NHL Season Likely To Begin Without Versus-DirecTV Agreement

Davis Says DirecTV Unwilling To Budge Right Now

TENSION IN THE AIR: Davis said of DirecTV offering to air games while talks continue, "It's not about that. I want us to get a long-term solution, and if we don't get a long-term solution, this isn't going to achieve anything. DirecTV has not even made a formal offer to us. ... They have never come to us and even offered this" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 10/1). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said of the dispute, "I think I caused a little bit of a stir when I said if you're a DirecTV subscriber and you're unhappy about this, please call DirecTV and tell them. I think DirecTV got cranky with me. We want to be carried and we want to be carried as broadly as possible and I'm hoping that Versus ... and DirecTV can get their act together" ("NHL Live," NHL Network, 9/30). Meanwhile, on Long Island, Neil Best notes "most of the nation's major cable companies," as well as DirecTV, will offer a "free preview of the out-of-market NHL Center Ice package" from October 1-24 (NEWSDAY.com, 9/30).

HITTING THEIR STRIDE: Bettman said it took Versus a "little bit of time to really get up to speed covering live sports, particularly us, and it took a little bit of time to grow their distribution from 60 million to almost 80 million homes, and it took a little bit of time for our fans to begin to find Versus." Bettman: "But their coverage of our game is something that people routinely applaud now. We're important to them, more important than we would be to any other cable operator." Meanwhile, Bettman said NBC also "has done a great job of covering" the NHL. Bettman: "When it comes to storytelling, [NBC Sports & Olympics Chair] Dick Ebersol and his troops are among the best and it's an added benefit that they're going to be covering the Olympics when we stop in the middle of the season to go to Vancouver" ("Sports Take," Versus, 9/29). Sabres Managing Partner Larry Quinn said that Versus is "good for the sport because of all the promotion it provides." Quinn: "There are lots of things on ESPN that don't get promoted. ESPN is an NFL station and obviously a lot of basketball and a lot of college basketball. Versus has been a great partner. ... What I like a lot about Versus is they are committed to the game, they've given it a lot of promotion. You dance with the girl you bring, not the other girl. That's our partner" (BUFFALO NEWS, 10/1). But USA Today's Michael Hiestand said hockey ratings are "so low in the U.S., incredibly low." Hiestand: "And that's after attempts, first by Fox, who put a lot of promotion into it, and then ESPN came in and said: 'We're going to show a ton of games. We have ESPN2, we're going to show it on ABC.' ... And then Versus came along with the theory that if they had something that had some really avid fans, they could use it to get distribution. And it is what it is, but the numbers are really tiny" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 9/29).

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