Hawkvision was a short-lived
subscription TV service founded by
Wirtz Corporation
Wirtz Corporation is an American holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1926 by Arthur Wirtz as a family-owned corporation to oversee his real estate holdings. The company shortly thereafter expanded into liquor dist ...
and
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...
owner
Bill Wirtz
William Wadsworth Wirtz (October 5, 1929 – September 26, 2007) was the chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of the family-owned Wirtz Corporation. He was best known as the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hoc ...
.
[
] The service broadcast Chicago Blackhawks games. It operated in conjunction with Chicago's
local version of SportsChannel
SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC.
Operating from March 1, ...
, and access cost
$29.95 per month.
Overview
In 1992, Wirtz, who had a reputation for stubbornness and frugality,
[
] ended all Blackhawks broadcast agreements with
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics ...
and
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
outlets. While vilified for this decision by many Blackhawks fans, he felt that broadcasting regular home games was unfair to the team's season-ticket holders.
Only Blackhawks games picked up by national broadcasters (which only happened when the Blackhawks made the playoffs) were shown on basic cable (complicated further by
SportsChannel America
SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC.
Operating from March 1, ...
having various issues with carriage).
Hawkvision only broadcast for a short time, ending after the season. However, regular Blackhawk home games did not resume airing on television until the season after Wirtz's death. His son
Rocky
''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...
took over the team's operations and agreed to allow
WGN-TV and
NBC Sports Chicago
NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports- ...
to carry those games.
Similar subscription TV services were utilized for the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
and
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...
by rightsholder
TSN from 2010 through 2014.
References
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{{Chicago TV
{{National Hockey League on national television
{{Chicago Blackhawks
{{NHL on SportsChannel America
{{U.S. premium television services
{{SportsChannel America
American subscription television services
Television stations in Chicago
Television channels and stations established in 1992
1992 establishments in Illinois
Television channels and stations disestablished in 1995
1995 disestablishments in Illinois
Defunct television networks in the United States
SportsChannel
National Hockey League on television