The Origins of Broadcasting Hockey

Since the main reason i am doing this blog is for my communication class, i thought it would be a grand idea to explain the origins of hockey in the media. Hockey over the air can be traced back to even the 1920's, with the first radio broadcasts of live NHL hockey games. With the introduction of hockey games on the radio came the most popular hockey show of all time, Hockey Night in Canada. The show aired on the radio in 1931 and later moved to television in 1952. It currently is one of the most popular shows in Canada. As for the United States, many did not recieve hockey games until the 1970's, when NBC and CBS picked up only a few games and no one had exclusive rights to NHL games. Although there were not many games aired, that changed in 1981 when USA network aired a full schedule of games in the US. Hockey has never done well with ratings compared to other pro sports such as the NFL and NBA. But in the late 1980's to today, hockey broadcasting took a big turn in the amount of exposure of the NHL, epecially in the US.