Canadian satellite-service provider Bell ExpressVu will
offer viewers Centre Ice, the NHL PPV package which will
feature "more than 800 NHL regular-season and playoff games
for one flat fee, starting" October 30, according to Tony
Maraschiello of the TORONTO SUN. The package will initially
cost C$179. Also, Rogers Cable, another canadian satellite-
service provider, said that it will "add its own version" of
an NHL PPV package next month "at likely the same cost as
Bell ExpressVu" (TORONTO SUN, 9/24). In Toronto, William
Houston notes ExpressVu is in 300,000 homes and "expects to
reach 400,000 by Christmas." It "conservatively" estimates
PPV Centre Ice subscriptions at 20,000 in the first year.
Meanwhile, Rogers' subscription base of 2.2 million makes it
Canada's "largest cable company." Houston writes that in
order to offer Centre Ice, ExpressVu "was required to
compensate" the CBC because CBC's "Hockey Night In Canada"
had "exclusive rights to Saturday night games." Houston:
"In most PPV partnerships, the carrier and rights holder
share revenue 50-50, but in this case insiders think the NHL
is getting more than 50 per cent" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/24).
