Friday, August 26, 2011

CHL strikes deal with TVA Sports

Press Release

TVA Sports is delighted to announce the signing of a major new agreement that is sure to please Canada’s hockey fans: an exclusive three-year French-language broadcast deal starting this fall with the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), which also includes the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

A Strikingly Rich Offering

Viewers can expect an impressive programming roster, since TVA Sports has acquired the rights to all national CHL games played in Canada on Friday nights, including approximately 5 games featuring QMJHL teams.

TVA Sports has also secured exclusive broadcast rights for the MasterCard Memorial Cup Tournament, as well as the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. The station will air several MasterCard Memorial Cup games, including the semi-finals and final. The MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament will be held in Shawinigan May 18 to 27, 2012, while the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game will be played in Kelowna, British Columbia, on February 1, 2012.
TVA Sports will also present two games from the SUBWAY® Super Series, pitting the QMJHL all-star team against an all-star roster from Russia. This will be the 9th edition of the series, which will take place Monday, November 7 at Colisée Desjardins in Victoriaville, and Wednesday, November 9 at Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City.
As announced earlier this week, TVA Sports is teaming up with Rogers Sportsnet for national coverage in both official languages of key sports properties, making more games available to audiences in both French and English. Today’s TVA Sports announcement complements Sportsnet’s long-standing partnership with the CHL, which has been in existence since the network launched in 1998. Sportsnet has the English-language broadcast rights to CHL regular-season games from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. The network also televises the MasterCard Memorial Cup, the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, and the Subway® Super Series between Canada and Russia.

TVA Sports and VOX: At Least 36 Games on TV

At the present time, TVA Sports expects to broadcast at least 15 Canadian Hockey League games (the vast majority of which will be QMJHL games), in addition to 21 QMJHL games airing on the VOX channel as per the renewed agreement between VOX and the league. These games will alternate with the TVA Sports match-ups on Friday nights.
The broadcast team will be announced in the next few days, but we can already confirm that journalist Mikaël Lalancette will be covering the QMJHL both on TVA Sports and on VOX.

Two New Sports-Related Shows

In other news, hockey fanatics will be happy to learn that TVA Sports will present the junior-hockey magazine show Junior et majeur starting in September. The show will be hosted by none other than comedian and major hockey fan Maxime Martin.
The station will also air the reality series Les Recrues, which is sure to captivate any hockey enthusiast. The show will feature three rookies trying to win a spot on the Shawinigan Cataractes roster. Expect lots of suspense and emotional moments!
“We’re excited about this new partnership with TVA Sports, as well as our involvement with Sportsnet,” declared Gilles Courteau, CHL Vice-President and Commissioner of the QMJHL. “Sportsnet is a major broadcaster in Canada, and we are thrilled to team up with TVA Sports from its inception. This agreement is excellent news for both our players and viewers.”

“When we announced the launch of TVA Sports last May, we specifically stated that we wanted to help provide more public exposure for Quebec athletes and players,” commented Pierre Dion, President and CEO of TVA Group. “Today’s announcement is further evidence that we are taking this commitment seriously.”

About TVA Sports

The all-new TVA Sports station will offer a wide range of programming, with sports newscasts worthy of the TVA Group’s news reputation, along with bold coverage and opinions, and a broadcast team that stays close to sports fans. The station has already signed long-term agreements with several highly prestigious sports properties that enjoy a tremendous fan following, including the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Interbox Group, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the Montreal Impact, the Champions League, the Quebec City Volleyball Open and the Quebec City Velirium.

About the Canadian Hockey League:

The Canadian Hockey League is the world’s largest development hockey league with 51 Canadian and eight American teams participating in the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League. CHL players graduate from high school at a rate higher than the Canadian national average. Last season, more than nine million fans attended CHL games in the regular season, playoffs and at the MasterCard Memorial Cup. The CHL supplies more players to the National Hockey League than any other league. Last season 636 graduates attended North American post-secondary institution on scholarships from CHL teams.

About the QMJHL

The mission of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is to develop future professional hockey players while guiding them in their scholastic path in order to help them become responsible and educated citizens. It is also committed to offering quality entertainment within a cost-effective financial framework in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of its activities.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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