As with most other professional sports, ice hockey is broadcast both on radio and television.
History
The first dissemination of game scores via electronic means was done by telegraph, starting in the 1890s. In Montreal's Victoria Rink, telegraph lines were installed to send game descriptions to operators in Winnipeg for the 1896 Stanley Cup challenge between Montreal and Winnipeg.
On February 8, 1923 the first radio broadcast of an ice hockey game was made. Toronto Daily Star reporter Norman Albert described the third-period action of a game between Midland and North Toronto at Toronto's Arena Gardens. The radio station was CFCA, owned by the newspaper. The station also carried the first NHL radio broadcast on February 14, 1923, with the broadcast of the third-period of a game between the Toronto St. Patricks and the Ottawa Senators at the same arena.
The first complete hockey game carried over the radio was on February 22, 1923 on CJCG out of Winnipeg of a game between the Winnipeg Falcons and the Port Arthur Bearcats. The first complete broadcast of a professional game was made on March 14, 1923 on CKCK out of Regina, Saskatchewan and reported by Pete Parker. The game was not an NHL contest, but rather a Western Canada Hockey League featuring the Regina Capitals. The first hockey game televised in Canada was on October 11, 1952 of a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings, played at the Montreal Forum, a few weeks after television arrived in Canada. However, the 1952 Memorial Cup finals, taking place several months before the inauguration of TV broadcasting in Canada, were televised on a closed-circuit basis to CBC Television's offices, using equipment leased from NBC in New York. Foster Hewitt was play-by-play commentator for the test run, so network and ad executives could see how well hockey could be televised.
As in other sports, television has had a major effect on hockey. The infusion of money has made the major leagues far more professional with vastly higher salaries for players. It has also changed the game as NHL rules now mandate three commercial breaks per period, giving players time to recuperate and allowing the better players to be on the ice longer. However, it also lengthens and slows the games considerably.
Games today are also broadcast over the Internet. The NHL website allows fans to listen to online broadcasts of every NHL game.
Asia
Yes TV's All Sports Network signed a multi-year deal with the NHL to broadcast over 130 regular season games, beginning in the 2008–09 NHL season to broadcast NHL All-Star games, Stanley Cup playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals, as well as NHL highlight programs.
Canada
In Canada, NHL hockey is broadcast every Saturday night on CBC's longest-running television show, Hockey Night in Canada. During the week, other games are shown on cable channels TSN and RDS. Various local channels carry other games as well. During the NHL playoffs, CBC carries four of the Conference Quarterfinals (first, second, fourth, and sixth choice), two of the Conference semi-finals (first and third choice), all games of one conference final and games 4-7 of the other (or all games if involving a Canadian team). TSN gets the remainder.
CBC also carries many international tournaments, such as the World Cup of Hockey. The Winter Olympics in 1998, 2002 and 2006 were on CBC, but the 2010 games were on CTV and RDS. Major games like those of the 1972 Summit Series or the 2002 Winter Olympics have received some of the highest ratings in Canadian television history. Other well-known tournaments, like the Spengler Cup or the Memorial Cup, are carried on Rogers Sportsnet. TSN and RDS carry all IIHF events, such as the World Junior Championships and World Championships.
Several Canadian Hockey League (CHL; the umbrella organization for Canada's junior hockey leagues) and American Hockey League (AHL) games are broadcast by local channels in Canada, as is the occasional university game.
Hockey Night in Canada, or HNIC, is by far CBC's most profitable show and supports many of the corporation's other ventures.