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- After Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, CBC began showing occasional double-headers when Canadian teams visited Los Angeles to showcase the sport's most popular player. These games were often joined in progress, as the regular start time for Hockey Night in Canada was still 8 p.m. Eastern Time and the Kings home games began at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10:30 Eastern). Beginning in the 1995 season, weekly double-headers became permanent, with games starting at 7:30 Eastern and 7:30 Pacific, respectively. In 1998, the start times were moved ahead to 7 p.m. ET and PT. Until the 1990s, there was only one game televised on HNIC each Saturday night in any particular locality and up to 1968, regular season games were still not broadcast in their entirety. In the 1950s, the HNIC telecast followed the lead of the radio broadcast by coming on the air at 9 p.m. ET, with the game typically being joined in progress either just prior to the start of or during the early portion of the second period. ESPN replaced SportsChannel America as the NHL's U.S. national rightsholder for the 1992–93 season. ESPN then entered into a time-buy agreement with ABC from the 1992–1993 season to the 1993–1994 season, allowing its sister broadcast network to air six regular season weekly regional telecasts and playoff games during the first three Sundays of the postseason. In 1994, Fox agreed to a contract for broadcast television rights, beginning with the 1994–95 season. Fox's deal was significant because it was the first time in at least 17 years that a broadcast network was willing to commit to a large number of regular season and playoff games, as well as selected games in the Stanley Cup Finals. ESPN continued to air games on cable, but Fox's agreement effectively ending ABC's time-buy deal. In 1999, the league signed new contracts with ABC and ESPN, ending Fox's tenure. (en)
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| rdfs:comment
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- After Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, CBC began showing occasional double-headers when Canadian teams visited Los Angeles to showcase the sport's most popular player. These games were often joined in progress, as the regular start time for Hockey Night in Canada was still 8 p.m. Eastern Time and the Kings home games began at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10:30 Eastern). Beginning in the 1995 season, weekly double-headers became permanent, with games starting at 7:30 Eastern and 7:30 Pacific, respectively. In 1998, the start times were moved ahead to 7 p.m. ET and PT. (en)
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