CTV/TSN screws CFL

Sporstnet also doing NFL:

"Rogers Sportsnet and Rogers OMNI Television have scored a touchdown thanks to an exclusive three-year agreement with the National Football League to broadcast the Sunday 4 p.m. (ET) games starting this season.

With Rogers, Canadian NFL fans will see more games than ever before, and more games in high definition, with up to two games available at 4 p.m. thanks to a combination of OMNI. 2 and Sportsnet's four channels - Rogers Sportsnet East, Rogers Sportsnet Ontario, Rogers Sportsnet West, and Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. Sportsnet Ontario and OMNI .2 will broadcast different games.

"This is a huge step forward for our network," said Sportsnet President Doug Beeforth. "There is no sport in North America with a stronger following than the NFL, particularly among young people. We are excited to be their NFL destination Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m."

"Omni is delighted to bring the NFL back to our stations," said Leslie Sole, CEO, Rogers Media Television. "This partnership is for football fans in our broad dynamic audience." ...

[url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/nfl/article.jsp?content=20070522_144158_408]http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/nfl/ar ... 144158_408[/url]

Like this article:

..."The Super Bowl has never aired on CTV, Canada's No. 1-rated broadcaster. Now the game joins Canada's football jewel in the CTV family. TSN takes over all CFL rights in 2008, including the Grey Cup." ...

:thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: [url=http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/Football/2007/05/23/4200981-sun.html]http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/Football/ ... 1-sun.html[/url]

CTV/TSN will have this viewers eyes for lots of football both sides of the border this year.

Also this, nice to see the whole idea of cross-promoting and synergies with the CFL and NFL by CTV as this article mentions, good stuff:

"The cross-promotional advantages offered by CTV and its sports channel TSN are obvious.

TSN airs 42 NFL games a season, including the Sunday and Monday night telecasts and the late-season Thursday and Saturday games. As well, TSN will become the CFL's exclusive rights holder in 2008, a year in which CTV will air the Super Bowl and TSN will carry the Grey Cup.

"It really does create with TSN quite a comprehensive football package," Brace said. "There are a lot of synergies."

[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070523.TRUTH23/TPStory/TPSports/Television/]http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... elevision/[/url]

I wrote this regarding the same topic in the ticats forum. This deal is a lot more difficult than it appears on the surface.

1)Anyone can say what they would of paid after the fact i.e. the apparent $20 per CBC/Global offer after the new deal was signed. Who knows if you would have gotten that.

  1. The CFL anticipated a huge fight between the two groups for the NHL Hockey Night in Canada rights. Which would of had one group pay top dollar and then the losing group left over to pick up the CFL at any price they wanted. So the CFL went with a strong/safe deal to advoid the potential above.

Good post whoknows.

Since the CFl gets better ratings,s than nfl in Canada, couldn’t the CFl renegotiate the deal with CTV to bring it up to par with CTV,s nfl deal? did CTV bargain in bad faith?

Hmm. I still fail to see how this "screws" the CFL. TSN does a great job with CFL games, and earned the right to have exclusive coverage. CBC didn't. CTV put in a bid, but was denied by the CFL. Alternatively, they (CTV) purchased NFL package. So where does the screw job come in?

StatiK76
GO BOMBERS!!!

slight miscalculation. 68+42=110 …
totally agree tho, if you dont have TSN - get it, or shutup. Anyone unwilling to pay an additional $5/mo to get TSN (and every CFL game), does not have the right to whine and complain, and still consider themselves a CFL fan. It costs $200 just for the NFL Sunday Ticket. This would cost … what … $40 for the CFL season, plus regular programming.

StatiK76
GO BOMBERS!!!

Which network(s) will carry the Sunday night and Monday night games?

TSN does NFL games both nights, correct?

OOPS!

That’s what I get for skimming. :oops:

Well stated StatiK76. That about sums up a typical and good business deal.

Most tv deals are based on viewership. There are less homes that get TSN then get the national broadcasters. If you look at the ratings, CBC always beat TSN. The ratings will drop for the CFL with this new deal and therefore so too will the value of the product when it comes time to renegotiate. CTV then goes and adds NFL to their lineup which means that ratings wise NFL will likely start beating the CFL. Are those numbers true? No, they are just the result of this bad deal.

