# How long has the NHL been televised?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [May 2, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061 "2010-05-02T20:11:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061/1 "2010-05-02T20:11:04Z")
I’m watching a documentary on the 1969 Stanley Cup on the NHL Network. The footage, for 1969, is horrible. It looks like some bootleg film made by a fan.
Was the NHL televised in 1969? Anyone know what the earliest complete game recording of an NHL game is?
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061/2 "2010-05-02T20:27:10Z")
The first broadcast game was in [1956](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Hockey_League_on_United_States_television)
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061/3 "2010-05-02T20:27:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Hockey Night in Canada began airing on Saturday nights on CBC Television in 1952,
> **[Hockey Night in Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey_Night_in_Canada)**
>
> Hockey Night in Canada (often abbreviated Hockey Night or HNiC) is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, it gained its current name as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) formed in 1936, and by that time had solidified its focus on the National Hockey League (NHL). Transitioning to television in 1952, the program became a Canadian Saturday night cultural fixture...
So, at least since 1952.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061/4 "2010-05-02T20:36:19Z")
Alright, 1952 in Canukistan. [Here’s the video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO-bVMevT4I&feature=related) :eek:
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### Author:  [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061/5 "2010-05-02T21:50:16Z")
The Wiki page for the history of the League on U.S. television is [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Hockey_League_on_United_States_television) CBS was the first American network to broadcast games, starting in 1956.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-the-nhl-been-televised/538061/6 "2010-05-04T10:57:40Z")
In the past they did not always keep complete game films, even for big games. So that copy might have been a team copy rather than one from TV.