Last Sunday afternoon I checked to see if there was a late NFL football game on Fox. Instead, commentators were making a big deal out of bowling. I thought I was back in 1968. Chubby, middle-aged guys named “Chip” and “The Hammer” (names are approx; don’t make me look them up) were being touted as
You know how you can be shocked and not shocked at the same time? That was me yesterday upon hearing the news that Nick Kypreos and Doug Maclean were adios at Sportsnet. Rogers has had the broom out for months as losses continue to mount in connection with their ever-escalating (it gets more expensive every
The great Canadian sports shift has reached the summit. The Toronto Raptors NBA championship run will stand tall atop Canada’s Top 10 TV shows for 2019. For sure the top two spots will be dino-mite numbers: Thursday’s sixth and final game of the NBA finals, with Toronto victorious over Golden State, got the full Bell
This has been the most muted upfront TV season I can remember. That impression may, admittedly, be due to the fact that I’ve seen a lot of them, but also I think it is because all the action and excitement and, frankly, a great deal of the audience, has shifted over to the streaming side.
Last Saturday’s thrilling Game Six, 3rd Round victory by the Toronto Raptors over the Milwaukee Bucks set a record for NBA viewership in Canada. The game, which earned Toronto its first ever berth in the NBA finals, drew 2,503,000 on Sportsnet National and another 624,000 on Sportsnet One+. That’s a combined live total of 3,127,000
May the 9th not be with you. Journalists across Canada took hits on all fronts Thursday. The Globe and Mail announced it is offering voluntary buyouts to save $10M annually. Should the target not be reached, the union representing Canada’s national newspaper workers says downsizing will follow. Rogers, meanwhile, after sending writers “Save the Date”
Not sure what was darker this past weekend: that Game of Thrones episode or where the Stanley Cup playoff ratings are heading. Sunday, CBC’s second round, afternoon game between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Islanders drew 312,000 overnight, estimated A2+ viewers nationally. Add the 392,000 viewers who watched the same game on Sportsnet
Here we are, April 24th, and there are no Canadian teams left in Canada’s biggest TV series: The Stanley Cup playoffs. Rogers saw its biggest draw, the Toronto Maple Leafs, go down in another Game 7, first round loss to the Boston Bruins. Overnight, from now through June, the linear, broadcast audience goes from approaching