It also doesn't help the perception of the league which for some reason still battles with this minor league reputation. That is the fault of the CFL board of governors themselves who are always thinking short term gain over long term gain. Unfortunately, that is exactly what we get.

Bighands, a specialty sports channel is a type of narrow casting I think. The below from Wikipedia which is interesting:

"Marketing experts are often interested in narrowcast media, since access to such content implies exposure to a specific and clearly defined prospective consumer audience."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrowcasting

So you see, it's not just all about pure most numbers of viewers, other things to consider in the broadcast world. Sort of like tickets to an event, you make more money with a smaller stadium but can jack up the ticket prices resulting in increased profit. Why the Leafs didn't build a 25,000 seat arena which they could and still sell out every game.

Is the NFL minor league as you say as ABC took off Monday Night Football and put it on their specialty sports channel ESPN? I hardly think so.

I think the decision for CTV to air NFL games speaks volumes, folks! The reality is that, regardless of audience reach, the main network is considered THE place to be. By showcasing the NFL on the main network they are giving it the spotlight. Plain and simple.

Yes, most Canadians these days have TSN. That is not the point. The point is that CTV the main network is where the top-drawing programmes are. CTV/TSN obviously considers the CFL second rate, hence the relegation to TSN only.

Had CTV/TSN been interested in CFL ball, they'd market the heck out of it on all their networks with one "big" game on the main network once a week.

As much as I liked the CFL-TSN deal I definitely have second thoughts now.

CTV/TSN obviously considers the CFL second rate, hence the relegation to TSN only

So what do you make of ABC pulling MNF off and putting it on ESPN? Second rate? Look, CTV is doing us a favour by putting it on TSN where we will get pre and post game stuff more than the NFL, there they just get a feed and put it on. The CFL is being treated first rate more by being on TSN rather than CTV. That is the way I see this. CFL games in the summer of often at night and like MNF, no way it can compete with regular big programs so it's on TSN there anyway, TSN needs the Canadian sports programming for content, CTV doesn't. Sunday afternoons in the fall, CTV needs something to attract viewers and the NFL fills the bill during this non-peak period.

There's so much insecurity in this thread that someone ought to hire a shrink.

TSN is better than CBC, quit sweatting the details

Statik, for once you may actually have a point I agree with - I guess CTV picking up the NFL doesn't directly screw the CFL.

And as a hardcore CFL fan, it's great that TSN will be carrying the games, meaning there will be better pre- and post-game coverage.

But I'm thinking about GROWING the fan base. Restricting the CFL to TSN basically limits the viewers to those that are sports fans and have TSN. There won't be as many new eyes seeing the CFL as there would be if it was on CTV (or CBC, or Global, or whatever).

Yes, us hardcore fans get it a bit better, but the general overall exposure is less.

And when you combine that with increasing the general, overall exposure of the rival league, I don't think it's necessarily going to help the CFL.

Maybe it will - maybe some newbies will see the NFL, decide they like football, and then check out the CFL. But since they're newbies, they'll VERY likely be schmoozed into the NFL by all its hype and glitz.

And now there's another network picking up NFL games?!? Why can't they compete like this over CFL games???

Back to the CTV-has-more-viewers point, think about this: The Olympics are only ever shown on CBC, and starting in 2010 (I think), on CTV. Why will they be on CTV, but not TSN? Because the Olympics are the most-watched sporting event in the world. Hence CTV wants as many people as possible able to see them.

The biggest shows go on the most available networks, so they can be seen by the most people possible. But CTV won't put CFL games on their main network, choosing the NFL instead.

That's a slap in the face to the CFL and its fans.

Please count me out of the supposedly "slap in the face" to this season ticket holding CFL fan.

How is it in bad faith?
I offer you 100$ for your car, whether you accept it or not is up to you.
Even if I buy another, exact same car from someone else for 1000$…it has nothing to do with you!

The only one who could be guilty of bad faith is the CFL, not CTV!