News Article: Toronto Maple Leafs rebuild takes a bite out of Rogers’ bottom line

[Joey Hoser]

yup the style is slim fit but the key word is also fit and he's taken it too far imo

also strombo is in his 40's now and it looks like he still thinks he's about to hit the clubs with kids 20 years younger than him

my son's in his early 20's and wears slim fit suits but even at his age he knows he can't go work at his accounting firm or go out to a client on an audit looking like strombo does , maybe i'm getting old but he looks very unprofessional imo and it takes away from the product on the air

Strombo is a media personality. Not an accountant who has to pander to older bosses who expect times not to change.

Seriously, youre an older guy complaining about what the kids are wearing these days. You should have a handle on this pattern by now.

 

[diceman934]

Wait....Strombo does not look like an idiot in those suits


That is only part of the issue.....it is simply a piss poor format with stupid gimmicks that waste so much time.

 

[hotpaws]

Strombo is a media personality. Not an accountant who has to pander to older bosses who expect times not to change.

Seriously, youre an older guy complaining about what the kids are wearing these days. You should have a handle on this pattern by now.

Strombo's not a kid , he's 43 and i'm not much older than he is

yea he's a media personality but the platform he's on doesn't just cater to people 25 and younger and you can wear fitted suits and still look professional

anyway it's not a huge deal but it is just another thing that bothers me stacked on top of multiple others that lessens my enjoyment of HNIC

 

[ACC1224]

I don't think he is trying to appeal to passed-middle-aged conservatives with his suit choice.
.

Shouldn't he be though? Wouldn't that be the majority of the audience?

I think he looks ridiculous but I don't watch enough to care.
My girls are always telling me I know nothing of fashion, which is probably true, but are those suits suppose to fit like that? Pants look too short and look very uncomfortable.

 

[highslot]

it would be better if they brought patrick roy, brett hull, keith tkchuk, mike palmateer and nazim kadri to commentate. who wouldn't watch that?

 

[Joey Hoser]

Shouldn't he be though? Wouldn't that be the majority of the audience?

I'm no marketing expect, but no, I think it would be quite foolish to think that's the only demographic they should he appealing to.

I think he looks ridiculous but I don't watch enough to care.
My girls are always telling me I know nothing of fashion, which is probably true, but are those suits suppose to fit like that? Pants look too short and look very uncomfortable.

His suits are rather exceptionally slim, yes , but the style in general is legit.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that many of the people who have a problem with Strombo's unprofessional attire are, don't have any problem at all with Don Cherry's clown suits.

 

[Menzinger]

Looks like I'm in the minority here but I actually find Strombo the least annoying of the entire Sportsnet personalities. He's fine as an interview guy/host even if his hockey knowledge is average.

It's people like Cox which force me to change the channel at intermission.

 

[Joey Hoser]

I think where they went wrong was just timing. Directly swapping out Ron McLean for Strombo's was just too abrupt. They should have continued with Ron at the helm, and given George a more periphrial role at first, doing player interviews(leaving the likes of Bettman or Daly to Ron), doing the pregame/midgame spots in front of the glass, etc.

They should have let him work his way into the role, and let people get a chance to get used to him in a less-confrontational way.

 

[Menzinger]

I think where they went wrong was just timing. Directly swapping out Ron McLean for Strombo's was just too abrupt. They should have continued with Ron at the helm, and given George a more periphrial role at first, doing player interviews(leaving the likes of Bettman or Daly to Ron), doing the pregame/midgame spots in front of the glass, etc.

They should have let him work his way into the role, and let people get a chance to get used to him in a less-confrontational way.

That would have made a lot more sense. Rogers just assumed since they have a monopoly on broadcasting rights they didn't need to think these things through properly.

I actually find myself watching the Fox Sports coverage of the playoffs as much as I can. Much better coverage than Sportsnet.

 

[hfman]

Rogers tried to fix what wasn't broke.

HNIC is what it is now. Times change, it's inevitable. I don't like it at all. I haven't watched a HNIC broadcast this entire year. Not once. Not because I'm purposely trying to boycott it or something, but because my interest slipped away. It's been a natural parting, not anything to do with "this sucks" or "I hate HNIC", they just failed to hold my attention. Combine this with the worst Leaf team in decades and their ratings are sure to take a hit.

If I was them I would fix it, and fast. Bring back what it was- an important night on the weekend in Canadian sports culture. Now a Wednesday hockey game on Rogers looks like a Saturday game. I can't tell what night it is by watching their broadcasts. They're all the same. A bunch of yelling guys. The importance and appeal of a Saturday night hockey game in the dead of winter is gone. Rogers couldn't keep up with CBC in that regard. And where's "After Hours" - that was cool. Did they bring it back, or is it still gone?

They gotta go back to the table this off-season, go through all the old tapes of HNIC on CBC and bring back all of those elements that made it special. Because yeah, it DOES suck now. And the ratings are telling that to their faces.

 

[ACC1224]

I'm no marketing expect, but no, I think it would be quite foolish to think that's the only demographic they should he appealing to.



