CFL needs to invest in better TV production

Forget the CFL2.0 lets work on our television partners and production value.

CFL on TSN is not the problem. Its TSN. Its no different than NHL on TSN or any other TSN production. Its awful.

CFL and TSN needs to get back to the CFL on CBC days and hire the great people from HNIC and CFL on CBC to improve the production. Can we at least get some proper sound? graphics? theme music?

TSN has always been below average ever since the '80s but now I am seeing its really hurting the look of the CFL.

At least the NHL has SN, NBC, local affiliates like FSN/Prime that covers the NHL.

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do you remember how it was on CBC?

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Revisionism, the history of youth :slight_smile:

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I think it is a matter of memory being in the context of production values of the day … it may have been well done for the time period but it would be pathetic today.

Well like the ol' Love Boat as those of you like me over 40 remember, how about something on TV exciting and new?

Love Boat … classic 70s/80s TV … made stars of Gavin MacLeod, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Fred Grandy, Lauren Tewes and Jill Whelan … and a Guest “star” every week (be it B/C/D level)

Two very different network shows this year that are rather unique for very different reasons … Prodigal Son and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.

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All it takes is money

The best CBC production for the CFL was when they went with the stadium announcers and NO play by play or colour as a strike was on at the CBC .

Some how they were able to give you in stadium noise with the stadium announcers .

It was like you were sitting right in the stadium game day and this was way before HD quality .

I would love to see TSN attempt it .

Not really, it’s the will to do it and being creative.

I had a director tell me once that it costs the same to make a good show or a bad show, that always stayed with me.

One of the problems is the crews parachute in or are contracted locally and you really don’t have the time or inclination to reinvent the wheel. That’s why productions are formulaic.

That planning has to be done well ahead of time, before the season. Get the proper tools and use them creatively. When I was in the biz the costs of equipment was crazy, with computerization the costs are a fraction of what they were.

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As a rare gimmick, I don’t have a problem with it, but I think once would be enough for me

Some of the advantages/disadvantages

CFL game won’t get the silent treatment
William Houston theglobeandmail.com August 18, 2005/April 22, 2018

Cool old news find Charuk .

Something kinda pure about it and the crowd noise somehow infused you into the game better .

I found a CBC broadcast here is an example .

https://youtu.be/aeqsSiq414s

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Right! All it takes is money.
As you said ,the current hires don’t have the time or inclination. To hire the people who do have the time and inclination, takes money!

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That’s not quite how it works :slight_smile: Money doesn’t buy time.

Found another one from Calgary and one from Winnipeg

Sure it does! It allows you to hire guys and devote more resources at a price point that compels them to make it their sole focus.

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Thanks Hank01
This was Henry Burris’ first Labour Day classic as a starter

Your welcome Mrstallion .

I wasn’t aware of that .

The wide camera angle shots made the field look so big back then . Love the PA announcer thanking Alberta Pork so CFL .

I frankly don't see a big difference between the TSN production values and those of any other other network that broadcasts football, though its presentation could use a refresh. Besides, I watch to watch football, not the broadcast team, and I do like the insights that former players bring to the panel. I also rather like the crews they use. I just don't understand what makes any of them unlikable. It seems to me that if you dislike a talking head that much you ought to go watch something else for a while, because you've spent to much time focusing on what you don't like.

As for the CBC productions, well, lets just say they were adequate at best non-existent at worst. One the best decisions the CFL ever made was partnering with a dedicated sports network that needs the high-value content the CFL provides. It was painfully obvious that the tall foreheads at the CBC had little interest in low brow football games, and it showed in the way they treated the CFL.

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For me I would like to see more cameras , sharper camera angles , graphics and the audio that needs some updating at TSN . Add the reviewer box insert for the reviews would be a nice touch to understand the logic of what the reviewer is judging the call on .

TSN broadcast team only bugs me when they pander to a celebrity guest in the booth while a Grey Cup game is being played and they ask them to do play by play while an important drive is happening even though the guest told them this is the first time they ever watched the game in their life .

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/nod, yeah I don’t like the celebrity bj’s either, come to think of it, but they’re mercifully not all that common. What I wouldn’t mind seeing is a short in-their-seat celebrity interview while they are there to watch the game. I remember one with Martin Short and Tom Hanks I think it was. That was pretty cool and spontaneous. But the in-booth stuff that goes on way too long is cringe worthy. For that to be even remotely interesting it would have to be a HUGE mega household name star and even then only for a minute or two during a time out or before the kickoff.

I would still like to be able to watch the all 24 camera as an optional view, but I don’t suppose that will happen on ESPN anytime soon.

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