NCHC TV: The Conference Can Do Better

Saturday night, during the UND and DU game, UofHockeyblog tweeted out: 

"Credit where it’s due; these DU announcers are pretty funny." 

UofHockeyblog was referring to the Denver Pioneers radio play-by-play announcer. Jay Stickney is funny. In some cases, he goes over the line. A few years back, he compared Sioux fans to ISIS during the pre-game radio broadcast, which was also the UND and DU NCHC audio for their webcast. He didn’t care that NoDak Nation might hear his comments during the break. 

During their broadcast, they now mute the mics during breaks. Later in the game, DU radio voice Jay Stickney and his broadcast partner took a shot at UND graduate forward Hunter Johannes because he had attended three schools in three years. The play-by-play host referred to his choices as a “Bastion of Academy.” 

I imagine Lindenwood and American International College would also take issue with those comments. Also, Johannes couldn't transfer without penalty if he hadn't graduated, but why destroy a good argument. It was all in good fun, right?

Was that petty quip really necessary? It was unprofessional and unnecessary. We get it; both teams hate each other, and it’s a heated rivalry. 

I interviewed Hunter Johannes during the UND Hockey Media Day, and he’s an impressive young man. He’s positive and seems well-grounded. When I asked him about attending UND, his eyes lit up. 

"It's a tradition for my family," Johannes said during an interview on UND hockey media day. "My family was raised in North Dakota. My grandparents went to UND. My uncle went here. I have cousins that currently go here. Now I'm here. It's tradition, and it's family for me. When I came here, it felt like a home for me." 

Johannes, on his decision to come to North Dakota, "Honestly, it wasn't hard for me. This is where I've always wanted to go. So, when you don't get the chance right away, you work your ass off until you do, and that's just what I did." 

This is where Johannes wanted to be, and hard work paid off for him in the end. 

During a recent post-game press conference, Johannes was asked what he liked about playing at UND. 

“I wouldn't want to be in another arena,” Johannes said. “I wouldn’t want to be on another team. I wouldn't want to be next to another teammate. This place everything about is amazing. I love it here.”

I can't imagine a scenario where Midco Sports play-by-play and color hosts Alex Heinert and Jake Brandt would ever make those comments about an opposition player or their institutions. I’ve never heard them do that. 

The Midco hosts interview opposition players and give the other team props. Finally, I’ve never seen any of the NCHC schools conduct an interview of a player and accidentally show it again. I guess I'd expect more from one of the standard bearers in the NCHC. That’s a mistake a college television production might make, but probably not. Someone suggested bringing back the studio one. I know they did a better job than this. 

You would think if you’re going to produce a hockey broadcast that thousands of fans from the opposition schools listen to, you might not want to insult the players, fans, or other institutions. Maybe these players want to be here. Remember, not everyone in your audience is from the school you represent. 

 I know I’ve been hard on some of the member schools in our conference, but it’s year 11, and some of the schools are producing webcasts on NCHC.TV that aren’t up to standard. 

From an earlier post this week. I wrote about Ben Strinden checking at No. 3 in the NCHC Top-5 plays of the week. This was my rant about the quality of work that’s still showing up in year 11. This isn’t year one or two. True to form, in this week's NCHC Top 5 Plays of the Week, Miami University's goalie Logan Neaton's amazing save against Mercyhurst was in fifth place in the Top 5 Plays of the Week. It was hard to see to see his magnificent save because Miami’s highlight video was blurry. Miami University should be embarrassed for putting out this substandard product, but no one is going to hold them accountable.

Think about it. Many of us, including me, reupped our NCHC.TV subscription for $112.00. Is this video worthy of that price? Apparently, they didn't get the memo in Oxford, OH. I've talked about this subject extensively, and the webcast quality from some member schools hasn't improved in some instances. We didn’t have a play-by-play voice to start the second period, so I should’ve counted my blessings. 

I tweeted this out: 

Now, we don’t have any play by play. Which might not be a bad thing. Again, year 11 and we still haven’t figured it out. @TheNCHC

— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) December 3, 2023

Again, it's year 11, and we still haven’t figured it out. We still have blurry images, poor camera angles, no replays of opposition teams, only having one camera at center ice, standard definition instead of high definition. I could go on. You know that when CBS Sports Network does the broadcasts, the product will be awesome and well-produced. The next night, we went back to the same substandard webcast. Is it too much to ask to have a watchable webcast. NCHC hockey fans pay a lot of money to watch these webcasts, and one school has set the standard very high. None of the other schools in the NCHC have been able to meet these very high standards. 

Maybe the NCHC should contract Midco Sports to help them with webcasts. In August, the Summit League Conference made this announcement: 

"The Summit League is ecstatic to announce a new relationship with CBS Sports and an expanded partnership with Midco. This is a historic moment for the League, and these relationships will give fans a better experience to consume Summit League content, with more national exposure on CBS Sports Network and enhanced digital content through Midco," said Summit League Commissioner Josh Fenton. "In an ever-changing and complicated landscape of media rights, we believe the unique combination of CBS Sports and Midco helps the League and membership align with these established priorities." (Link to Release)

Midco Sports is top-notch and very professional. Yes, we're spoiled and lucky to have what we have in Grand Forks, ND. No one in the NCHC comes close to them. Is it fair to compare the other schools to UND? I think it is.

We are spoiled with @AHeinertMidco and @JakeBrandt30 and @TheREA media team. Was just watching the WMU Lindenwood game. It was the radio feed. Ooof.

— Zamboni (@zamboni81) December 3, 2023

As a major consumer of streaming services. I pay hundreds of dollars a year for streaming services: ESPN+ and NCHC.TV, Dirtvision, Flo Sports, AHL.TV, DirecTV. Just off the top of my head, I am also subscribed to other services not listed here. I can confidently say that outside two or three of these NCHC schools, none of them can compare to the productivity produced by Flo Sports and ESPN+. That’s unacceptable. 

 My question is, are fans just supposed to accept mediocrity while they’re paying a significant fee for this product? I am not the only one that is seeing this. I know, watching a lot of college football and basketball on ESPN+ haven’t seen any of these issues pop up.