NHL Network is an American sports-oriented

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

and

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

that is a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL), which owns a controlling 84.4% interest, and

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

, which owns the remaining 15.6%. Dedicated to providing broadcast coverage of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, the network features live game telecasts from the NHL and other professional and collegiate hockey leagues, as well as NHL-related content including analysis programs, specials and

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

History

Launched on October 1, 2007, the NHL Network was developed out of a

between the NHL and cable provider

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

, as part of a broadcast rights agreement that resulted in the

NBC Sports Network NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), w ...

(then known as Outdoor Life Network) acquiring partial cable television rights to regular season, and

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

and

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

games from the National Hockey League. It became the third sports-oriented cable network devoted to programming from and controlled by one of the

Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada Major professional sports, professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada traditionally include four leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the Nationa ...

, following the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

-owned

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular se ...

(which launched in March 1999) and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

-owned

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

(which launched in November 2003);

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

would launch its own sports channel,

MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...

, on January 1, 2009. On June 1, 2015, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' columnist David Shoalts reported that NHL Network in Canada would cease operations on September 1, 2015; national media rights to the NHL in Canada had been acquired by

Rogers Communications Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...

beginning in the 2014–15 season, and the

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

employees who managed the network's Canadian arm on behalf of the NHL were laid off that July. In August 2015, it was announced that the NHL had reached a six-year deal with

Major League Baseball Advanced Media MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (MLBAM) is a limited partnership of the club owners of Major League Baseball (MLB) based in New York City and is the Internet and interactive branch of the league. Robert Bowman, former president and CEO of MLBAM, ind ...

(MLBAM) to take over the management of the NHL's digital properties, as well as NHL Network. Operations and production of NHL Network's programming was shifted from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to the

Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a Town (New Jersey), town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 United St ...

facilities of

. There has been minor talent sharing between the networks, and MLB Network cross-promoted an NHL Stadium Series game at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995 Major League Baseball season, 1995, the park is located in Denver's LoDo, Lower Downtown neighborhood, ...

by building a scale hockey rink in its Studio 42 (which itself is designed to resemble a scaled baseball field). For much of the 2015–16 season, NHL Network studio programs originated from MLB Network's Studio 21 and Studio K facilities (enabled by a lack of major overlap between the two leagues' regular seasons). In April 2016, coinciding with the start of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, NHL Network moved to a permanent 1,200 square-foot studio near Studio 21 known as "The Rink". The network will continue to operate under the league's new television contract consortium of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

Turner Sports TNT Sports is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery in the United States that is responsible for Sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's streaming service, Max (streaming service), Max, and primarily the TruTV, TBS (Americ ...

beginning with the 2021–22 season (which excludes NBCUniversal). NHL Network will continue to nationally air games broadcast by ESPN and Turner.

Carriage agreements

Comcast, owners of the league's former cable partner NBCSN, is also the largest cable television provider in the United States. The company was contractually obligated to carry NHL Network on its systems by the summer of 2007 at the latest, so it would be available in time for the

2007–08 NHL season The 2007–08 NHL season was the 91st season of operation (90th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It began on September 29, 2007, and the regular season ended April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 4, with the ...

. Both Comcast and the NHL had an option to terminate their contract after the 2006–07 season, which would have voided Comcast's obligation to launch a U.S. version of NHL Network, but opted to proceed with the launch. Since its official launch in the United States, the NHL Network announced on October 8, 2007 that it would begin being carried that month on

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

Cox Communications Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications business segment and division of the Comcast Corporation. It is used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless servic ...

and

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...

through carriage agreements that were struck with each of the providers. DirecTV has aired NHL Network on channel 215 since October 31, 2007. NHL.com announced on January 12, 2009 that

AT&T U-verse U-verse TV is an internet protocol television (IPTV) service operated by DirecTV. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse was originally a triple play package that included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT& ...

would begin carrying the channel. This was followed on June 2, 2009 with the announcement that NHL Network and Comcast had reached an agreement to carry the channel on the provider's Digital Classic Tier, which increased subscribership of the channel from the then-estimated two million subscribers in its placement on the "Sports Entertainment" tier to over 10 million on its Digital Classic package. In 2016,

Sling TV Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aim ...

became the first

over-the-top media service An over-the-top media service (also known as over-the-top television, or simply OTT) is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered Direct-to-consumer, directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an Terrestria ...

to offer NHL Network.

Carriage disputes

In 2011, AT&T U-verse refused to carry NHL Network over a planned increase in retransmission payments.

