It’s that time of year again, hockey season is back and as the regular season gets into full swing fans will have a new way to keep up with all the NHL games thanks to a new partnership between Roger’s Sportsnet and Twitter.
Airing Tuesday, October 9th, this will be the inaugural season of Sportsnet #IceSurfing, which will be a social media-based weekly live show on Twitter that gives real-time NHL game highlights, analysis and interactions between the audience and hosts.
“Social media is arguably the best tool for broadcasters for regularly connecting with fans before, during and after games,” head of sports for Twitter Canada, Christopher Doyle told ITBusiness.ca. “Its speed and interactivity really helps broadcasters achieve a two-way dialogue with audiences.”
He says Twitter Canada has been working closely with Canadian broadcasters such as Rogers Media to develop customized ways to bring their media to the ‘twitter-verse’, he believes Twitter’s “openness and ease of access” makes it the perfect tool to have real, authentic dialogue between broadcasters and their audiences.
Sportsnet first pilot-tested #IceSurfing in March with positive results, during the three hour live show it had 600,000 total viewers and on Twitter, became the number one trending topic in Canada on the evening that it aired, stated a June press release from Rogers.
Experience 9 @NHL games in a completely different way tonight as Sportsnet Ice Surfing goes down LIVE ON TWITTER from 7-10pmET.
Join the conversation and help drive the content by tweeting your thoughts and comments using #icesurfing.
Watch live at https://t.co/z9WYWOEVWu pic.twitter.com/uizCvHJjhp
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 22, 2018
With its first ‘episode’ airing Tuesday, the show will be hosted by Jeff Marek, Jason York and Steve Dangle and will stream weekly throughout the 2018-19 NHL regular season. There are six NHL games happening Tuesday night including Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets and #IceSurfing will jump between the games to show main highlights and plays in real-time, analysis from its hosts as well as special guests, live interviews and interaction with fans through the Twitter feed.
Sportsnet #IceSurfing on Twitter debuts on Oct. 9 with @JeffMarek, @jasonyork33 and @Steve_Dangle. https://t.co/bVXJ4NfR87
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 1, 2018
“We know that viewer habits are continuously evolving and this is one of the many ways we are adapting our content, and how it’s made available, to meet the demands of our audience,” stated Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet & NHL Properties in the release.
In the past Twitter has also partnered with CBC for its 2018 Winter Olympics coverage, and the PGA for live coverage of the PGA Tour.
