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
Before they added Sports to their corporate name, Rogers Media announced their $5.2 billion, 12-year NHL rights deal back in 2013. They took over as exclusive National Hockey League rights holders in 2014. At that point, the Toronto Maple Leafs — key to the deal as the biggest draw on television in Canada among NHL
Here’s what I find offensive about all the Ron MacLean bashing today on Twitter: all the piling on and knee-jerk ageism. MacLean is being trolled with “time to go” cracks and photos of Grandpa Simpson. The outrage is over a jab the Hockey Night in Canada host aimed Tuesday night at analyst Kevin Bieksa. The
New Rule: stop being shocked every time Bill Maher says something that skates over the hard line that is cancel culture. That is, after all, his job. Yes, he’s made some egregious mistakes in the past. He claimed that Islam, “has too much in common with ISIS.” In 2017, he used the N-word to make
TV, like film or books, does not always age well — especially at a time when the term #cancelculture is trending. Take old episodes of classic sitcoms, such as those presented every weekday on Hamilton, Ont.’s CHCH, Their daytime offerings currently include such shows from the ’60s and ’70s as The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres,