MLSE Worried About TV Ratings for Leafs

[hfman]

MLSE should certainly be concerned and I think there are many reasons why the ratings are down:

-- The Rogers deal has destroyed a lot of goodwill. As someone alluded to, they have flooded the channels with hockey, so there is a much easier out than watching a poor Leafs team. They've also taken a 60-year old institution, took it out back and put it to pasture. No small tweaks, no gradual changes -- just one big overhaul that's driven a lot of fans away. Now, fans are left with less Coaches Corner, Ron MacLean in exile, no After Hours, a new host who is out of place, a new crappy theme song, no montages, a bunch of bozos that qualify as insiders/talking heads. Fans aren't happy with that.

Awesome post. HNIC will be a thing of the past in 3 years. It'll be Rogers Saturday Night Hockey.

The best part about it is that the fans who aren't watching aren't PURPOSELY not watching, they've just become indifferent and are naturally losing interest because the entire Saturday night broadcasts are suffering. These fans aren't saying "to hell with them, I'm not going to watch it", they just aren't watching it because they're not interested in it anymore. They're forgetting that there's even a hockey game on. Their minds are elsewhere now. At least it's how it is for me, and that's worse for them. Rogers lost their grip on these fans and it's because they came in and flipped the whole Saturday night tradition in one night. Bad, bad move.

Oh well, only 11 more years to go of this crap and then hopefully they aren't awarded the next TV deal. If it's TSN, bring back HNIC and restore this country's hockey heritage. Words can't describe how they've utterly and sensationally f-ed up this whole thing, but they're probably proud of it because they're "Rogers" so they can swoop in and do what the hell they want for the sake of flexing their muscles, right? It's what they do. And it's why very few customers in this entire country respect this company. It'll show in due time, just wait for it.

 

[glue]

Games are getting harder and harder to watch...considering cancelling my cable, since Leafs hockey is the only thing I watch on tv these days, what's the point anymore?

You will certainly save a ton of money..i would have probably done it by now...but there are too many shows my Wife watches on channels not part of the regular package (eg. Slice - man i hate housewives or whatever those damn shows are)..so i'm stuck

 

[jboknows]

This is the first time in 25-years I couldn't care less if a Leafs game was on. I still love the team, but am just not interested in watching right now. Even if they win their next ten games, this season is going to be a write-off for me.

It has been such a **** season of hockey watching from top-to-bottom. The broadcasts, the team, the disgusting effort... everything.

I've been watching a lot of other teams recently, and it's awesome to watch a good, competitive, skilled, game.

 

[jboknows]

Awesome post. HNIC will be a thing of the past in 3 years. It'll be Rogers Saturday Night Hockey.

The best part about it is that the fans who aren't watching aren't PURPOSELY not watching, they've just become indifferent and are naturally losing interest because the entire Saturday night broadcasts are suffering. These fans aren't saying "to hell with them, I'm not going to watch it", they just aren't watching it because they're not interested in it anymore. They're forgetting that there's even a hockey game on. Their minds are elsewhere now. At least it's how it is for me, and that's worse for them. Rogers lost their grip on these fans and it's because they came in and flipped the whole Saturday night tradition in one night. Bad, bad move.

Oh well, only 11 more years to go of this crap and then hopefully they aren't awarded the next TV deal. If it's TSN, bring back HNIC and restore this country's hockey heritage. Words can't describe how they've utterly and sensationally f-ed up this whole thing, but they're probably proud of it because they're "Rogers" so they can swoop in and do what the hell they want for the sake of flexing their muscles, right? It's what they do. And it's why very few customers in this entire country respect this company. It'll show in due time, just wait for it.

That sums me up 100%.

 

[Simcoe23]

The generation that grew up with HNIC and the 67 Leafs and even the late 70's Leafs and maybe even the early 90's Leafs- all of those people are moving on. They are being replaced with generations that are not automatically tied to local rooting interests- they have Crosby jerseys, they consume media in ways the people cutting the cheques dont understand.

I'm 44 years old and my problem is I still actually care. Because of that, I will watch, I will read and I will pay attention. Im a dying breed getting replaced by people who would rather watch the Raptors, watch the UFC card- hell, 50% of the time I would rather do those things as well (and I do) and thats a huge problem for MLSE.

Fantasy sports is also responsible for ruining local rooting interests IMO. The way you watch sports after you are involved in fantasy leagues changes big time, which allows you to develop a liking for players on other teams. You automatically broaden your entertainment horizons.

