Rogers Sportsnet's Ron MacLean has been "frozen out" of the new version of "Hockey Night In Canada," and he "admits his fractious relationship" with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman may be one reason why, according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. MacLean said, "Maybe that hurt me but I would gladly fall on my sword for that principle. But I don’t know that it had anything to do with (a reduced role). It could have." Shoalts noted MacLean and Bettman "usually butted heads over labour-management issues" in the NHL, and MacLean "consistently took the players’ side during interviews." While HNIC’s new host George Stroumboulopoulos will now serve as “ringmaster of the most popular show on Canadian television,” MacLean will "still serve as Don Cherry’s foil/sidekick on 'Coach’s Corner' on Saturday nights, but he faces exile on Sunday nights to Rogers 'Hometown Hockey.'" Bettman and NHL COO John Collins "enjoyed a strong influence on Hockey Night when it was operated by the CBC." Sources said that their influence has "increased and the duo had much input into the decisions about the on-air talent." Rogers President of Sportsnet & NHL Scott Moore in an e-mail wrote that he "keeps the commissioner up to date on decisions, but the NHL does 'not have approval or veto.'" MacLean said Bettman, Collins and NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly "had a huge say in how the show was run," when it was operated by the CBC. MacLean: "That pressure was always there to acquiesce, to toe the company line and in some cases that might have been the league line. But I felt strongly about the importance of a healthy NHL Players’ Association. That was a difficult thing for both the CBC and the league to accept, always was. Nobody (at the CBC) was ever happy when I was treating a partner (with skepticism), a partner that thought they were more important than the NHLPA" (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/4).
ROGERS' GRAND PLANS: The GLOBE & MAIL's James Bradshaw wrote Moore is "trying to recapture that magic feeling” for Rogers, which will now be a "seven-days-a-week hockey factory." A "key plank in the strategy will be Rogers ‘Hometown Hockey,’ a travelling 25-town tour with a mobile studio tied to a Sunday evening game broadcast." It is "designed to tap the spirit and grassroots feel of 'Hockey Day' on a weekly basis, burnishing the Rogers brand." The company has been "restructuring under new CEO Guy Laurence, who feels Rogers has 'neglected our customers over recent years' and is bent on improving the firm’s image." Moore said, "When Ron MacLean and the 'Rogers Hometown Hockey' crew leave Lethbridge or Red Deer or Burnaby, I want them to think, ‘Geez, we actually really like those Rogers people.'" Bradshaw wrote the plan, aside from "putting more games on more networks on more nights of the week, involves an ambitious array of 'storytelling' that puts the game’s stars front and centre, tells deeper stories about their lives and keeps the fan’s focus on the ice and in the locker room" (
GLOBE& MAIL, 10/4). In Toronto, Morgan Campbell wrote the broadcast deal "started out as a media play" for Rogers, but it is "turning into a makeover that will play out in every corner of its corporate empire." Rogers officials said that the "fruits of its mega deal will surface everywhere in the company but especially on Rogers mobile phones." With Laurence "pushing a One Rogers plan that puts customers first, the NHL becomes the centrepiece of the company’s effort to renovate its image" (
TORONTO STAR, 10/5).
ALL ABOUT MOBILE: The GLOBE & MAIL's Shoalts notes Rogers yesterday unveiled its GamePlus app that the company "hopes will have enough bells and whistles to satisfy the hardest of diehards and geekiest of geeks -- new camera angles, exclusive video, analysis, replays and your social media feed." But "the rub" for fans is that to use many of the app's features you "need to become a Rogers customer." Only those with "a connection to Rogers" can get GamePlus (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/7). Rogers yesterday also announced a media sales venture with the NHL in which the company will lead Canadian NHL media sales across Rogers' owned and operated broadcast and digital platforms, as well as NHL-owned digital assets in Canada (Rogers).