Programming

Hockey telecasts

The NHL Network originally shared some programming with its now-defunct sister network in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, with the main differences in programming between the two networks being the carriage of domestically targeted commercials and live game telecasts. For those live NHL games aired throughout the season, they are primarily simulcasts of feeds from one of the team's regional rightsholders or Canadian rightsholder

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

, including

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

-aired ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' coverage on Saturday evenings. In 2021, the network introduced its first original broadcasts, the '' NHL Network Showcase'', which is modeled after MLB Network's ''

MLB Network Showcase ''MLB Network Showcase'' is the title of a presentation of Major League Baseball on cable and satellite channel MLB Network that premiered on April 9, 2009. The network produces in-house 26 non-exclusive live games a season. Since one or both tea ...

'', and air on weekend afternoons. Until the 2021–22 season, NHL Network also carried selected first round games during the

Stanley Cup Playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs () is the annual elimination tournament to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, and the league champion of the National Hockey League (NHL). The four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held after the NHL's regular s ...

. NHL Network has also aired other hockey leagues and events, such as the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, college hockey, and as official USA broadcaster for such IIHF events like the

IIHF World Junior Championship The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally ...

. It is also the producer of the NHL International television service providing a global feed (both TV and online) for the All Star Game and the Stanley Cup Final.

Other programs

* '' NHL Tonight'' (formerly ''NHL on the Fly'') – NHL Network's signature show, which covers on- and off-ice NHL news with highlights, interviews and analysis. * ''NHL Now'' – A program that features interviews with NHL players and insight from NHL insiders. The program also shows viewers voicing their opinions from social media on noteworthy news from the day. * ''On the Fly'' – A program featuring highlights of the day's games; its current format is modeled after MLB Network's '' Quick Pitch''. * ''Top 10'' – A countdown program focusing on hockey-related topics, from great performances to memorable moments. * ''Frozen in Time'' – A retrospective program that features a look back at the greatest moments in the NHL from players, teams, and special events. * ''Classic Series'' – A collection of highlights from a past Stanley Cup Playoff series. * ''Vintage Games'' – NHL Network airs archived broadcasts of past NHL games in their entirety from the game's original broadcaster. * ''Pioneers'' – A profile series in which NHL legends discuss their groundbreaking careers. * ''Rink Reels'' – A movie program that airs hockey-related theatrical films. * NHL Network also has the right to air various

films from the winning teams from different years. * ''NHL Network Ice Time'' - A series designed for young people on the sport of hockey featuring instructions on the game and interviews with NHL Players and is hosted by Jackie Redmond. * ''Breakdowns and Demos'' - A series featuring clips from NHL Tonight and On the Fly that go in-depth of the plays and players that make the NHL go. * ''Hockeyverse Matchup of the Week'' — A youth-oriented program featuring highlights of a game rendered with

3D animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern ...

avatars using player and puck tracking.

On-air staff

Current on-air talent includes: * Bruce Boudreau - studio analyst * Brian Boyle - studio analyst * Jamison Coyle - studio host * Jackie Redmond - reporter * Ken Daneyko - studio analyst * Jason Demers - studio analyst * Devan Dubnyk - studio analyst * Elliotte Friedman - network insider * Lauren Gardner - studio host and reporter * Steve Gelbs - studio host * Stu Grimson - studio analyst * Scott Hartnell - studio analyst * Jamie Hersch - studio host * Thomas Hickey - studio analyst * Billy Jaffe - studio analyst *

Mike Johnson James Michael Johnson (born January 30, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 56th speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member ...

- studio analyst * Mike Kelly - network insider * Steve Konroyd - studio analyst * Alexa Landestoy - studio host * Bill Lindsay - studio analyst * Tony Luftman - studio host * Kelly Nash - studio host * Dave Pagnotta - network insider *

Mark Parrish Mark Daniel Parrish (born February 2, 1977) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), right winger. Parrish played 11 seasons and over 700 games in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, Los Ang ...

- studio analyst * Dave Reid - studio analyst *

Mike Rupp Michael Ryan Rupp (born January 13, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), center. He has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh P ...

- studio analyst * Siera Santos - studio host * Cory Schneider - studio analyst * Kathryn Tappen - studio host * Adnan Virk - studio host * Erika Wachter - studio host *

Kevin Weekes Kevin Weekes (born April 4, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 348 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is now a studio analyst for NHL Network, appearing on shows like ''On the Fly'' and '' NHL T ...

- studio analyst

References

External links

NHL Network official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nhl Network (United States) Joint ventures National Hockey League on television NHL on NBC English-language television stations in the United States Mass media in Hudson County, New Jersey NBCUniversal networks Secaucus, New Jersey Sports in Hudson County, New Jersey Sports television networks in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2007