It was a day of fond reminiscing, the fifth anniversary of the Blues鈥 only Stanley Cup championship in their more than 5陆 decades in the National Hockey League. As in previous anniversaries, Game 7 of the Cup Final reaired on St. Louis television.
But on this showing, which was Wednesday, that game appeared on MyNetworkTV, Channel 32 over the air, rather than on Blues longtime local television partner Bally Sport Midwest. Channel 32 is owned by Gray Media, as is longstanding St. Louis CBS affiliate KMOV (Channel 4). Then on Saturday, the Blues鈥 victory parade is scheduled to be streamed on the app of KSDK (Channel 5) at 6 p.m. 鈥 five years to the day the raucous celebration unfurled downtown.
Is that a harbinger of where their games, at least a good chunk of them, eventually could end up?
BSM parent company Diamond Sports Group has been mired in a bankruptcy case for more than a year that involves MLB and NBA teams as well as the NHL. The next hearing is scheduled for July 29 鈥 only about 2陆 months before the hockey season starts. The Blues as well as the Cardinals remain under contract for BSM to continue showing their local package for years to come, but that could be impacted by developments in bankruptcy court.
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Bally seems intent on honoring its Cardinals deal through the rest of the season, so any potential change for them likely would not take place until next spring. But the hockey team could be more immediately impacted, and Blues CEO Chris Zimmerman said the club is closely following the situation.
鈥淲ith us, the Cardinals and nine other NHL teams, the answer is an ongoing monitoring of Diamond Sports鈥 work with the bankruptcy court,鈥 he told Matthew DeFranks, the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 beat writer covering the team. 鈥... One of the greatest challenges throughout this process is uncertainty about what鈥檚 next and the timelines.鈥
Channel 32, which showed the Blues anniversary coverage, has been available over the air (on 鈥渇ree TV鈥) only since last week and also is carried by Spectrum (Charter) cable鈥檚 Channel 186. It shows reruns of shows such as 鈥淟aw & Order,鈥 鈥淐hicago Fire鈥 and 鈥淒ateline,鈥 and previously had been on the digital 4.2 channel, which now is devoted to weather coverage.
Zimmerman said the club is working 鈥渢o keep building and evaluating new broadcast partners,鈥 and added that Gray and KSDK 鈥渉ave been important partners in different programs.
鈥淨uite honestly, we鈥檝e done some interesting things with KSDK, particularly during the Cup year when NBC was still the national broadcaster. I would tell you that both of those entities have been important partners in different programs.鈥
One local television executive told the Post-Dispatch this week that the Blues 鈥渉ave snuggled up鈥 to the Gray operation, which runs a weekly in-season program devoted to the team on KMOV and Zimmerman called 鈥渁n important ongoing partner.鈥
JD Sosnoff, general manager of Gray鈥檚 local endeavors, said he can鈥檛 speak about pursuing the Blues now because they remain under contract with Diamond. But when asked if Channel 32 would be interested the next time the Blues鈥 and Cardinals鈥 TV rights are in play, he firmly said, 鈥淵es sir.
鈥淎ny time a St. Louis major league sports organization is available, we鈥檇 have an interest in it if the opportunity was there. But it鈥檚 not now.鈥
If the bankruptcy court that is presiding over the Bally/Diamond case makes Blues rights available this summer, that would leave little turnaround time for any new TV partner before the hockey season opens.
鈥淚t would be a heavy lift,鈥 Sosnoff said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot to put together in a very short amount of time. But we鈥檇 do everything we could within reason.鈥
Viewership reach
If Gray ever would get a local team鈥檚 TV rights in the current TV environment, Sosnoff said the vast majority 鈥 if not all 鈥 the games would be on Channel 32. That鈥檚 because the legacy station, KMOV, has CBS network obligations that rarely can be preempted. It鈥檚 a similar situation that most, but not all, of the other major St. Louis network affiliates face. Although they do have ancillary channels, there is a varying degree of transmission strength and video quality as well as ability to bump shows.
Sosnoff said the MyTV pre-emption restrictions aren鈥檛 rigid.
鈥淲e have positioned ourselves as a great option if this ever becomes available,鈥 he said.
Sosnoff added that Channel 32 is available over the air throughout the region, anywhere that receives the KMOV signal, and people watching TV through an antenna might need to re-scan their device to access the new outlet. It is transmitted from the same tower as KMOV, and the move to Channel 32 from 4.2 might be more in status enhancement than in impact because 4.2 recently converted to high definition and also is widely available.
