TMCnet News
The Buffalo News, N.Y., Alan Pergament column: Deal allows Sabres to take HD road testsOct 01, 2009 (The Buffalo News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- It isn't quite up there with the question of when General Manager Darcy Regier will pull the trigger on a significant trade, but Buffalo Sabres fans are anxiously awaiting the arrival of HD telecasts for all road games. Surprise, surprise, late last week the Sabres announced armchair fans who get MSG HD on Time Warner Cable and DirecTV are going to get a taste of HD on the road this season. Larry Quinn, the Sabres' managing partner, said MSG will carry the six road games against the metropolitan New York-New Jersey teams - the Rangers, the Islanders and the Devils - in HD on the two services here that have deals with MSG to get the games in HD. "We're taking a feed from the home team," said Quinn. "There will be some issues with between periods shows, which probably are going to be taped as a result." While the feed will come from the visiting team, Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret and analyst Harry Neale will provide the audio. Quinn has said MSG's contract requires it to carry 66 percent of all Sabres games in HD by 2012-13, a figure that would make it just as easy to carry all the road games in HD. This season, TWC subscribers have the potential to see the most games in HD - 53 - from MSG HD, Versus and NBC. Two other services that carry Sabres games - Dish Network and Verizon FiOS - only carry MSG's standard definition or SD. FiOS has filed a "program access" complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to try and get the games from MSG's owner, Cablevision, in HD. Additionally, the Sabres fans who have left the area and get the NHL Center Ice package won't be able to see them in HD. The big issue for local hockey fans who get their games via DirecTV is its feud with Versus, which has seven Sabres games in HD on its schedule. Versus isn't currently on DirecTV. However, a report in Tuesday's Sports Business Daily said DirecTV is considering carrying Versus starting tonight without a new deal as negotiations continue if Versus gives it approval. DirecTV is telling fans it is being asked to pay cable giant Comcast, which owns Versus, a 20 percent rate hike and it already pays more than any other non-Comcast distributor. Quinn notes those issues generally get resolved before the start of the season, though there has been speculation that it may last until people start paying more attention to the sport during the National Hockey League playoffs. Once again, play-by-play man Jeanneret is planning an in-season vacation that begins with a Jan. 16 game against the Islanders and coincides with the team's five-game West Coast trip starting in Phoenix on Jan. 18 and ending in Vancouver on Jan. 25. Quinn said pregame host Kevin Sylvester will do a number of games in Jeanneret's absence. Derek Wills of the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs will get a one-game tryout and WGR's Paul Hamilton also will get a few games. Quinn said Marc Jeanneret, Rick's son and the new voice of the AHL Portland Pirates, probably won't get to do a Sabres game this season because of conflicts with the Pirates' schedule. He didn't want to go too deeply into speculation that Marc could eventually succeed his father. "I don't think of Rick retiring any time soon," said Quinn, who added the Sabres did recommend Marc to the Pirates before he was hired. Rick eventually has to make good on his practically decade-long threat to retire. "When that happens - it could be 10 years from now - it is going to be an open field," said Quinn. "And Marc Jeanneret would certainly be one we would take a hard look at. He's obviously on our radar screen." The Sabres are tweaking some of their TV plans this season. Quinn said there are no plans to keep the Saturday pregame show that aired on MSG and he isn't sure if Maria Genero will have time to do features now that she is working more on Channel 2. The Sunday magazine show on Channel 2 that included pieces that aired previously on the Sabres web site are unlikely to appear early this season because those pieces weren't timely when they aired, said Quinn. "We're really focusing on web-based product and we're really focusing on hockey content as opposed to some softer stuff," said Quinn. "It is to clearer to us that fans want hard hockey content, whether it is highlights, features on a player or prospects coming up or hockey technique." He is happy about all the content on the web site and notes that about 80 percent of the team's ticket and merchandise sales now come from it. The NHL renewed its deal with NBC, which begins its coverage again this season with the third annual Winter Classic between Boston and Philadelphia on New Year's Day. The Sabres are tentatively scheduled on NBC for one possible so-called "flex" game against Carolina on March 21. Most of the national coverage in the States comes from Versus, though every year someone pushes the idea that ESPN should get back in the game. The sports network dropped the NHL because it didn't want to pay the rights fee to a sport that doesn't get ratings as high as poker contests. The odds that ESPN would want the NHL back probably are less than the odds that the Sabres will win the Stanley Cup. Quinn is taking the league position that Versus is good for the sport because of all the promotion it provides. "There are lots of things on ESPN that don't get promoted," said Quinn. "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." [email protected] To see more of The Buffalo News, N.Y., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.buffalonews.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Buffalo News, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |