Seattle Kraken Officially Launch Kraken Hockey Network, Promise Biggest Regional Production in the NHL' Broadcasts will feature 13 operated cameras, including five robos, plus advanced stats and a custom graphics package By Jason Dachman Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - 3:26 pm
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After the team announced its departure from ROOT Sports in April along with new multi-year agreements with TEGNA and Prime Video, the Seattle Kraken officially introduced Kraken Hockey Network (KHN) on Monday. Beginning this season, the Seattle Kraken will fully produce every non-national game for distribution on KING 5, KONG and select TEGNA, Gray, Cox and Morgan Murphy TV stations, and via streaming on Prime Video. Games are available for free over-the-air, covering 96% of households across Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, with additional distribution through existing cable and streaming services.
KHN Aims to Be the Biggest Regional Production in the NHL' According to the Seattle Kraken's Bob Condor, KHN games will be the biggest regional production in the NHL will feature 13 operated cameras, including five robotic cameras for multiple looks on every key play of the game, as well as a new advanced stats graphic system and a custom graphics package. The robos for every home game will feature ice-level views of faceoffs, corner scrums, save and let's-see-that-again shots on goal.
Condor also says there are plans for in-game interviews with the team's new coach Dan Bylsma via headset during the preseason, and fans will hear from assistant coaches Dave Lowry, Jessica Campbell and Bob Woods on-air at intermission and/or end of game for select regular season games. There will be more behind-the-scenes access, as well as a new studio, pre-game shows, intermission features and post-game analysis that dive deeper into the storylines about the players, coaches and Kraken personalities. Interviews with Kraken players during warmups, intermissions and end-of-games will also continue to be a part of the team's broadcasts.
Director Patrick Brown and Producer/VP of Broadcast Ryan Schaber will be at the front bench for game productions after putting on Kraken games for ROOT Sports during the first three seasons of the franchise.
For a deeper look at how Brown, Schaber, the rest of the production crew have planned for this season, as well as how they were able to build out the Kraken Hockey Network from scratch after the team's departure from ROOT Sports last season, CLICK HERE.
Image credit: Seattle Kraken (NHL.com/Kraken)
Seventy Two Games Split Across Prime Video, OTA Stations This season Kraken Hockey Network will produce and broadcast 72 non-nationally exclusive Kraken preseason and regular season games plus the first round of the playoffs, including pre- and post-game shows.
Prime Video will stream all non-nationally televised games for Prime members in Washington, Oregon and Alaska, which will include pre-season, regular season and the first round of playoffs. The Kraken are the first NHL team to partner directly with the streamer.
In addition, the games will be carried over-the-air in the Seattle region on TEGNA's KONG, with at least 15 games simulcast on TEGNA's NBC affiliate, KING 5. Fans outside of Seattle will see the games on TEGNA stations KREM-KSKN, the CBS affiliate in Spokane, Wash.; KAPP-KVEW, the ABC affiliate in Yakima and Tri-Cities, Wash.; KGW, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Ore.; KEVU & KLSR, the MyNet affiliates in Eugene, Ore.; and Gray Media's KAUU in Anchorage, Ala. & KYEX in Juneau, Ala.
KING 5 will also air a new, weekly 30-minute Kraken magazine show featuring host Paul Silvi. The show will feature deep storylines and exclusive interviews with Kraken players, management and coaches.
Fans can also tune into Kraken games on the iHeart Kraken Audio Network on 99.3 KJR, with hosts Everett Fitzhugh and Al Kinisky, plus pre- and post-game coverage with Mike Benton.
Linda Cohn, Ian Furness Join On-Air Talent Roster In addition to the team's existing broadcast talent in the NHL, the Seattle Kraken welcome Hall of Fame sportscaster Linda Cohn, and the voice of Pacific Northwest sports and hockey, Ian Furness to the broadcasts as KHN hosts.
Linda Cohn will host approximately 15 marquee KHN games on KING 5 this season. She began her sportscasting career in 1981 and spent 1989-1992 in Seattle as a local sports anchor and reporter, before moving to ESPN where she still works today as the longest-tenured SportsCenter anchor. In early 2016 was recognized for her 5,000th SportsCenter, the most of any anchor in ESPN history. She also brings with her deep roots in hockey, having served as a goalie for her high school boys' team and college women's team. Cohn currently hosts the 10 p.m. PT edition of SportsCenter that originates from Los Angeles.
Besides the fact that the Kraken are an amazing organization and there's so much promise with this team, it's personal for me to be back in Seattle, says Cohn. It's a city that I'll always love forever because it's a family connection. It's just very personal and I'm thrilled for this opportunity.
Ian Furness will host most KHN games and contribute to every broadcast. Furness is the long-time host of the Ian Furness Show on the Kraken's radio partner, 99.3 KJR. He also has deep roots and a passion for hockey, having been involved in the game for most of his career, including serving as play-by-play lead for the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds and Tri-City Americans, and the Utah Grizzlies (AHL/IHL).
Hockey has always been a passion and big part of my life, in part because of the influence of my grandfather who played, said Furness. My father was a TV news anchor, and my mom was a competitive figure skater from Saskatche
