Media companies are quietly eyeing hockey’s other big prize — Hockey Night in Canada.

The CBC has had a long-standing deal with the National Hockey League to air Saturday night games, but both Rogers and Bell are quietly positioning themselves to take a crack at those television rights, should they become available.

Rogers, which owns Sportsnet, has been slowly building its nationwide coverage. Bell already airs hockey games on its cable station TSN.

Rogers Media president Keith Pelley said it was way too premature to talk about bidding on Hockey Night in Canada.

“Beforehand we wouldn’t have been a candidate but as we grow in our distribution and we can take our programming across the country, the possibility now exists that we could be a candidate for Hockey Night in Canada,” Pelley said. “It would be a few years down the road.”

Speculation has been growing in part because the cash-strapped public broadcaster has been forced to cut employees and shed programming due to funding woes.

But the CBC insists it will fight to keep the Saturday night program it has had for six decades. HNIC draws almost 3 million viewers during the regular season.

With consistently high ratings, the broadcaster can earn big advertising dollars.

“It’s a priority,” said Jeffrey Orridge, CBC’s head of sports properties. “It provides free over-the-air access to a cultural institution that we believe is part of the fabric of Canadian society”

Media companies know that live sports draws a reliable and loyal viewership. It’s virtually not PVR-able so people will watch a hockey game and sit through the commercials, unlike other TV shows that are recorded and played later.

In 2007, when HNIC’s rights were last up for renewal — the price the CBC paid was not revealed, but some media reports suggested it ranged from $90 million to $100 million for the six-year contract, up $20 million from the previous deal.

Under its contract, the CBC will again get a first crack at renewal when the deal expires in 2014, and if terms cannot be agreed upon, the NHL could open up those television rights for bidding.

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Bell looks ready to put up a fight against CBC and Rogers.

“We would most likely take a look at it when the time comes, as we would look at any sports contract that becomes available and that could strengthen our business,” said Scott Henderson, Bell Media’s vice-president of communications.

Rogers has teamed up with BCE, the parent company of Bell and TSN, to buy a $1.32 billion stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Marlies and Toronto FC.

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Bob Stellick, a principal with Stellick Marketing and Communications, said all networks have a voracious appetite for hockey and that the NHL could divide up games differently.

“It could be reshaped,” he said, suggesting one-third of games go to one group and two-thirds to another. Stellick added that it would be in the NHL’s interest to have more groups in the mix to keep rates higher.

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