However, a big drawback with Channel 32 is that the only cable/satellite/streaming service that the station currently has a deal with is Spectrum (Charter), thus making it foreign to non-Spectrum customers who are outside the station鈥檚 over-the-air reach. But while the station is available throughout the region, the reality is that not many people likely are watching it 鈥 viewership-tracking company Nielsen says only about 15% of U.S. households receive over-the-air TV via antennas. So greater ancillary distribution would seem necessary.
鈥淚 would love to make that a reality,鈥 Sosnoff said of adding more ways to obtain Channel 32. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just starting, we鈥檝e only been on since last week and haven鈥檛 even promoted it yet. It鈥檚 too early to say.鈥
When local pro sports broadcast rights eventually become available, whether that be through bankruptcy or expiring contracts, there figures to be spirited competition for them.
鈥淚 think the future is likely going to be a model that could have multiple forms of distribution that would look different than just one carrier,鈥 Zimmerman said.
That could entail utilizing existing over-the-air outlets, streaming, cable and/or a mix of any of those entities. As an alternative, the Blues and Cardinals could form their own networks 鈥 or create one that has both.
鈥淩egardless of what happens, I think access to Cardinals games will get easier,鈥 Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III recently told Post-Dispatch business reporter Annika Merrilees. 鈥淚t won鈥檛 just be on two or three bundled cable products. I think you鈥檒l have an expanded array of options for getting our games in the future. I just don鈥檛 know exactly what those options will be. But I think from a fan鈥檚 standpoint, they鈥檙e going to be better off.鈥
KSDK general manager Alicia Elsner said the station 鈥渞emains interested in the possibilities to partner with the St. Louis Blues and the St. Louis Cardinals.鈥 Because of Channel 5鈥檚 NBC affiliation, that likely would have to be on an ancillary channel.
But KDNL (Channel 30) and its offshoots wouldn鈥檛 be in play, at least in the short term.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to have them,鈥 station general manager Tom Tipton said but added those outlets already have a bevy of programming that can鈥檛 be significantly bumped.
Back to Channel 11?
What about KPLR?
Channel 11 broadcast the Cardinals and Blues for many years but hasn鈥檛 done so in more than a decade and a half since both clubs embraced cable-exclusive plans, a model that now is obsolete. A big plus for KPLR in addition to its rich local sports legacy is that it wouldn鈥檛 need to utilize a secondary outlet if they鈥檇 return.
Kurt Krueger is general manager of that station, the local CW Network affiliate, as well as Fox network-aligned KTVI 鈥 both of which are owned by Nexstar Media Group. He said because Nexstar is the majority owner of CW Network, it would be easy to pre-empt its programming to clear the way for local sports teams.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to do over-the-air for the viewers,鈥 Krueger said. 鈥淣exstar has shown an appetite for sports.鈥
CW recently has added LIV golf, ACC football and basketball. NASCAR鈥檚 Xfinity Series arrives in 2025.
Standing pat?
All this very well could be getting well ahead of the situation because the Blues and Cardinals remain under contract with Diamond/Bally pending bankruptcy rulings.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been a good partner,鈥 Zimmerman said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown with them. We deliver consistent ratings with them. We鈥檝e got a strong audience. Quite honestly, we have a number of years of term left on our agreement. That鈥檚 the one side of, 鈥榃ell, they鈥檙e working to restructure their debt. Will they be able to do that?鈥 If they are able to do that, then there鈥檚 a going concern that they could continue to carry our games.
鈥淭here is a need, a clear need, to be developing new local broadcast distribution plans. We鈥檙e evaluating options and partners and business models in the event that Diamond isn鈥檛 able to continue and particularly in the event that they wouldn鈥檛 carry our games next year.鈥
FanDuel Sports Midwest?
If Diamond survives in bankruptcy court, fans in the region eventually could be watching games on FanDuel Sports Midwest.
Diamond said in bankruptcy court last week that it has 鈥渞eached an agreement in principle with a third party on rebranding鈥 its regional sports networks. While the name of that entity was not revealed, the Bloomberg news service reported that the deal is with sports betting behemoth FanDuel. Bally鈥檚 naming-rights deal with Diamond expires at the end of the baseball season.
Diamond previously struck an agreement with Amazon for an infusion of cash in exchange for streaming rights to some of its inventory and a minority stake in the company.