↑ Mudhar, Raju (September 29, 2014). "Sportsnet unveils its luxe new hockey studio". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  11. ↑ Zelkovich, Chris. "Hockey Night in Rogersland: Now for something sort of different". Yahoo! Sports Canada. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  12. ↑ Kerschbaumer, Ken (June 7, 2021). "New NHL Studio on Tap for Sportsnet at Rogers Campus in Toronto this Fall". Sports Video Group. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  13. ↑ Dachman, Jason (2021-11-04). "Inside the New Sportsnet Studios: IP-Based Toronto Facility Offers Plenty of Flexibility, Tech Firepower". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  14. ↑ "NHL Puck Drop 2021: State of the Art New Sportsnet Studios Facility Officially Unveiled Tonight". Sports Video Group. 2021-10-13. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  15. ↑ "Elliotte Friedman and Scott Oake Join Rogers NHL Broadcast Team". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Meet the new faces of hockey in Canada". Toronto Sun. October 6, 2014. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Rogers unveils its full NHL play-by-play team". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Jim Hughson to lead play-by-play when Rogers takes over NHL rights next season". National Post. Archived from the original on June 3, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Veteran commentator Chris Cuthbert joins Sportsnet's NHL broadcast team". Toronto Star. 2020-06-05. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  20. 1 2 "NHL: Kenny Albert and John Forslund will share NBC's regular season load; Full list of all teams' TV/Radio voices". Sports Broadcast Journal. January 20, 2021. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Hughson announces retirement". The Athletic. September 21, 2021. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  22. ↑ Johnston, Patrick (January 15, 2021). "Canucks Notebook: Höglander keeps late sister in his heart, broadcasters stick close to home". The Province. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  23. ↑ Shapiro, Sean. "ESPN to hire Chris Chelios, Cassie Campbell-Pascall for NHL broadcasts: Sources". The Athletic. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  24. ↑ Marchand, Andrew (May 17, 2021). "ESPN signs Leah Hextall in historic NHL play-by-play hire". New York Post. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
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