I liken them kind of to the Knicks of the NBA now. There are Knick fans (old ones, like Spike Lee) but the kids dont care about the Knicks- and the kids largely dont care about the Leafs either.

 

[paulhiggins]

I always found when buying things that if you do not like the seller the item will always leave a bit of a sour taste in your mouth for as long as you own it. I get that same feeling with anything Rogers. Like buying a used car from a shady used car saleman or a hotdog and fries from a pedophile. I think they are oblivous about how tarnished a reputation they have with the public. I will do everything I can to avoid their product.

 

[thewave]

The generation that grew up with HNIC and the 67 Leafs and even the late 70's Leafs and maybe even the early 90's Leafs- all of those people are moving on. They are being replaced with generations that are not automatically tied to local rooting interests- they have Crosby jerseys, they consume media in ways the people cutting the cheques dont understand.

I'm 44 years old and my problem is I still actually care. Because of that, I will watch, I will read and I will pay attention. Im a dying breed getting replaced by people who would rather watch the Raptors, watch the UFC card- hell, 50% of the time I would rather do those things as well (and I do) and thats a huge problem for MLSE.

Fantasy sports is also responsible for ruining local rooting interests IMO. The way you watch sports after you are involved in fantasy leagues changes big time, which allows you to develop a liking for players on other teams. You automatically broaden your entertainment horizons.

I liken them kind of to the Knicks of the NBA now. There are Knick fans (old ones, like Spike Lee) but the kids dont care about the Knicks- and the kids largely dont care about the Leafs either.

Agree and posted something very similar. The leafs are at risk of losing a high % of an entire generation of fans to the very things you outlined.

After Stavros sold we were left with owners more consumed with milking the cow than anything else. They should have considered breeding more cows I'd say.

 

[Pilky01]

Stories like this always warm my heart. It is so nice to see both Rogers and MLSE doing poorly.

I am a life long Leaf fan, but I can't watch this team. If any other game is on (and I am talking NHL, CHL, NCAA, just about anything!) I will watch that over the Leafs. I am not a masochist.

 

[Budsfan]

Who are Leafs target market?

Are they the ones looking for a free stream to watch the Leafs supporting the full draft rebuild

or

The investors, sponsors, luxury box owners, advertisers etc etc that spend 100's of thousands annually on the Leafs?

If you were MLSE who would you cater to?

Hint: MLSE being concerned about poor TV ratings is directed to one group above.

I agree and it's all about greed but this isn't new to hockey, or the Leafs in particular and most sports are the same way but when you add the factors I stated earlier, Bettman will put as many teams as he can, into the US market but we and in particular the Leafs are paying the freight, a lot of these locations are not hockey friendly, with all the other sports prefered like NFL, MLB, NBA and with high ticket prices and TV advertising, Toronto is the revenue generator and the hockey market's main component and contributor.

This is not strictly MLSE's problem but the entire league and when they say the Cap will not rise very much because of the Canadian dollar, you have got to know where most of the league's monies, are coming from, if hockey revenue is down in the hot bed of hockey, (Southern Ontario) it could cause chaos across the League.

 

[Leaf Warrior]

I believe they Fired Carlyle to start the tank early this year and Horachek was told from his peers to kill the offence.

If I am right, Horachek will still have a job next year, just not as head coach but somewhere in the organization with a nice paycheck.
The Tank is on and its real!

 

[thewave]

Stories like this always warm my heart. It is so nice to see both Rogers and MLSE doing poorly.

I am a life long Leaf fan, but I can't watch this team. If any other game is on (and I am talking NHL, CHL, NCAA, just about anything!) I will watch that over the Leafs. I am not a masochist.

Haha I like you. I agree and take in a lot of hockey but this Leafs stuff is wearing thin. It's really worn out if I wasn't a rabid OCD hockey fan.

 

[buttman*]

I'd take Buffalo ownership anyway over Rogers/Bell. Terry and Kim Pegula are the main reasons why there is a new rink in Buffalo and the downtown area is cleaned up and prospering.

Buffalo won't be a laughing stock for very much longer with Tim Murray and Ted Nolan running the show. They are due for another great pick also.

MLSE is a joke. They are a corporation and don't mind producing a losing product as long as it keeps making money.

The problem for the last 47 years has solely been about ownership, from Ballard to the corporations that have owned the leafs and currently own the leafs. The only way to produce a winner in Toronto is with private ownership....but who has that kind of money? If you want MLSE, be prepared to cough up in the neighbourhood of 1.5 to 1.7 billion dollars.

