Radio-Canada could once again broadcast Canadiens games

We were all pretty surprised to learn just over a month ago that Rogers (Sportsnet) had once again won the bid for the NHL’s national broadcasting rights.

The original 12-year deal between the NHL and Rogers had only one year left… and the two parties came to an agreement for another 12 years, at 2.5 times the current amount: 11 billion vs. 4.5 billion.

I’m told there could be 32 or 34 regular Canadiens games, rather than 22, but the amount per game is still much higher than it is now.

Of course, we can expect Rogers to sub-distribute certain rights to Amazon or another legal streaming site..

But we have no idea what’s going to happen with French-language rights.

Pierre-Karl Péladeau told Quebecor shareholders that, at the price demanded (2.5 times the current $70 million), TVA Sports will probably not be in the game… and that the channel could close its doors altogether. Even though it has just built new studios on Frontenac Street..

RDS? Everyone at Bell Media is keeping quiet, but there’s reason to believe that if the channel refused to match Quebecor’s offer 11 years ago, it won’t dare pay 2.5 times the amount it considered too high. Unless it feels that such a high bid would eliminate its biggest (and only?) competitor?

Will Amazon, which has physically left Quebec, be interested in offering the moon for French-language rights (especially useful in Quebec)? I don’t think so, but Hughes Léger seems to think so.

Netflix? Apple TV? I don’t think so either.

Could we see a split between RDS and TVA Sports?

“Anything is possible, but it remains highly unlikely at this time.” –Source

Hughes Léger, columnist on 98.5 FM, put forward an interesting hypothesis on Friday evening at Amateurs de sports. In his opinion, Radio-Canada shouldn’t be wiped off the map, especially since the network broadcasts coast-to-coast.

“I think there will be a lot of offers, a lot of sublicensing and a lot of fragmentation down the road… and there will be new players at the table […] why not have Radio-Canada come back to the table? We know that CBC is already there.” –Hughes Léger

Hughes’ thinking is simple: no network can afford to spend that much on its own, since it’s already running a deficit. So imagine spending 2.5 times as much..

Radio-Canada broadcasts Victoire games, and as you already know, the network can afford to lose money, given its status as a subsidized, not-for-profit state medium.