His suits are rather exceptionally slim, yes , but the style in general is legit.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that many of the people who have a problem with Strombo's unprofessional attire are, don't have any problem at all with Don Cherry's clown suits.

Not the only demographic but the largest one?

Not a fan of Cherry either.

I think where they went wrong was just timing. Directly swapping out Ron McLean for Strombo's was just too abrupt. They should have continued with Ron at the helm, and given George a more periphrial role at first, doing player interviews(leaving the likes of Bettman or Daly to Ron), doing the pregame/midgame spots in front of the glass, etc.

They should have let him work his way into the role, and let people get a chance to get used to him in a less-confrontational way.

Agreed, 100%. You sure you're not a Marketing expert?

 

[Joey Hoser]

Rogers tried to fix what wasn't broke.

HNIC is what it is now. Times change, it's inevitable. I don't like it at all. I haven't watched a HNIC broadcast this entire year. Not once. Not because I'm purposely trying to boycott it or something, but because my interest slipped away. It's been a natural parting, not anything to do with "this sucks" or "I hate HNIC", they just failed to hold my attention. Combine this with the worst Leaf team in decades and their ratings are sure to take a hit.

If I was them I would fix it, and fast. Bring back what it was- an important night on the weekend in Canadian sports culture. Now a Wednesday hockey game on Rogers looks like a Saturday game. I can't tell what night it is by watching their broadcasts. They're all the same. A bunch of yelling guys. The importance and appeal of a Saturday night hockey game in the dead of winter is gone. Rogers couldn't keep up with CBC in that regard. And where's "After Hours" - that was cool. Did they bring it back, or is it still gone?

They gotta go back to the table this off-season, go through all the old tapes of HNIC on CBC and bring back all of those elements that made it special. Because yeah, it DOES suck now. And the ratings are telling that to their faces.

Going to be hard to fix anything when everything is broken. Canadians teams sucking will make it even more difficult because even if they manage to improve the broadcast, they might not know it, because ratings will likely still be low and it will be hard to attribute it to specific things.

They've put themselves in a really bad spot right now.

 

[DD03]

For how much money they lose now...

They'll make way more when the Leafs start going deep into the playoffs yearly.

 

[killer1980]

I think where they went wrong was just timing. Directly swapping out Ron McLean for Strombo's was just too abrupt. They should have continued with Ron at the helm, and given George a more periphrial role at first, doing player interviews(leaving the likes of Bettman or Daly to Ron), doing the pregame/midgame spots in front of the glass, etc.

They should have let him work his way into the role, and let people get a chance to get used to him in a less-confrontational way.

Bingo! Television 101 if you want to make changes to an iconic television show make the changes slowly. Television audiences and people in general love to maintain the status quo. They will accept the changes, slowly and we might all be better off for it.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Agreed, 100%. You sure you're not a Marketing expert?

No, I don't think carrying heavy things for a living constitutes "marketing".

 

[Mats13]

what a weird attitude when Rogers can certainly convince Bell that making the playoffs now and showing a winning team will help both content driven groups in bell and rogers.

Rogers can quite easily **** the leafs .. is that what you want? wishing that is the worst thing a leaf fan could want. thinking is a good thing. try it.

I don't like Rogers, I don't think that is a weird attitude. And Rogers cannot convince Bell of anything because the Bell higher ups aren't morons. They've signed off on the rebuild and they know what the goal is.

both Bell and Rogers are in it for the media content. so what is hurting Rogers is also hurting Bell. to think otherwise is really ******* stupid.

You seem to think you're smarter than everyone, yet you ignore crucial facts. Bell didn't pay 1 billion dollars to the NHL for their rights, Rogers did.

None of this is hurting Bell. TSN broadcasts are still great and the Leafs aren't exactly losing any money.

So like I said, Rogers can't stop the rebuild when the other 72.5% of ownership is on board with it. I don't know how much clearer I could have been the first time.

 

[hotpaws]

Bell didn't pay 1 billion dollars to the NHL for their rights, Rogers did.

None of this is hurting Bell. TSN broadcasts are still great and the Leafs aren't exactly losing any money.

So like I said, Rogers can't stop the rebuild when the other 72.5% of ownership is on board with it. I don't know how much clearer I could have been the first time.

I agree and have also said this in the past . Bell in fact is probably thrilled if Rogers is taking a hit on the new deal they signed since i can't believe they took it well when they got cut out of the tv rights .

as far as the rebuild goes , i'm sure Bell is quite happy to let present mgmt take it in whatever direction they see fit

overall they've done an excellent job of adding assets/shedding salary and if they decide to try to sign a marquee ufa (Stamkos) to help the build process i'm sure they'd be just as fine with that as they would be to take a slightly slower approach to building our core

 

[ConnorTO]

doesn't matter 5 years from now everyone will hop on toronto's cook

 

[killer1980]

Still don't know why everyone thinks a good season by the Leafs is the panacea for all Rogers woes. If so, it would seem to me to be a pretty risky proposition. And, HNIC did pretty good for 46 of those 48 years.

