Versus deal close????

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Someone in the other Versus thread said it would be back by March. I will think late March to avoid the loss of continued viewer ship during the NHL Playoffs.
 
not that anyone believes swanni but he did quote a sports illustrated writer so that gives me hope this will be resolved in time for the nhl playoffs.
 
<rant>I'm not even a hockey fan and I think this whole thing is ridiculous. The customers and fans were the only losers in this you-know-what contest. If D* was/is going to move Versus to the sports pak that's stupid, too. All the content, and TV service providers are greedy bastards IMHO.</rant>

Here's hoping all you hockey fans get your playoffs. We all have our favorites and no one deserves to lose a channel they like in this way.
 
If I miss the playoffs I will move to Dish. No way I'm missing my Blackhawks best shot at a cup in ages over Directv trying to play hardball.
 
I hope they resolve it soon. Just a question...if you subscribe to Center Ice, will you be able to watch playoff games even if they're broadcast on Versus? I know that TSN or CBC also broadcast them so would we be able to watch on their feed via Center Ice?
 
all playoff games broadcast on versus are blacked out from center ice.
Only after the 2nd round.

The first 2 rounds (to whittle 16 teams down to 4) are still covered by a combination of regional sports nets and national broadcast partners. The Center Ice package is actually done after the 2nd round is complete.

For the final 2 rounds, TSN and CBC have exclusive broadcast rights in Canada, NBC and Versus have exclusive broadcast rights in the US.
 
EJ Hardek on ESPN.Com is saying there may be some movement on this issue. However, since I'm not an ESPN Insider and can't get tot he article. Anyone an Insider and able to see what Mr Bettman has said on the subject?

I don't want to get too excited, but if I miss the Blackhawks best chance to go far in the playoffs because of this...I'm going to be extremely disappointed!
 
Only after the 2nd round.

The first 2 rounds (to whittle 16 teams down to 4) are still covered by a combination of regional sports nets and national broadcast partners. The Center Ice package is actually done after the 2nd round is complete.

For the final 2 rounds, TSN and CBC have exclusive broadcast rights in Canada, NBC and Versus have exclusive broadcast rights in the US.

In the first two rounds Versus has national rights on many games but is blacked out itself in market. For instance. Team A and Team B are playing.

The game is televised locally by Team A and Team B. Versus is blacked out in those two markets and there is NO CENTER ICE coverage.
 
In the first two rounds Versus has national rights on many games but is blacked out itself in market.
I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't.

The simple rule is: any time a game is on Versus or NBC, it cannot be shown on Center Ice in the US.

In the first 2 rounds there are some games that are not covered by a national partner, so those would be available via Center Ice / your local RSN as appropriate.

In the last 2 rounds, 100% of the games are on the national broadcast networks only.
 
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EJ Hardek on ESPN.Com is saying there may be some movement on this issue. However, since I'm not an ESPN Insider and can't get tot he article. Anyone an Insider and able to see what Mr Bettman has said on the subject?

I don't want to get too excited, but if I miss the Blackhawks best chance to go far in the playoffs because of this...I'm going to be extremely disappointed!

Not much meat, this is the key portion of the article that had several other topics:

On Thursday evening, NHL commish Gary Bettman told me the two sides have started talking again. He left it right there, though. He stopped well short of saying the groups were anywhere close to an agreement.

Hard to gauge where this issue is at as of now.
 
even if they have only started negotiations again could be a good sign. i mean its better then there being no discussion at all.
 
If I were holding the checkbook I would say March 1st, given there is no hockey the last half of February on Versus. Perhaps a few days earlier if they want that UFC fight.

Unfortunately, I don't hold DirecTV's checkbook.
 
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