Hockey followers in the US might need seen that one thing sounded completely different throughout TNT’s broadcast of Sport 1 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues on Saturday. John Forslund and Jennifer Botterill known as that first-round playoff sport from a studio in Atlanta.
It wasn’t a primary for an NHL postseason sport on TNT or TBS. And it gained’t be the final. A Turner Sports activities supply briefed on the networks’ plans stated Wednesday that three extra first-round video games — Video games 3 and 4 between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers and Sport 4 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators — will function off-site broadcasters. A broadcast reporter can be at these video games, the supply stated.
Totally protecting a sport on-site — notably in smaller Canadian cities — requires a big monetary funding, together with the presence of a cellular manufacturing truck with technicians, plus the journey prices for on-air expertise. Turner Sports activities’ determination to not achieve this for some NHL playoff video games has garnered on-line criticism.
Although uncommon, this association has occurred earlier than. Most lately, some Turner Sports activities broadcasts of opening-round video games final postseason have been known as by a workforce from its Atlanta-based studios.
Then, as now, the supply stated, a mix of journey to Canadian cities and Turner Sports activities’ heavy spring schedule have been the first causes for the choice to go together with distant announce groups. All Turner Sports activities video games past the primary spherical are scheduled to be broadcast on-site.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns Turner Sports activities, has U.S.-based producers share duties for broadcasts of NHL, NBA and MLB video games. This month, TNT and TBS are airing opening-round video games for the NHL and NBA playoffs, along with a weekly MLB package deal. ESPN, the NHL’s different U.S. broadcaster associate, is totally on-site for all playoff video games. ESPN additionally broadcasts the NBA playoffs and a weekly MLB sport.
Announcers calling video games remotely is so lame, particularly within the freaking playoffs. Would fairly have TNT simply present the Sportsnet feed. Brutal.
— Zach Halverson (@ZachHalverson) April 19, 2025
I am sorry, however I discover it very offensive that TNT, who I believe is so significantly better high to backside than ESPN, could not ship Forslund and Botterill to Winnipeg. Distant broadcasts are so bush. Particularly within the playoffs. ESPN will not less than ship their announcers. Disgrace on you TNT.
— Michael Silvers (@msilvers1979) April 19, 2025
Turner Sports activities’ view, in response to the supply, is that, exterior of Toronto and Montreal, journey to some Canadian markets presents logistical challenges, particularly given the amount of different video games its networks broadcast for 3 North American leagues.
As a substitute of deploying a manufacturing truck and a full crew to Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa, the corporate has partnered with Canada’s Sportsnet to assign 10 to 12 Canadian-based technicians to ship a “world” video feed of those video games.
The world feed is just like what viewers usually see on TNT or TBS broadcasts, solely the announcers name the sport from Atlanta. What the announcers react to is occurring in actual time, and informal followers may not know they weren’t known as on-site if not for the published’s lack of ability to indicate the play-by-play and shade commentators throughout stops in motion.
The NHL, NBA, and MLB used world feeds in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic’s earliest journey restrictions. Nationwide and regional broadcasters known as video games from studios as an alternative of being on-site. NHL Community has performed the identical for some worldwide hockey broadcasts.
In March, Fox Sports activities took an analogous strategy for a season-opening sequence in Tokyo between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. The calls of these video games got here from the U.S., however the video feed was from Japan-based cellular manufacturing vans.
Turner Sports activities hasn’t taken this strategy with NBA playoff video games partially as a result of that league’s solely Canadian-based workforce, the Toronto Raptors, has not certified for the previous two postseasons.
Until the Oilers and/or Senators are swept of their opening-round sequence, any deciding sport slated for TNT or TBS is scheduled to have a full on-site crew and broadcasters. Additionally, Sport 3 in Montreal between the Canadiens and the Washington Capitals will air Friday on TNT, and broadcasters can be on-site.
(Photograph of Winnipeg’s Canada Life Centre: Cameron Bartlett / Getty Photographs)
