- The NHL season begins abroad for a second straight year. The 2008-09 schedule was announced yesterday, with the Rangers and Lightning set to open with a doubleheader in Prague while Sidney Crosby and the Penguins play the Senators in Stockholm. The domestic schedule starts on Thursday, October 5 with a doubleheader on Versus featuring the defending champion Detroit Red Wings taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. NBC will begin its schedule on New Year’s Day with the second Winter Classic from Wrigley Field in Chicago.
- ESPN’s daily college football studio show, College Football Live, returns to the air on Monday. Brent Musburger will host the first two shows before primary host Rece Davis takes over. Like NFL Live, College Football Live will now air year-round.
- NBC/FOX joint venture Hulu does not plan on showing clips from the upcoming Beijing Olympics. The site, of which NBC has 40% ownership, has the exclusive rights to “distribute Fox and NBC TV to third-party sites for two years“, but that deal does not cover news or sports. According to Silicon Alley Insider, NBC has already sold 85% of its online ad inventory on NBCOlympics.com, “and the network would much rather keep 100% of the ad revenue, rather than send back 30% to Hulu per the terms of the revenue-sharing deal.”
Silicon Alley Insider article found via The Sports Business Daily.
