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TORONTO — As a sign Rogers Media is banking on TV hockey to assure its future in the digital age, the Canadian broadcaster on Thursday promoted radio and TV topper Scott Moore to head up its Sportsnet service.
Moore was named president of Sportsnet & NHL after the cable sports channel in November outbid rival TSN for the broadcast rights to hockey for the next 12 years at a cost of US$5.2 billion ($4.8 billion).
The landmark deal, starting with the 2014-15 NHL season, now has Moore looking to leverage Rogers’ cable, phone and media assets to secure a profit as Sportsnet pays CAN$300 million (US$284 million) in the first year of the new TV deal, before costs rise to mid-CAN$500 million (US$474 milllion) in the final year of the contract term.
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“Scott’s vision, creativity, and ability to drive innovative production elements set him apart. With Scott at the helm, fans will experience sports like never before,” Rogers Media president Keith Pelley said Thursday in a statement.
Moore was most recently president of broadcast at Rogers Media, overseeing programming and production at the company’s TV and radio assets.
Before joining Rogers Media in 2010, Moore was head of CBC Sports, and even earlier served as vice president of then CTV Sportsnet from 1998 to 2003.
Parent Rogers Communications has invested heavily in Sportsnet to fend off competition from archrival TSN, which is owned and run by Bell Media.
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