Just when you thought CBC was gone for the CFL ...

[LFITQ]

Ok maybe "hoped" is a better word than "thought"?

Anyhow LU provides this little snippet which may mean the CFL on CBC is not yet dead ...

- If a newspaper doesn't have a football story for publication, the
Sports Editor gets a few calls. If a league or TV network inadvertently
blacks out a game outside the primary market area, however, the team
takes abuse.

So it was Saturday, when some B.C. viewers were unable to receive the
Lions-Argos game and it resulted in a miniscule 204,000 viewers
nationally on CBC. That's the network, you'll recall, that didn't
return to a Riders-Eskimos game a few weeks back after a power outage
occurred in Regina.

There's no clear answer as to why the plug was pulled. The item here,
however, is that you may get to kick the CBC around longer than this
season.

TSN bought exclusive rights to CFL games starting in 2008, but there's
talk the specialty channel doesn't have the production capacity to
handle the entire regular-season schedule and may sell selected games
off next year.

Sean Millington and the rest of the CBC panel may still have work.

[TheLionKing]

Say it isn't so ! We get to listen to Steve Armitage shouting into the microphone again

[Arny]

Say it isn't so ! We get to listen to Steve Armitage shouting into the microphone again

I don't know. If TSN can't handle the production load, I'd much rather watch a game on CBC than not have one to watch at all.

[TheLionKing]

That's true. Thank God for the mute button. :lol:

[No Ordinary Joe]

Man, this is the best news I could ask for! Now I know which channel to turn to whenever I want to be disappointed by an unexpected blackout again! Hooray for CBC!

[MacNews]

IIRC, TSN sells the Grey Cup game to the CBC so this is not without precedent.

[CatsEyes]

Say it isn't so ! We get to listen to Steve Armitage shouting into the microphone again

I don't know. If TSN can't handle the production load, I'd much rather watch a game on CBC than not have one to watch at all.

At this rate, having a game on CBC,you won't be watching it anyway if they're going to unilaterally decide which games they are going to show. May as well not have them at all.

[cromartie]

IIRC, TSN sells the Grey Cup game to the CBC so this is not without precedent.

TSN has the rights to all the games.

They then resell a package to CBC already, as I understand it.

[Hambone]

IIRC, TSN sells the Grey Cup game to the CBC so this is not without precedent.

TSN has the rights to all the games.

They then resell a package to CBC already, as I understand it.

I believe included in past TV deals with TSN was either a stipulation that they must turn the Grey Cup game over to CBC or it was not part of the rest of the package. I'm not sure if that was a directive from the CFL or the CRTC. That was based on the desire to have an event of national significance be available to as many homes as possible. While TSN was slowly increasing their reach there were many areas of the country where it simply wasn't available. Obviously there are areas where TSN remains unavailable in cable form but between cable availability and the wide use of satellite dishes the gap has closed to the point of insignificance. 2007 is the last year for the Grey Cup on CBC.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=189132&hubname=