CBC & NHL To Make A Major Sports Announcement

[19nazzy]

Does this mean six more years of Bob Cole fracturing players names on air? Nothing personal and all due respect to Cole but he needs to retire.

It's being suggested that there is going to be a lot of cosmetic/personnel changes to HNIC over the next couple of years. Which is loooooooooooooooooooong overdue IMO.

 

[Resolute]

Didn't the currency equalization money come out of the pool of NHL league revenue, rather than individual NHL team revenue?

Where do you think that revenue comes from?

The NHL gets a much larger percentage of its league revenue from the Canadian market place than its 1/5th team share would suggest. In that sense NHL teams in the USA are subsidized by the Canadian market place.

Today, yes. When the loonie was at 63 cents? Not even close.

 

[taunting canadian]

How can the NHL dictate the CBC's broadcast schedule?

Maybe because the NHL holds all rights to all games, until they agree to sell them to someone? They can impose pretty much anything they want, as long as the rights purchaser is willing to agree to it. And if CBC doesn't agree, their broadcast schedule could end up consisting of 0 games...

 

[Platapie]

I think it does. HNIC will no longer get to show a Leafs game every Saturday night, yet they must still show a double header. This means that Ottawa and Montreal will get NATIONAL CBC games, even in Toronto.

I'll actually be very interested to see the ratings when that occurs. I suspect that Leaf nation drives a large portion of those ratings, but we'll finally have concrete evidence regardless.

The other question is, will the Leafs still be picked up nationally? I.E by say TSN. The CBC would have a legitimate gripe in letting the TSN broadcast a Leaf game nationally whilst they broadcast a Montreal/Ottawa one nationally. Though for the sake of verifying my assumptions, I'd enjoy it if they did.

 

[Dolemite]

It's being suggested that there is going to be a lot of cosmetic/personnel changes to HNIC over the next couple of years. Which is loooooooooooooooooooong overdue IMO.

Agreed. They really need some new blood in there.

If I had the power of god I'd put Scott Oake back on the investigative reporting segment they had a few years back. He brought some really great stories to light around the league.

 

[MAROONSRoad]

I'll actually be very interested to see the ratings when that occurs. I suspect that Leaf nation drives a large portion of those ratings, but we'll finally have concrete evidence regardless.

The other question is, will the Leafs still be picked up nationally? I.E by say TSN. The CBC would have a legitimate gripe in letting the TSN broadcast a Leaf game nationally whilst they broadcast a Montreal/Ottawa one nationally. Though for the sake of verifying my assumptions, I'd enjoy it if they did.

You'll likely see lower ratings in southern Ontario, especially if a Leafs game is on a regional broadcast at the same time. In the West and East the ratings might actually improve for a Saturday Habs game. The Habs, like the Leafs, have a national following that is starved for some English language programing...

As HNIC will have exclusive rights to national telecasts of NHL games on Saturday nights, my guess is you'll still see over 1 million viewers for the ET slot game regardless of the teams playing. That might be down from 1.3 million average for the Leafs, but still very respectable.

GHOST

 

[Moose Lips]

You'll likely see lower ratings in southern Ontario, especially if a Leafs game is on a regional broadcast at the same time. In the West and East the ratings might actually improve for a Saturday Habs game. The Habs, like the Leafs, have a national following that is starved for some English language programing...

As HNIC will have exclusive rights to national telecasts of NHL games on Saturday nights, my guess is you'll still see over 1 million viewers for the ET slot game regardless of the teams playing. That might be down from 1.3 million average for the Leafs, but still very respectable.

GHOST

Indeed.

Personally I don't mind watching Leaf games from time to time, but not every time. I normally will tune to the RDS feed of the Habs game, but I also am fluent enough with the french language, unlike many unfortunate people. So seeing more Habs and Sens games via HNIC would be most welcome as even most Sens games are blacked out through Sportsnet which is disappointing. And of course the possibility of watching Jets games on HNIC once a franchise returns to the city is promising....

