Sportscentre or Sportsnet Connected?

CFL Talk
1

Reading this, I'm sure glad the CFL is with TSN rather than Rogers, if these numbers are true:

They don’t take themselves, or their trade, too seriously. They aren’t disrespectful, but neither are they reverential toward people who run fast and hit balls with sticks for a living. In an industry where the strategy is to present clips at such a rapid pace that viewers don’t have time to even consider changing the channel, Onrait and O’Toole slam on the brakes every few minutes for a drawn-out bit of comedy, and dare viewers to stay with them. It isn’t sophisticated satire, but it works and has earned them a massive following: during an average week last fall, SportsCentre drew more than two million viewers. Their main competition, Rogers’ Sportsnet Connected, drew 101,000 in the same week; the third-place program, The Score in the Morning, drew a paltry 24,000. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece with the headline “Why Can’t We Have Canada’s SportsCentre??

[url=http://www.torontolife.com/daily/informer/from-print-edition-informer/2012/12/21/send-in-the-clowns-tsn-sportscentre-jay-onrait-dan-otoole/]http://www.torontolife.com/daily/inform ... an-otoole/[/url]

Watching the Fan590 this evening though, there was a good discussion from McCown and Cox about the inevitable full battle as to whom could buy out whom and who would end up being in almost total control. I will agree with them that while at one time TSN/BellGlobeMedia was the only big boy in town, Rogers has come right up the rear and is for real a big boy now as well. It'll be interesting how this all pans out, the discussion went.

2

Interesting choice of words…

:twisted:
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I guess coming up from the rear is just more natural to some regardless if one is coming from the left rear or from the right rear. :wink:

4

I hate to say it but for the sake of Rogers and Bell it might be best if one walks away and maybe buys another sports team.

5

Earl, how is Rogers’ affiliated SN and the Score “a big boy now” in the sports network industry with abysmal numbers such as those? TSN apparently obliterates all comers.
I’m confused as usual. :?

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Well, it's more than strictly about numbers watching Sportscentre and Sportsnet Connected I will add. This article is good. For sure, they are rivals that do partner on things now ie. Leafs and Olympics for example. The main point was that at one time, TSN had no rival at all. Rogers, I guess to put it more accurately, has become a big boy in the sports TV biz in Canada.

Allure of certainty makes partners out of rivals Rogers, BCE

[url=http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/allure-of-certainty-makes-partners-out-of-rivals-rogers-bce/article2266649/?service=mobile]http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-inve ... ice=mobile[/url]

This one as well, short piece:

Rogers-Bell collaboration bad for Canada

http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=1216

And this, though not sports centred of an article:

TV providers lay on the love for Toronto condo owners hearts

[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/tv-providers-lay-on-the-love-for-toronto-condo-owners-hearts/article6583581/]http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-in ... le6583581/[/url]
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That's what we pay the CRTC for but unfortunately they've become just another govermental pylon and leech for lobby grease.

8

This I thought was interesting as well (you just have to get past the Leafer photo if you're not a Leaf fan which I'm not BTW. :wink: ). I guess we sort of have to realize, as much as I hate to, that the Leafs are probably more important than the CFL when you get down to it, yes one single team, in terms of the media business in Canada. :?

Toronto Star sports columnist Damien Cox got it (pretty much) right (read the column at The Star's Web site):
Burke got the axe Wednesday morning because Bell [President and CEO] George Cope, after months of campaigning for Burke's dismissal, finally wore out the Rogers suits and [Leafs minority owner] Larry Tanenbaum ... Cope didn't like Burke's style, his manners, his profanity, his lifestyle....

Big shocker! A corporate suit like Cope doesn't care much for a crude Irishman who, rumor has it, likes to have a drink every now and then (cough, cough, wink, wink). Burke's a loose cannon. That's not going to fly when Rogers and Bell own 75% of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Despite getting that part right, Cox showed ignorance vis-a-vis the Rogers-Bell relationship:
This is the first really big sports decision undertaken by the partnership of Bell and Rogers that now controls Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Not only was it done in such a way that should make Leaf fans very worried, it may also be an indication why this corporate partnership of media rivals is destined not to last.
Rivals. I love it!
Rogers and Bell are rivals like Apple (AAPL_) and Amazon.com (AMZN_) are mortal enemies.
Loose similarities actually exist between the two sets of partners the media likes to hysterically paint as foes. You know the deal with Apple and Amazon. They both make hardware. They both provide excellent user experiences via smart and seamless ecosystems. And they scratch each other's backs feverishly.
Apple devices dominate mobile e-commerce traffic. A significant chunk of that activity, if not a vast majority, happens in the Amazon online store. The numbers from the holiday period clearly support this contention.
Things might be even more symbiotic between Rogers and Bell. The two companies simply have to act like "rivals" to keep regulators off their tails. They both want the same thing from their joint ownership of MLSE and every other area they nearly monopolize in Canada

[url=http://www.thestreet.com/story/11810721/1/rogers-and-bell-running-the-toronto-maple-leafs-like-a-business.html]http://www.thestreet.com/story/11810721 ... iness.html[/url]
9

If Rogers and Bell acted like there were best buds that would bring up many question people would say there just one massive company etc and people would push the crtc to take action and they might.Now with that said i think there is some hate between Rogers and Bell its just not at the level some seem to think it is or they want it to be and i think some will keep talking about this for months to come.

