Launched September 12, 2011 Country Canada Broadcast area National | Owned by TVA Group Language French | |
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) | ||
TVA Sports is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel. The channel is owned by the TVA Group, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other French-language sports channel in the country.
Contents
TVA Sports obtains much of its programming via sub-licensing and resource-sharing agreements with the English-language network Sportsnet and its owner Rogers Communications. As of the 2014-15 season, TVA Sports is the national French-language broadcaster of the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer in Canada (the latter including the league's expansion club, the Montreal Impact), and also carries coverage of the Canadian Hockey League, Toronto Blue Jays baseball, and other events.
History
The formation of TVA Sports was first announced at a press event in May 2011, where TVA announced its plans for the network, and some of its launch programming. TVA made numerous efforts to acquire content for the network in the years prior to the launch; including Quebecor's failed attempt to purchase a stake in the Montreal Canadiens, and the company's backing of a proposed National Hockey League expansion franchise in Quebec City—which included acquiring naming and management rights to a new arena in Quebec City built to potentially house a new or relocated NHL team.
On August 18, 2011, Rogers Media, owners of the English-language sports channel Sportsnet, announced that it would partner with TVA Sports to provide production resources, and sub-licensing of French-language rights to some of Sportsnet's event programming. Rogers had obtained CRTC approval for its own French-language sports network prior to the announcement.
The channel was launched on September 12, 2011 in both standard definition and high definition.
Concurrently with the announcement that TVA would obtain French-language rights to the NHL through Rogers' 12-year deal with the league, an multiplex channel known as TVA Sports 2 was announced. To alleviate scheduling conflicts during the early rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a temporary feed known as TVA Sports 3 was added.
Programming
Event programming aired by TVA Sports includes the Montreal Impact (24 games during the 2012 season), Toronto Blue Jays baseball (60 games during the 2012 season), the Canadian Hockey League, as well as Toronto Raptors basketball games, plus other NBA matches, including the playoffs and Finals. TVA Sports aired French-language coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi through a sub-licensing deal with Radio-Canada. In 2013, again in tandem with Sportsnet, TVA Sports acquired French-language rights to the IndyCar Series.
On January 10, 2017, TVA Sports acquired national French-language rights to Major League Soccer.
NHL coverage
On November 26, 2013, Rogers announced that it had reached a 12-year, $5.2 billion deal to become the exclusive national rightsholder for the National Hockey League, beginning in the 2014-15 season. Quebecor Media sub-licensed national French-language rights to the league for $110 million per season, making TVA Sports the official French-language broadcaster of the NHL. RDS retains regional rights to Montreal Canadiens games not broadcast by TVA Sports. Former Montreal Canadiens goalie José Theodore joined the network as an analyst.
NHL games occupy a significant portion of TVA Sports' programming during the season, with a particular emphasis on the Canadiens and other teams popular in Quebec, such as the Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Certain nights will feature themed selections of games, such as a viewers' choice game on Monday nights, rivalry games, and games focusing on star players. TVA Sports' flagship Saturday night broadcast, La super soirée LNH, will air 22 Montreal Canadiens games per season, along with a second game on TVA Sports 2. TVA Sports also airs the All-Star Game, Winter Classic, and Stanley Cup Playoffs. TVA Sports also airs "regional" telecasts of Toronto Maple Leafs, with Sébastien Goulet handling the play-by-play and former NHL left winger Simon Gagné handling the color analysis. 16 of these "regional" telecasts are only available in most of Ontario, which is the designated region of the Maple Leafs, while 10 of these "regional" telecasts are available nationally as part of TVA's national NHL French-language rights sublicensing.
Past programming
Prior to its full NHL rights package, TVA Sports carried a package of Ottawa Senators hockey games (25 games during the 2011-12 season). From its launch until 2015, TVA Sports carried French-language coverage of the UEFA Champions League and Ultimate Fighting Championship events. Rights to both have since been acquired by Bell Media and RDS.
Carriage
Major carriers which added TVA Sports on launch included national satellite provider Shaw Direct, and regional cable provider Vidéotron (which is also owned by Quebecor Media, TVA's parent company) A carriage deal with Bell TV for TVA Sports was announced on November 22, 2011, part of a deal that also included Bell TV carriage of Mlle, Yoopa, and Sun News Network (Bell TV dropped the latter channel the previous May in a carriage dispute with Quebecor). Optik TV added TVA Sports on September 15, 2014 and Bell's FibreOP TV added it on September 24, 2014.
Channels
As a Category C service, TVA Sports is permitted to operate multiple feeds.