I also couldn't see the ratings going down greatly, if at all. Certainly the southern Ontario market has a huge base but there will most definitely be a lot of Leafs games still televised and it will all even out nicely imo.

 

[19nazzy]

Agreed. They really need some new blood in there.

Well not even just that but their whole graphics need a revamp. They've been doing the same thing for so long, it's really time for something new.

If I had the power of god I'd put Scott Oake back on the investigative reporting segment they had a few years back. He brought some really great stories to light around the league.

If I had that power, I'd bring back Chris Cuthbert and have him and Hughson as the Play-By-Play men.

 

[Resolute]

I'll actually be very interested to see the ratings when that occurs. I suspect that Leaf nation drives a large portion of those ratings, but we'll finally have concrete evidence regardless.

The other question is, will the Leafs still be picked up nationally? I.E by say TSN. The CBC would have a legitimate gripe in letting the TSN broadcast a Leaf game nationally whilst they broadcast a Montreal/Ottawa one nationally. Though for the sake of verifying my assumptions, I'd enjoy it if they did.

Oh there is no doubt that the Leafs pull in the highest ratings. However, for a national broadcaster to limit itself to one region, and one region only for three hours every week at the expense of two others is quite frustrating for people that like to see other teams as well. Doubly so since 7-10ET on Saturday nights in winter is pretty much the only time slot where CBC cares about ratings.

 

[Platapie]

You'll likely see lower ratings in southern Ontario, especially if a Leafs game is on a regional broadcast at the same time. In the West and East the ratings might actually improve for a Saturday Habs game. The Habs, like the Leafs, have a national following that is starved for some English language programing...

As HNIC will have exclusive rights to national telecasts of NHL games on Saturday nights, my guess is you'll still see over 1 million viewers for the ET slot game regardless of the teams playing. That might be down from 1.3 million average for the Leafs, but still very respectable.

Ah, so there will be no national broadcasts to compete with it. It would have been interesting to see how a Leaf/X Ottawa/Montreal national broadcast fared.

Will be interesting to see if your estimate of a million is correct too. I'm not too informed about the specifics, but don't Montreal fans watch RDS, at least in Quebec? Do those numbers get rolled into CBC ratings?

If not, would it not be an issue in that much of the two largest provinces in Canada may not be tuning into CBC? Of course, Ottawa is in Canada too but I still presume their fan base is quite small when compared to the Habs/Leafs.

. However, for a national broadcaster to limit itself to one region, and one region only for three hours every week at the expense of two others is quite frustrating for people that like to see other teams as well. Doubly so since 7-10ET on Saturday nights in winter is pretty much the only time slot where CBC cares about ratings.

No doubt, nor do I wish to turn this into an argument for which is better than the other. Am just interested in seeing what kind of drop, if any, we will see.

 

[Admaker]

Will be interesting to see if your estimate of a million is correct too. I'm not too informed about the specifics, but don't Montreal fans watch RDS, at least in Quebec? Do those numbers get rolled into CBC ratings?

I will speak for many English or Bi-Lingual people who live in or outside of Quebec.

My first language is French although I'm very bilingual. I would much rather watch the Habs on CBC or TSN for that matter over RDS.

The english channels have much better commentators and overview of the actual games and of what is else is happening in the NHL.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

Awesome.

CBC PLUS NHL = Hockeydrenchedgoodness

 

[MAROONSRoad]

Also, the Canadian broadcast money is NOT distributed 100% evenly. Toronto airing 23 games would receive more money than say Vancouver with say 15. The reason being that the more games that air nationally on CBC, the less regional games the teams have to sell.

So there is a variance. X amount is divided equally among the 30 teams. But some money is dependent on what airs on CBC.

The same holds true for TSN. THe current TSN deal (year 4 of 5) allows TSN to air 2 (TWO) games per Canadian team nationally. TSN pays each team extra money for the additional games that air over the 2 included in their contract.