I am glad viewership is down. Its not just about having a crap channel and crap coverage, its more about having a crap team with management that don't have a clue what they are doing.

Nonis (the contract idiot) is totally out of his league right now and giving away picks and crap trades like Gunnarson makes him one of the worst if not the worst in the league and the fact that Shanny hasn't canned him yet, shows Shanny can't see the forest through the trees.

Shanny has nearly a year now, if he doesn't do something by TDL, then he has to go too.

I'd like to see the banners in the air Canada place calling for Nonis's and Shanny's head. Then perhaps Shanny would drop the axe to save his own neck.

New rink came before the current owners. Although they are building a training centre,

 

[Pocket Hercules]

I believe they Fired Carlyle to start the tank early this year and Horachek was told from his peers to kill the offence.

If I am right, Horachek will still have a job next year, just not as head coach but somewhere in the organization with a nice paycheck.
The Tank is on and its real!

I really hope that this is the thought process behind the scenes, but I doubt it.

 

[AINEC*]

Honestly why would anyone waste their Saturdays watching this? My watching now comes in the form of background noise. I have the TV on while I work on my laptop, and look up and smirk when the opposition scores.

 

[buttman*]

It's beyond that. I've had free tickets 3 times this year and have not even bothered.

The telecasts are terrible. George Stromnevershutsup is Not a hockey guy. He was great in his former role. Not this one. Never watch an intermission. Rarely watch the end of games. And will ditch the game for anything.

It's a morbid atmosphere and is going down, down, down.

 

[Budsfan]

The good thing is if we drop far enough and maybe pick 5th in the draft they will give us the the #1 draft spot in the Lottery and we will get McDavid.

They did it in the NBA with the Cavaliers, when they lost LBJ to the Heat and gave them the #1 pick, so why not with the Leafs.

Fans will get back on board and start spending money watching them again.

 

[pucky]

Gota say, I didn't even really care for Burke but this is dead on. He might have been a blow hard but at least he was a strong figure at the helm of the team, whether or not he made some of the wrong/right moves. He really had some serious passion and he put it on display for the entire city, which was a somewhat reassuring thing to see. He would also take the heat for his players, and wasn't scared to make a big move.

Remember how Burke didn't even want to hand out contracts above 5 years? Burke would have looked at what Clarkson was looking for and personally told him to go elsewhere (lets not even get started on Bolland).

Nonis is a shill compared to Burke.

LOL! They are two peas of a pod. Both have messed up the Leafs.

Burke was/is a foul mouthed buffoon. He failed to carry through on most of his blustery promises!

Where is John Tavares? Not with our Leafs!

Where is our pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence? Oh, right, that's Phil Kessel's game summed up to a tee!

I could go on, but, what's the point! Let's just say that Brian Burke did this franchise NO FAVOURS!

Exactly. Many Leaf fans have short memories.

Just look at the players the Leafs could have had and what Burke and Nonis did as GMs. Tavares, Stamkos, Seguin and more. These were easily players they could have drafted had they tanked and rebuilt the team properly plus without trading top picks away.

Awesome post. HNIC will be a thing of the past in 3 years. It'll be Rogers Saturday Night Hockey.

The best part about it is that the fans who aren't watching aren't PURPOSELY not watching, they've just become indifferent and are naturally losing interest because the entire Saturday night broadcasts are suffering. These fans aren't saying "to hell with them, I'm not going to watch it", they just aren't watching it because they're not interested in it anymore. They're forgetting that there's even a hockey game on. Their minds are elsewhere now. At least it's how it is for me, and that's worse for them. Rogers lost their grip on these fans and it's because they came in and flipped the whole Saturday night tradition in one night. Bad, bad move.

Oh well, only 11 more years to go of this crap and then hopefully they aren't awarded the next TV deal. If it's TSN, bring back HNIC and restore this country's hockey heritage. Words can't describe how they've utterly and sensationally f-ed up this whole thing, but they're probably proud of it because they're "Rogers" so they can swoop in and do what the hell they want for the sake of flexing their muscles, right? It's what they do. And it's why very few customers in this entire country respect this company. It'll show in due time, just wait for it.

Rogers has just made their hockey telecast into a marketing show. They're trying to *add* fans not cater to die-hard hockey fans. They took the latter for granted thinking they'll tune in no matter what. Strombo? Why the heck is he there? They don't care who is doing the commentary. Why is Hughson doing it, a Canucks die-hard fan? How many shows can they do about kids and you can tell the marketing is all over the place. There's no more tradition. They don't care about having hockey analysts. HNIC had guys like Brian McFarlane, Dick Irvin, Gary Dornhoefer etc. etc. Now, they are blowhards and the telecasts have gotten dull and more about marketing and hype.

