Milbury joins Hockey Night team

by WILLIAM HOUSTON
Globe & Mail
whouston@globeandmail.com
July 22, 2008

Signing analyst Mike Milbury to a multiyear contract rates as Hockey Night in Canada's most important acquisition in years.

The deal - two years plus an option - was announced yesterday after Milbury failed to reach a contract extension with TSN.

In just one NHL season with TSN (and also NBC), Milbury has developed into a top studio analyst, largely by mixing humour with hard-hitting commentary.

"I think it's a huge acquisition," Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said. "If he's not the best, he's one of the top two or three [studio analysts] in the business."

When the 2008-09 NHL season gets under way, Milbury will appear on the Hockey Night pregame show and in the second intermission as part of the Hotstove panel. As well, he will write a weekly column for CBCSports.ca and do spots on the Hockey Night satellite radio show.

Sherali Najak, executive producer of Hockey Night, described Milbury - a former NHL player, head coach and general manager - as a star.

"He made a big impact in just one year," Najak said.

Asked if TSN should be upset over losing Milbury, Najak said: "We gave them something during the summer as well."

He was referring to CTV-TSN grabbing the rights to the Hockey Night theme song after talks between CBC and the song's writer failed. Moore denied the CBC's signing Milbury was payback.

Milbury, who lives in Boston, said he opted for Hockey Night because his TV workload will be limited to one night a week (Saturday). The money offered by each network was about the same, upward of $300,000 a year, but at TSN, he would have been required to work three or four nights a week.

"If I were living in Toronto it would be one thing," Milbury said. "But to be up there for 55 to 60 games, it would be a lot to be away from my family."

TSN president Phil King said there were no hard feelings.

"We enjoyed Mike's seven months with us and wish him all the best," he said.

Milbury is the second big hockey name to leave TSN in a little more than a month. In mid-June, analyst Glenn Healy left the network to take a job with the National Hockey League Players' Association.

Still, the network's studio talent includes Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre McGuire, when he isn't in the broadcast booth. It's rumoured that Ray Ferraro, formerly with NBC and Rogers Sportsnet, will sign with TSN.

Najak was the impetus behind the Milbury signing, but it didn't hurt that Hockey Night's star commentator, Don Cherry, is a close friend of Milbury. Milbury played for the Boston Bruins when Cherry was coaching the team in the 1970s.

Milbury said he's excited about joining the show.

"There's nothing bigger than Hockey Night when it comes to doing hockey games," he said. "It's been around forever, it's been a caretaker for the hockey and part of its history. So it is a good place to be."

Milbury probably has an escape clause that would allow him to accept an NHL job if it becomes available.

In May, he applied for the vacant head coaching position with the San Jose Sharks. The job went to Detroit Red Wings assistant Todd McLellan.

Milbury will continue to work for NBC. When there's a conflict, he will appear on Hockey Night by remote.

Beijing ad sales

NBC reports it has sold 90 per cent of its 2008 Beijing Olympics advertising and is on target to set a Games-revenue record of more than $1-billion (U.S.).

The CBC has not sold 90 per cent of its ad inventory, but Moore says the Canadian network is close to reaching its sales target.

"We're actually in a better position than many world broadcasters, mainly because [the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games] sponsors want to start their Olympic campaigns with us," he said. "As a percentage of target, we're well above 90 per cent."

Will the 2008 Games make money for the network? "I wouldn't comment on that," Moore said.

Shark attack

Paul Azinger's commentary on Greg Norman's horrible final round of the British Open last weekend was entirely appropriate. The ABC golf analyst attacked Norman's decision to play aggressively, calling his use of a driver in the windy conditions "really mind-boggling."

It was assumed Norman would save ABC from a ratings decline, given the absence of major U.S. stars in contention, but it didn't happen. ABC's overnight rating (percentage of potential U.S. households tuned in) was 3.5, down 14.6 per cent from 2007.