1968 “wait till next year”
1969 “wait till next year”
1970 “wait till next year”
1971 “wait till next year”
1972 “wait till next year”
1973 “wait till next year”
1974 “wait till next year”
1975 “wait till next year”
1976 “wait till next year”
1977 “wait till next year”
1978 “wait till next year”
1979 “wait till next year”
1980 “wait till next year”
1981 “wait till next year”
1982 “wait till next year”
1983 “wait till next year”
1984 “wait till next year”
1985 “wait till next year”
1986 “wait till next year”
1987 “wait till next year”
1988 “wait till next year”
1989 “wait till next year”
1990 “wait till next year”
1991 “wait till next year”
1992 “wait till next year”
1993 “see I told ya”
1994 “wait till next year”
1995 “wait till next year”
1996 “wait till next year”
1997 “wait till next year”
1998 “wait till next year”
1999 “wait till next year”
2000 “wait till next year”
2001 “wait till next year”
2002 “wait till next year”
2003 “wait till next year”
2004 “wait till next year”
2005 “wait till next year”
2006 “wait till next year”
2007 “wait till next year”
2008 “wait till next year”
2009 “wait till next year”
2010 “wait till next year”
2011 “wait till next year”
2012 “wait till next year”
2013 “wait till next year”
2014 “wait till next year”
2015 “wait till next year”
2016 “wait till next year”

 

[nonikhanna]

Still don't know why everyone thinks a good season by the Leafs is the panacea for all Rogers woes. If so, it would seem to me to be a pretty risky proposition. And, HNIC did pretty good for 46 of those 48 years.

1968 “wait till next yearâ€
1969 “wait till next yearâ€
1970 “wait till next yearâ€
1971 “wait till next yearâ€
1972 “wait till next yearâ€
1973 “wait till next yearâ€
1974 “wait till next yearâ€
1975 “wait till next yearâ€
1976 “wait till next yearâ€
1977 “wait till next yearâ€
1978 “wait till next yearâ€
1979 “wait till next yearâ€
1980 “wait till next yearâ€
1981 “wait till next yearâ€
1982 “wait till next yearâ€
1983 “wait till next yearâ€
1984 “wait till next yearâ€
1985 “wait till next yearâ€
1986 “wait till next yearâ€
1987 “wait till next yearâ€
1988 “wait till next yearâ€
1989 “wait till next yearâ€
1990 “wait till next yearâ€
1991 “wait till next yearâ€
1992 “wait till next yearâ€
1993 “see I told yaâ€
1994 “wait till next yearâ€
1995 “wait till next yearâ€
1996 “wait till next yearâ€
1997 “wait till next yearâ€
1998 “wait till next yearâ€
1999 “wait till next yearâ€
2000 “wait till next yearâ€
2001 “wait till next yearâ€
2002 “wait till next yearâ€
2003 “wait till next yearâ€
2004 “wait till next yearâ€
2005 “wait till next yearâ€
2006 “wait till next yearâ€
2007 “wait till next yearâ€
2008 “wait till next yearâ€
2008 “wait till next yearâ€
2010 â till next yearâ€
2011 “wait till next yearâ€
2012 “wait till next yearâ€
2013 “wait till next yearâ€
2015 “wait till next yearâ€
2016 “wait till next yearâ€

You missed 2014

 

[killer1980]

You missed 2014

damn thanks "resolved".

 

[budzz]

HNIC has been an institution much longer than Rogers. They managed to take a perfectly good product and ruin it. Saturday Night hockey was a comfy leather chair and they replaced all the furniture with plastic and chrome.
Strombo may well be a good interviewer, but he's way out of his league here. Ron Maclean lives and breathes hockey, and was a perfect, knowledgeable host. I don't want or need flash, or the latest demographic. I want someone who can enlighten and entertain and simply knows the nuances of the game.

Fear not. The thieves at Robbers cable will recoup their money by slowly nickle and diming their customers, signing them to contracts at one rate then creeping in hidden increases every few months like they always have. They'll soak the Jays fans who genuinely want to root for their team, while they're hugely successful and wealthy owners manage the 13th highest payroll in baseball. They'll promote live streams on all your devices, then charge you extra for the bandwidth you use to view it.

Waaa waaa waaa. Looks good on you.

 

[Neil Hamburger]

I don't give a crap what these guys wear. They could wear jeans and a T-shirt, and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I don't like Strombo because I don't think he's a real hockey guy, I don't like Healy because he's an ass, etc

 

[Deebo]

Sportsnet should do everything they can to poach Chris Cuthbert from TSN. I think he would be the single most impactful hire they could make.

Cuthbert calling playoff games for an improved Leaf team would be fix any ratings problems for Sportsnet NHL broadcasts.

 

[hfman]

Sportsnet should do everything they can to poach Chris Cuthbert from TSN. I think he would be the single most impactful hire they could make.

Cuthbert calling playoff games for an improved Leaf team would be fix any ratings problems for Sportsnet NHL broadcasts.

I've always put Bob Cole and Chris Cuthbert in the same category of a step-above everyone else.

Cuthbert would do wonders for their broadcasts. He'd help clean up that mess in a hurry.