 

[TheDeez91]

All I have to say about this is good. I am glad that MLSE and Rogers are suffering this year.

From the Leafs perspective I raise this valid point. What did you expect after icing a lacklustre hockey product for the better part of 50 years and an absolute joke of a product in the last 10 years? Leafs ownership needs to step in here. Where are the heads rolling? How is it that Randy Carlyle is the only person to have lost his job in all of this? Leafs fans are pissed! We want answers! We want accountability! HELL, WE WANT BLOOD! Do you honestly think that after 10 years of losing, and losing horribly I might add, that fans are going to stick around for the ride? Hell no! We know when it's time to jump out of the 18 wheeler before it ends up in an inferno at the bottom of the cliff. I don't know about other fans but my blood pressure goes through the roof when I watch a Leafs game, and I'm 24.

As for hockey ratings being down in general, again I have no sympathy for Rogers. They took a program which was a staple of Canadian life and turned it into E-Talk Canada: Hockey Edition. How in the hell is George Snuffleupegus the host of Hockey Night in Canada? The guy is a political talk show heavyweight and it's clearly not translating well in the hockey environment. I can't stand to listen to him! And don't even get me started with the play-by-play. I swear if I have to listen to Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson call one more Leafs game I'm going to die from boredom. I miss Joe Bowen and the ridiculous things he says and his knowledge of the history of the Leafs franchise. Watching Hockey Night in Canada now is almost akin to watching those horrible jackasses on NBC.

Rogers has ruined hockey broadcasts and the Leafs have ruined themselves. I for one haven't watched a Leafs game since the World Juniors started and I probably won't watch any NHL hockey for the rest of this year.

 

[hfman]

The good thing is if we drop far enough and maybe pick 5th in the draft they will give us the the #1 draft spot in the Lottery and we will get McDavid.

They did it in the NBA with the Cavaliers, when they lost LBJ to the Heat and gave them the #1 pick, so why not with the Leafs.

Fans will get back on board and start spending money watching them again.

not gonna happen. by hook or by crook, the leafs will never aquire these types of players. they haven't in aquired these types in decades, so why would it start now. the mediocrity train is in full motion and can't be stopped


climb aboard

 

[Pi]

Sportsnet - 19 Games
HNIC - 13 Games
TSN - 15 Games
City - 2 Games


A lot of people crapping on Sportsnet's coverage, but is 4 games really the difference that most people are turning away?

Or could the major reason be that the team isn't good and the average fan doesn't want to tune in to watch this tire fire.

HNiC is the same as Sportsnet is the same as City. There is no difference besides adding a senile Don Cherry to the mix and adding Hometown Hockey BS.

So it's 34 games games vs. 15 games. Big difference.

 

[KuleminFan41]

Maybe build a winner, just a thought

 

[PureTruculence]

It used to be if the Leafs were losing they would at least go down swinging and hitting...

Now if they lose they seem like they just accept it with open arms. Very pathetic brand of hockey to watch and this doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

[Budsfan]

not gonna happen. by hook or by crook, the leafs will never aquire these types of players. they haven't in aquired these types in decades, so why would it start now. the mediocrity train is in full motion and can't be stopped


climb aboard

If the league depends on the money generated in Toronto, they will move Heaven and Earth to make sure it contiues and McDavid will be a Leaf, remember Pittsburgh was in big trouble but then got Crosby.

 

[stish]

I haven't watched intermission Snet more than a handful of times this year. Just unbearable analysis.

Same here. PVR the game, never watch the pregame, or the intermission, especially the SNET and CBC crew. And if Hughson's on I generally watch the other team's feed on "the service that can't be named". Lately I've been fastforwarding through the games, watching the score in the corner of the screen never get better. I don't ever remember feeling this way about the team. I probably will watch very few games the rest of the way.

 

[Steve]

agreed 100 percent.

hope the ratings fall even further.

I agree too. Sportsnet is painful. I PVR the games now b/c I can't be bothered listening to the overly produced crap they do. I will happily watch on TSN.

That being said, I have missed about 2 games this year and I'm not overly concerned to watch many more. I haven't missed a game, prior to those 2, in about 15 years.

This management/ownership is painful. The HAVE to rebuild and the fans are giving them the green light. Only the Maple Leafs will screw this up with a bandaid fix and another decade of mediocre hockey.