10

Its time to deregulate the Cellphone industry IMO. We pay 3 times more than Americans.

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Agree jay with what you say about the not-so-much-hate between the two probably. I do think though that whatever is the exact nature of the relationship between Bell and Rogers, that it may have a positive effect on the CFL in the long run in that I do think Bell does want to keep the CFL alive and well with CFL programming on TSN and Rogers, as being tied in with Bell with the Leafs, does need to give probably a bit more emphasis towards the CFL than it might like to for a rivals enterprise out of some sort of understanding or what not.

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I don’t think we would see much of a difference.

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Not sure, I don’t work in the industry but it sure did when they deregulated land lines…My business phone costs went down from 5000 a month to 850… at the time.

14

I'll tell you why Sportscentre and TSN is the undisputed king.

The other shows have zero humor in their broadcasts. Their hosts are stale and just regurgitate the facts and their panels are like listening to a sermon, either preachy or boring, and coincidentally why I intensely dislike TSN's hockey round table and the Hot Stove.

However, you have a CFL round table which characters like Milt Stegall, Matt Dunigan and even Jock Climie with Schultzy and Randorf to reign them in. You have Jay Onrait and Dan O'toole who are have an almost three stooges like humor. You have interesting documentaries like Engraved on a Nation and Oil Change (although the Sportscentre Jays championship documentary was interesting) and interesting segments like off the record. You also have unapologetic top 10 lists and worst plays that call out poor play and professionalism. It's interesting and funny without ever being too controversially over the line. Apart from Joe Ferraro, there is no remotely interesting personalities. CBC captures some of this in coaches corner, but Don's getting old and CBC seems incapable at taking any risks now a days with their broadcasts.

You also have coverage that is more unbiased and diverse and don't push their products overwhelmingly hard then other products (probably because of the ESPN affiliation). Never do you see TSN slam the Jays, but you see Rogers slam the CFL all the time. Conversely, you see round tables for the CFL, Jason DeVos for MLS and other soccer that makes it to TSN, the NHL Roundtable plus the NFL roundtables taken from the ESPN feed, getting time not only before and after games but on the program or during the day. Sportsnet, you get tons upon tons of Jays commentary pushed down your throat and EPL commentators rebroadcasting with completely different review commentators and pre/post game commentators.

TSN has two channels, plus a CTV affiliation which broadcast content that ensures their audiences can choose between high end basketball or CFL Football game. They also broadcast more interesting, niche sports and events like CIS Football and NLL Lacrosse. Sports that it can't be hard to acquire the rights for, but are interesting diversions to fill their schedule (sadly they haven't realized this with rebroadcast Poker). From what I can tell has no major network affiliation, and Sportsnet has 4 channels and based on region but many times play the exact same content across the board (they do then all the time with EPL soccer and Jays games) and the times a channel has unique content, it's typically blacked out based on region (like trying to watch an Oilers game on Sportsnet West in Ontario) so what's the point? They have access to AHL content, but give it no actual advertising or polish in the broadcasts, even with a lockout in place. You also mean to say you can't get Canadian AHL games on demand for your website like TSN has Football games on demand?

Even the websites are worlds apart, TSN has video right at the top of the page to the right, with headlines and links to each video. Sportsnet, the video player is buried at the bottom of and a main page has mixed links to articles, videos and blog notes that are seem to be nothing but blurbs and advertisements to watch Sportsnet. You're website needs to be an extension of your broadcast, it's not just something you use to draw people to your broadcast.

There's just so many fundamentally easy small things that they just can't seem to even realize.

15

I like Tsn and yes they offer many good programs but Sportsnet is not that bad with the Chl/Ahl plus all the tennis/cycling also with Rogers buying The Score that could change things.for the better as well.

16

Onrait is one of the biggest wankers on sports television. I find him unbearable.

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Ooh, was that your attempt at a joke? I feel so burned, so taken down.

19

Well if Rogers continues to cover Canadian college sports with The Score, that will be excellent. I think we get all we need from TSN for the CFL but if TSN does sell some rights to some games for Sportsnet or more likely The Score, that might be ok as well to add a bit of a different flavour to CFL coverage as well, albeit it will be an inferior production to anything TSN does I’m sure.

20

Sportsnet will have the Tour de France starting in 2014 plus the World Cup and Olympics so i think there are getting better.