On sports media: TNT's studio show has been big winner at 4 Nations Face-Off
While ESPN's studio show falls flat, Liam McHugh, Paul Bissonnette and Anson Carter are three reasons why TNT is producing a much better product than its competitor.
There was some surprise in April 2021 when the NHL reached a seven-year agreement with Turner Sports on a $225 million deal to carry NHL games. That was approximately $75 million less than ESPN had agreed to pay the league about a month earlier to become its lead television partner.
The ESPN portion made sense. The NHL would provide programming for the various Disney-owned sports networks, including ABC and ESPN+, and ESPN already was in business with the NHL before losing the rights to Outdoor Life Network in 2005.
Turner, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, had been a long-time partner of the NBA, as well as Major League Baseball, but how would it fare with hockey?
The answer: Better than ESPN — especially in one key area.
ESPN and TNT are both in their fourth season of carrying the NHL and the thought that TNT provides a better product isn’t new. But the opinion has become stronger watching the networks’ coverage of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
TNT’s biggest advantage has been in the studio. The network carried three 4 Nations games, including a doubleheader on Monday, and gave each a big-game feel. TNT’s list of NHL panelists is long — and includes occasional appearances by Wayne Gretzky — but the most important players are host Liam McHugh and analysts Paul Bissonnette and Anson Carter.
McHugh, much like Ernie Johnson on TNT’s fabulous “Inside the NBA,” is the ringmaster who finds himself trying to rein in his analysts. Most often that’s Bissonnette, who is to TNT’s NHL show what Charles Barkley is to “Inside the NBA.”