Again, it makes sense to me that teams would be compensated for loss of revenue from regional broadcasts in the case that a game was telecast nationally. However, it appears that at least the 'profits', perhaps after such compensation, are distributed equally to the 30 teams. According to a recent article in the Toronto Globe & Mail:


""The NBC-NHL television deal is a revenue-sharing agreement. No rights fee is involved. But is the league making money from the NBC telecasts? Bettman wouldn't comment, but Schanzer said both sides made a profit in 2005-06 from the telecasts and will again this season. "They [the NHL] should make money," he said. Bettman suggested revenue has increased this season. "I think it's at least as good. And with the playoffs not having started yet, it has the potential to be even better." Neither side would discuss specific figures, but Bettman noted that profit from TV is distributed equally among the 30 NHL clubs."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070328.TRUTH28/TPStory/TPSports/Television/

GHOST

 

[Trizent]

Well, as far as Canada goes, he is not 100% correct.

 

[clickdifford2]

Wait A Minute!

Why didn't CBC bid for French-language rights for its sister network Radio-Canada? I would like to see La Soiree Du Hockey return in some capacity over that network.

 

[Trizent]

Why didn't CBC bid for French-language rights for its sister network Radio-Canada? I would like to see La Soiree Du Hockey return in some capacity over that network.

They did and they didn't acquire the rights.

 

[Hackett]

It's being suggested that there is going to be a lot of cosmetic/personnel changes to HNIC over the next couple of years. Which is loooooooooooooooooooong overdue IMO.

this was a no brainer... the head hauncho for HNIC used to be the head hauncho for NHL on TSN in the early 90's. You knew that changes were coming.

And Jim Hughson was the primary play by play man for TSN in those days. He seems to have a much bigger role on CBC now. I wonder how much it will conflict with his Canuck broadcasts though.

Whose next on CBC? Bob McKenzie................ Gary Green

 

[Hoser]

I would like to see La Soirée Du Hockey return in some capacity over that network.

Me too. I loved to watch Soirée games instead of HNIC games, simply because it wasn't a Leafs game!

 

[GKJ]

I don't know about anyone here but I find Bob Cole's dry attempt at competence entertaining.

 

[Spungo*]

I'll actually be very interested to see the ratings when that occurs. I suspect that Leaf nation drives a large portion of those ratings, but we'll finally have concrete evidence regardless.

The other question is, will the Leafs still be picked up nationally? I.E by say TSN. The CBC would have a legitimate gripe in letting the TSN broadcast a Leaf game nationally whilst they broadcast a Montreal/Ottawa one nationally. Though for the sake of verifying my assumptions, I'd enjoy it if they did.

We have 20+ years of evidence. It's called television ratings. The Maple Leafs are a cash cow for CBC. The Sens in the finals was a ratings flop.

 

[SarcasmKills]

I was hoping Bell Globe Media would get the bid.

Count me as someone who completely disagrees with you...

Long live the CBC!

 

[Platapie]

We have 20+ years of evidence. It's called television ratings. The Maple Leafs are a cash cow for CBC. The Sens in the finals was a ratings flop.

I tend to agree-- but until we see it I do not wish to come off as arrogant on the matter, particularly when we will have very concrete evidence soon enough.

Nonetheless, I think it will be shown rather conclusively that, for the most part, showing the Leafs pretty much every week was done for good reason, ratings wise anyway. Then again, as someone else mentioned, comparing the Leafs to Montreal might be a far more interesting race.

 

[Free Edler]

We have 20+ years of evidence. It's called television ratings. The Maple Leafs are a cash cow for CBC. The Sens in the finals was a ratings flop.

How about outside of Toronto, the little place everyone else calls Canada, where the other, insignificant 26 million people in this country live. I'd like to see the CBC's data for ratings of Leaf games compared to regional ones in other Canadian markets.

 

[BAuldie]

We have 20+ years of evidence. It's called television ratings. The Maple Leafs are a cash cow for CBC. The Sens in the finals was a ratings flop.

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers finals runs tend to disagree.

 

[The Slap Shop]

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers finals runs tend to disagree.

They didn't piss it all away. They at least played hard.