It takes about ten days to get final broadcast TV numbers. We won’t know until Tuesday, May 29, therefore, how many viewers watched the Toronto Maple Leafs get eliminated Saturday night by the Tampa Bay Lightning in their seven-game opening round series. What we can predict, however, is that the audience was somewhere between three
The folks at Newstalk 1010 in Toronto — CFRB to us oldtimers — called and asked if I would weigh in on an important election matter. The issue they wanted my expert opinion on: which Gilligan’s Island character does each of the Ontario party leaders most closely resemble? Mark Towhey is the host of a
In the last few days, I’ve done ten radio interviews all about one topic: the sudden stock dump at Netflix. The one-day dip of around 35 per cent wiped out an estimated US$50 billion in valuation. It was triggered by a quarterly report that showed that, for the first time in its eleven-year history, subscriptions
A radio station I often get calls from to voice an opinion about television was in touch Friday to ask if I would weigh in on this year’s Oscars. The topic: does anybody care anymore? Then they messaged back saying nevermind, something else had come up. So they don’t even care enough about the Oscars
That heartbreaking women’s figure skating final may be the worst moment of Olympic competition on television I’ve ever witnessed. The horror of it is is that ratings probably went up. Even IOC president Thomas Bach was quoted on Friday saying it had been “chilling” to witness 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva fold under pressure during
These are transitional times in the broadcasting business. Things can get very bottom line quickly when ad revenues bottom out. I get it, therefore, when releases are sent signaling the end of an association with a broadcaster who has enjoyed a nice, long career. What I don’t get, lately, is that these folks don’t get
When Bill Maher is right, he’s right, and he was oh so right last week on Real Time. The host of the HBO series, now in its 19th season, ended his “New Rules” closing segment with a plea for sanity among major sports leagues: pick one national anthem to play before each game and stick
Twenty years ago today, the world changed with the 9/11 attacks on America. It was a privilege to help mark the occasion today in The Toronto Star with a report on how Canada’s national news anchors calmly and under trying circumstances delivered the story to a shaken nation. The Star report is a comprehensive, ad-free