NHL Network (Canadian TV channel)

NHL Network

NHL Network logo
Country	Canada
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Programming
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Ownership
Owner	National Hockey League consortium (58%) Edmonton Oilers – 23.2% Calgary Flames – 23.2% National Hockey League – 11.6% CTV Specialty Television (21.42%) (Bell ESPN Inc.) Insight Sports (20.58%)[1]
Sister channels	NHL Network (United States)
History
Launched	October 4, 2001
Closed	September 1, 2015

NHL Network was a Canadian English language Category B specialty television channel broadcasting ice hockey programming. The channel's primary focus was on the National Hockey League (NHL), although it occasionally aired games from other leagues, such as minor league and international circuits, to fill its schedule.

The channel was owned by the NHL Network Inc., a venture consisting of the National Hockey League and two of its Canadian member franchises, CTV Specialty Television Inc. (a division of Bell Media and ESPN Inc.), and Insight Sports Ltd.^[1] The network's ownership structure, which gave the league only an 11.6% interest, was due in part to foreign ownership restrictions for Canadian broadcasters, which prevented the NHL (which, during the channel's existence, was owned by 30 member franchises, of which at least 23 were based in the United States) from exercising majority ownership directly.

The network's Canadian operations were managed by Bell-owned TSN, the now-former cable rightsholder of the NHL in Canada. Following Rogers Communications' acquisition of sole national media rights to the NHL in Canada, the Bell Media staff members who operated the network were laid off in July 2015, and NHL Network was shut down entirely on September 1, 2015.

The network's U.S. version was not affected by the shutdown; its operations were migrated to the Secaucus, New Jersey facilities of MLB Network as part of a wider partnership between the league and MLB Advanced Media.