There will be a lot more Buffalo Bills content coming to local airwaves soon with a new 10-year deal between Pegula Sports and Entertainment and the MSG channel. In the press release on Monday, the sides say they have agreed to expand the offerings currently available on the cable channel to include much more Bills content as well as the Buffalo Sabres content currently available.
“In addition to Buffalo Sabres hockey, MSG Western New York branded programming will include Buffalo Bills programming such as The Rex Ryan Show, Bills All Access and Bills Tonight and beginning in the fall, a live block of programming dedicated to the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills,” said the release.
As part of the new content, both Sabres Hockey Hotline and The John Murphy Show radio shows will be simulcast on WGR 550 radio as well as MSG Western New York on a daily basis. Hockey Hotline will remain at the 10 a.m. - 12 noon time slot and a new expanded John Murphy Show will get a new co-host and a new time, moving from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Members of PS&E and the Bills feel it will be easier to “get more players and coaches to guest on the program being aired live from studios at Ralph Wilson Stadium,” reported Alan Pergament of The Buffalo News.
According to Pergament, MSG Western New York will also be available in Rochester, guaranteeing a wide swath of potential viewers for the new content. The Bills have been without this type of television home despite being incredibly popular locally. TV shows associated with the team have been few and far between and on a variety of networks. This will consolidate all of the Pegula branded sports shows in one place. We reached out to our Sabres blog Die By The Blade, and Editor Andy Boron, for some information on what to expect.
“MSG has essentially functioned as a distributor only, so all the content on it will likely come from PS&E,” said Boron. “Some content from Sabres.com was broadcast on TV and some personalities work on both sides.”
This all makes sense based on the hiring PS&E has been doing recently adding television personalities from both in front of and behind the camera. While it will be great to see more content for those of us that live locally, you won’t get to see all of it on the team’s website, at least not anytime soon.
“We can at some point if we deem fit start a PSE Digital Network to give fans in and out of the area an opportunity to watch TV programs and original programs for digital,” said PS&E’s Marc Priesler, noting that wasn’t in the plans in the short term.
Nevertheless, it will be great to get more video content from the Bills, something that’s been sorely lacking for a long time.