OK guys. One more game. Everyone expects you to win (even Herb Zurkowsky).
Please don’t choke. Please don’t choke. Please don’t choke…
The Grey Cup (Montreal Alouettes vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders at Calgary) airs on TSN and RDS at 6:30 p.m., because CTV believes it can make more money off the Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives than the championship game of the Canadian Football League. (Save local TV!)
UPDATE: I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. They choked hard. And again. And again. And they won! Next time you have an argument with someone about how the CFL is boring, make this Exhibit A.
Of course, what the article really says is that CTV is trying to drive profits at TSN by forcing people to subscribe. It’s not quite how you frame it, Steve, but you knew that. You’re just being cheeky.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like cable-only deal that the CFL made. I think it was driven by BC Lions uber-owner Braley, who may or may not own TWO teams soon, and his irrational hate for the CBC.
Well, as of half-time, they’re choking.
Why do good things happen to other people?
We choked.
They choked more.
That’s Digital Home’s interpretation. The real reason has more to do with lucrative simultaneous substitution ad revenue from NFL broadcasts (which are carried on CTV) versus the Grey Cup which can’t take advantage of simultaneous substitution because it’s not aired in the U.S.
The number of people who care about football but don’t have cable (and TSN) are minimal. But CTV putting NFL games on the main network and the Grey Cup on TSN shows a lot.
Pro sports: the new people’s opium.
Brought to you by the bourgeois who won’t benefit from the little people taking interests in politics because that would make democracy WORK.
I just wonder if CTV would have acted different if the final was Toronto vs. B.C. instead of what it turned out to be.
Now they’re touting up to 6.5 million viewers watched the Cup. I know “Amazing Race” is CTV’s biggest show but that would be at least, what? Triple the audience?
Buffoons!
CTV’s Grey Cup plans were made long before it had any idea which teams would be in the Grey Cup final. It would have been the same either way. The issue is Canada vs. U.S., not Toronto vs. the rest of Canada.
I still disagree a little. I just think it’s win-win for CTV/TSN this way.
NFL football will never drive subscribers to TSN in this way because with the exception of Monday and Thursday games, you can watch them for “free” on the US networks. So the simulacast route is the best way to line their pockets. Whereas with an exclusive TV property like the CFL, it just makes the most sense to sequester it away on pay.
Heck, they were even promoting Sunday Night Football on TSN2, during the Grey Cup. I just think they’re trying to maximize profits on all their various properties, and the way they’ve got it lined up DOES make the best business sense, IMO.
Steve, on a related note, do you have a take on how much the new audience measurement system introduced this fall is distorting the “record” TV audience for the game?
I’m not disputing this. I’m just pointing out that the only reason to have NFL on CTV and CFL on TSN is money.
That’s a good question. I’m not an expert on ratings, but I have no reason to believe what they say isn’t true. There wasn’t much better on television that night, Montreal and RDS are strongly connected to their teams, and the Roughriders have a very loyal fan base.
I had thought that having the CFL and Grey Cup on cable only would hurt ratings, but these impressive numbers sure disproved that. Wonder how much CFL-driven new subscribers and ad dollars have added to TSN and RDS’s bottom line, at 18 mill a year for rights? I seem to remember that TSN shares in the merchandise end of things, as well, as part of their partnership.
I don’t think anyone seriously would subscribe to either channel just to get the Grey Cup. They either already get it as part of their basic cable/satellite package, or they subscribe to get the Canadiens (RDS) or Leafs and other sports (TSN).
Do set-top boxen report back which shows are being watched?