While moving Hockey Night In Canada from CBC to CTV-TSN seems sacrilegious, it's certainly not impossible.
"It's all a matter of what CTV wants," says one industry observer. "If they want hockey, they'll get it."
That certainly was the case with last week's purchase of CHUM and with the CTV-TSN-Rogers consortium that stole the 2010 and 2012 Olympics from CBC.
In the past, CTV's designs on the nation's most lucrative sports package have been thwarted by the network's reliance on U.S. dramas and sitcoms. Since it can't, or won't, pre-empt those for hockey, it couldn't air playoff games.
And since many Canadians don't have cable or satellite, the prospect of airing playoff games to TSN didn't sit well with the NHL.
But things have changed. Sources say CTV will employ the consortium that won the Olympics to secure the NHL package starting in 2008-09. The main network would air Saturday night games, which wouldn't dislodge its big-ticket American shows.
TSN would carry the national cable package while Sportsnet would show games regionally. Come the playoffs, TSN and Sportsnet would share the midweek games.
CTV would carry the final, which comes when the big shows are in reruns. In addition, the consortium would offer a variety of coverage on the Internet and cellphones as well as video on demand.
For those who don't believe the NHL would abandon its traditional broadcaster, remember that it moved Montreal Canadiens Saturday night games from SRC to cable channel RDS five years ago. But there are factors working in CBC's favour.
"Don't underestimate the NHL's sense of loyalty," says IMG Canada vice-president Peter Sisam. "If the CBC paired up with SRC and made a good offer for combined English-French rights, the NHL might not want to change horses."
The NHL might have other reasons to stay with CBC. The loss of its biggest cash cow might take the public network out of the market for big-ticket sports, meaning the NHL would have to settle for lower rights fees in future.