The NHL Skates Back To Disney
Hockey fans can rejoice and once again hum along with their favorite opening intro as the NHL returns to ESPN and the Disney family after an almost 17-year absence. The two organizations, this past week, agreed on a $2.8 billion deal that sees the league being broadcast on ESPN, ESPN Plus, ABC, and even on Hulu for the next seven years.
The deal, which begins with the 2021-2022 season, sees Disney’s linear TV networks and streaming services showing over 100 regular-season games, of which 25 games will air exclusively on ABC and ESPN. The remaining games will stream exclusively on either ESPN Plus or Hulu.
Four Stanley Cup Finals and half of all Stanley Cup Playoffs games during that period will air on ABC and ESPN. In addition to that, the NHL’s Face-off opening night games, the NHL All-Star Game and Skills Challenge, and other NHL events each season will also air on the Disney networks.
Out-of-market games will be exclusively available on ESPN Plus, and the house of Mickey also gets international media rights in Latin America, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe.
NBCUniversal’s 10-year deal with the NHL expires at the end of this season and there is no word, yet, on whether they will re-sign or drop out altogether. If they do come back they will have a smaller footprint not only because of shutting down NBCSN and shifting their sports coverage to USA and Peacock, but also because the NHL sees Disney as its primary partner.
The one interesting aspect of this new deal is how Hulu is being integrated into the mix. The NHL airing on Hulu will be a first when it comes to live sports and this gives the streaming service, which primarily operates on TV shows and movies, some additional value.
Disney will also be launching “ESPN+ on Hulu,” which will give Hulu subscribers with access to the service’s on-demand streaming library the choice to sign up for, and view, ESPN Plus content.
(MediaPost, AdWeek, ESPN Press Room)
RECAP
Piers Morgan Out At Good Morning Britain
Piers Morgan did not have a great start to the week as a result of his angry and uncomfortable reaction to Oprah’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry that aired on CBS. On Monday, Morgan, who co-hosted ITV’s Good Morning Britain, lashed out at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with his ire specifically directed towards Markle. He cast doubt towards her claims of mental health issues and experiencing racism while she was at the palace. The following day when fellow co-host, Alex Beresford, confronted and challenged his remarks on-air, Morgan stormed off the set. ITV later that day announced Morgan would no longer be a part of the show. (Variety)
NCAA March Madness Broadcast Plans Come Into Focus
This time last year the COVID-19 pandemic brought the sporting world to a screeching halt with the NCAA men’s basketball tournament being one of its earliest victims. This year all systems are a go for the tournament as CBS and Turner Sports unveiled their broadcast plans, which include an increase of the arena broadcast teams from eight to 10, no on-air appearances by Reggie Miller and Chris Webber as they opted out, and no studio team swaps between the two networks with Turner Sports’ team remaining in Atlanta and CBS Sport’s team staying in New York. (Sports Media Watch)
Another Top Editor Departs NewsNation
Newsnation is showing some serious growing pains as it has been hit with another departure of a key executive. Jennifer Lyons, who was the vice president of news, resigned from her position this past week as a result of the network’s increasing right-wing viewpoints. NewsNation was supposed to be a straight-down-the-middle news operation not favoring any side, but with the hiring of former Fox News executive Bill Shine among others, the news network has been making a shift towards the right. Lyons is the third executive to quit the network in protest joining news director Sandy Pudar and managing editor Richard Maginn. (Rober Feder)
QUICK RECAP
Former NBC News and CBS News anchor Roger Mudd passed away. (Washington Post)
College football coach Bob Stoops replaces Urban Myer on Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff show. (Fox Sports Press Pass)
Talesha Reynolds joins PBS’s NewsHour as a senior content and special projects producer. (TVNewser)
Bob Iger to depart Disney at the end of 2021. (MediaPost)
Former NBC News head Deborah Turness joins UK’s ITN as its CEO. (Press Gazette/Twitter)
Turner Sports’ Kenny Smith signs a content deal with FanDuel. (Michael McCarthy/Twitter)
Marly Rivera signs a multi-year extension deal with ESPN. (ESPN Press Room)
CNBC promotes three of its DC-based political reporters. (TVNewser)
CNN boss Jeff Zucker joins the board of Group Nine SPAC. (Axios)
Nancy Grace signs a multi-year deal with Fox Nation. (Deadline)
Former CNN executive Ashley Codianni joins NBC’s Today Show, while Missy Dunlop Parsons is promoted to executive producer of Today All Day. (TVNewser)
Former ESPNer Trey Wingo joins Pro Football Network. (Awful Announcing)
COVID-19: How the pandemic changed TV news forever. (Los Angeles Times)
COVID-19: A Twitter thread on the past year’s TV Viewership. (Michael Mulvihill/Twitter)
COVID-19: Discovery employees to return to their offices in September. (Deadline)
COVID-19: WarnerMedia News and Sports employees to return to their offices 3rd quarter of 2021. (Oliver Darcy/Twitter)
COVID-19: ViacomCBS employees will probably return to their offices during the summer. (Variety)
COVID-19: NBC’s Today Show anchors are ready for normalcy to return. (Variety)
CBS/Turner Sports announce their March Madness TV announcing teams. (Sports Media Watch)
ESPN expands its sports betting content. (ESPN Press Room)
NBC News adding an afternoon block to its streaming service NBC News Now. (Variety)
Ratings: CBS This Morning comes in first place for the first time ever on Monday. (ViacomCBS Press Express)
ESPN Plus is now on Hulu. (AdWeek)
HBO Max has a new goal of getting 120-150 million subscribers by 2025 and an ad-Tier will debut in June. (Hollywood Reporter)
Greg Gutfeld’s new show on Fox News will launch Monday, April 5 at 11 pm ET. (TVNewser)
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin does not know what she will be doing once her gig is up. (HuffPost)
NBC Sports’ engines are revved up as they prepare for two Olympics and a Super Bowl. (AdWeek)
Disney Plus passes the 100 million subscriber mark. (Deadline)
Tubi is getting into original programming. (The Verge)
Peacock lost $914 million in 2020. (Variety)
BBC World News turns 30-years old. (BBC)
UK’s GB News wants to be the anti-woke news channel. (Business Insider)
By promoting opinion as news CNN amplifies misinformation. (Columbia Journalism Review)
Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless could star in a courtroom show. (Front Office Sports)
FuboTV is betting on sports betting. (Cablefax)
BBC apologizes for its interview with a Cory Booker imposter. (New York Times)
ESPN is debuting new graphics for the NCAA championships. (NewscastStudio)
NBA All-Star ratings are down for TNT, but they are okay with it. (Sports Media Watch)
Eli Manning to host a show on ESPN Plus. (Awful Announcing)
Why wasn’t Oprah Winfrey’s interview on Paramount Plus? (Variety)
NBCUniversal lays off more staff. (MediaPost)
Ratings: Oprah’s interview with Meghan and Harry draws 17 million viewers. (Forbes)
CNN and the New York Times team up on a Rupert Murdoch documentary series. (MSN/Bloomberg)
Netflix is looking to limit password sharing. (MediaPost)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - issue #49 - 2021