The End of "Hockey Night in Canada"?

[DesertDogs19]

If TSN gets HNIC, Pierre can have his own little monster thing segment.

 

[Bobby Orr]

If TSN gets HNIC, Pierre can have his own little monster thing segment.

And in every segment, he shows Dion highlights.

 

[discostu]

Consider though the tradition of Hockey Night in Canada on the CBC, which has been a part of the Canadian experience ever since the first CBC radio broadcasts, and later the first TV broadcasts. While their current production of HNIC is far from perfect, with new management there is no reason why it couldn't improve drastically.
Only one man's opinion, but to me there is something appealing about the idea that my great grand kids generations from now would be able to switch their TV/Internet/Computer hybrid to Channel 2 and watch HNIC on a Saturday Night.

Some traditions are worth keeping.

What is the tradition we are trying to keep though? Is hockey on Saturday nights the tradtion, or is hockey on CBC the tradition? I think more people are attached to the tradition of watching a game on Saturday night than they are with the CBC. Is the medium really that much more important than the message. Would you be more upset if they changed HNIC to Friday nights, or would you be more upset if it was on another station?

Why does being on CBC make a difference? Are people attached to the personalities of those doing the broadcast? The people change over the years anyways, so, those are traditions which occur all the time? Is it the name, graphics and theme music? If so, if BGM manages to buy the rights to all of those things, would you have no objection to it?

Originally, HNIC on CBC had a purpose. It was an earlier era of television, before it became such big business. The CBC was the only way to make the NHL accessible to all Canadians. It was neccessary for it to have such a wide reach, so CBC, in their role of promoting Canadian culture, did their job.

Today though, with the current broadcasting landscape, pretty much anyone can watch any and every NHL game they choose in Canada without much cost. CBC broadcasts games on Saturday night for the whole country to see, but, BGM, through CTV can achieve the same thing. They are willing to pay a higher price to do it. If CBC matches, it means that their cash cow, might go down to being a break-even program, or even worse, a money loser. Is it worth it to have the CBC use government money, to put programming on the air that would have been on the air anyways. Their job is to promote Canadian culture, and Canadian programming. CTV winning that deal sees the same amount of "Canadian content" being aired across Canada on Saturday nights.

As for BGM, they are likely to make their product as close to the CBC version when they start off. Many people will be hesitant, and, I'm certain that they'll make offers to many of the personalities involved. Cherry and MacLean are certain to get offers. The question is, does Cherry use the transition as the reason to retire? I bet that they would throw a boatload of money his way to keep him for one or two more years though. I can't stand him, but, he brings with him a certain level of viewership, and that's all that matters.

 

[razorsedge]

This question may have came up already sometime in this thread, but i'm half snapped and don't feel like reading 5 pages worth of posts.

I enjoy the station CBC as a whole. I enjoy they're saturday night broadcasts because of the double header. I live in Edmonton so a good chuck of the seasons saturday night broadcast usually have the Oilers on.

The only thing that is tradition for watching hockey on Saturday nights is Ron Maclean and Don Cherry. I'm a big fan of both of them. So what I care about is, if CTV takes over, will Ron Maclean follow or join, say TSN? Will Don Cherry? I'm gonna assume that he will most likely retire in some form. Also will CTV be less discriminating, meaning, will they also shovel the Maple Leafs down everybody's throats?

 

[Oilslick941611]

This question may have came up already sometime in this thread, but i'm half snapped and don't feel like reading 5 pages worth of posts.

I enjoy the station CBC as a whole. I enjoy they're saturday night broadcasts because of the double header. I live in Edmonton so a good chuck of the seasons saturday night broadcast usually have the Oilers on.

The only thing that is tradition for watching hockey on Saturday nights is Ron Maclean and Don Cherry. I'm a big fan of both of them. So what I care about is, if CTV takes over, will Ron Maclean follow or join, say TSN? Will Don Cherry? I'm gonna assume that he will most likely retire in some form. Also will CTV be less discriminating, meaning, will they also shovel the Maple Leafs down everybody's throats?

CTV and TSN are owned by BGM. dont worry.

 

[vanlady]

I'd disagree since that isn't possible.

I wouldn't bet on it, as Bell Global Media is one of the owners of the Leafs

 

[17*]

I think Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa will get less coverage and Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will get even more, especially Toronto.

BGM has to figure out a way to cut costs and increase revenue in order to at least break even on the 140 million.

How else can they do this unless they max out on the big markets.

 

[GSC2k2*]

I wouldn't bet on it, as Bell Global Media is one of the owners of the Leafs

Apparently the joke was lost on you.

 

[Egil]

I think Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa will get less coverage and Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will get even more, especially Toronto.

BGM has to figure out a way to cut costs and increase revenue in order to at least break even on the 140 million.

How else can they do this unless they max out on the big markets.

I think you maximize revenue and profits by showing as many Canadian team games as possible in their market, not by showing Toronto in Ottawa or Vancouver in Edmonton. It costs a bit more, but the extra eyeballs would pay for it.

 

[MXD]

La Soirée du Hockey is out, so HNIC deserves to be out.