TV ratings

[R.J]

CFL News ‏@CFL_News
As for the Raptors, more people watched PGA and Nascar in Canada last week than the #2 team in the NBA East. - @rodpedersen
This kills me. People just assume that the Raptors have this huge following, re their media coverage, but in fact the Raptors go on a 10 game winning streak and their already relatively low TV numbers go down during this winning streak

I would actually love to hear an explanation from Bell and Rogers for Basketball and non Blue Jays Baseball receiving ridiculous amounts of coverage and talk - when based on tv and radio ratings they're nowhere near as popular as the CFL, NHL, NFL and Curling.

[AngeloV]

I would actually love to hear an explanation from Bell and Rogers for Basketball and non Blue Jays Baseball receiving ridiculous amounts of coverage and talk - when based on tv and radio ratings they're nowhere near as popular as the CFL, NHL, NFL and Curling.

I'm guessing they get more incoming $$$ from the sponsors. That's the only thing I can think of. Perhaps the sponsors feel the ratings still cover the demographic they are chasing. We all know money talks, and if a sponsor spends more on NBA that CFL, then regardless of the ratings, they have to cater to them.

Is it possible that we put more stock into the ratings than the sponsors do?

[OV Argo]

I said "these days". Simmons was hired 29 years ago. McCown has been with the station that is now known as The Fan for, I think, 35 years or so. Is Don Martin even still on TV? Honestly, sometimes I think you just like to hear yourself argue.

Honesty - I think you really believe you are the maker of authoritative points here that say it all ?

I don't give a **** when those guys were hired, their types are still in place in the media and examples of "world class" sports hype suckers who feel they have look down their noses at or be critical of the CFL, and IMO part of the problem the CFL faces for respect in wannnabelands.

[paulwoods13]

Honesty - I think you really believe you are the maker of authoritative points here that say it all ?

I don't give a **** when those guys were hired, their types are still in place in the media and examples of "world class" sports hype suckers who feel they have look down their noses at or be critical of the CFL, and IMO part of the problem the CFL faces for respect in wannnabelands.

Your comment was: " ... hard to convince a lot of the wannabes who control and hire in the media to give the CFL respect and decent coverage. " Note present tense -- "and hire." That statement, which fails to reflect the current reality, undercut part of your argument, which otherwise had some validity (altho IMO not as much as you might think).

As for believing I am "the maker of authoritative points here that say it all," I assume everyone who comes on this forum can judge for themselves the usefulness and validity of everyone's viewpoints. I certainly do that. Most posters' views I deem worth reading, whether I agree or disagree with them. Others I see as less worth reading. A few, not at all - those are in my "ignore" list.

[Deerkeeper]

I would actually love to hear an explanation from Bell and Rogers for Basketball and non Blue Jays Baseball receiving ridiculous amounts of coverage and talk - when based on tv and radio ratings they're nowhere near as popular as the CFL, NHL, NFL and Curling.

A lot of it has to do with who tunes in. I doubt a lot of the Curling or Figure Skating fans are regular listeners to sports radio. Their own audience surveys whould show that, so why talk about it.

[R.J]

I'm guessing they get more incoming $$$ from the sponsors. That's the only thing I can think of. Perhaps the sponsors feel the ratings still cover the demographic they are chasing. We all know money talks, and if a sponsor spends more on NBA that CFL, then regardless of the ratings, they have to cater to them.

Is it possible that we put more stock into the ratings than the sponsors do?

Only thing I can think of is the Raps and NBA numbers skew young - around 50% of their tv audience is in the 18-34 crowd and the only other League that gets around the same is the NFL, but IMO the problem with this is the Raptors have been hovering around 200-250k viewers for years it's never really gone up or down much; NBA ratings are much worse at under 85k. So IMO the question has to be asked - why bother with all the coverage and hype when the growth isn't there ?

I should also mention no other league grew in terms of ratings like the CFL did with the new ratings system - it took the Blue Jays and NFL 4 years to catch up. The CFL is also the number 2 league in terms of merchandise units and revenue sold, still number 2 in radio ratings (Argos were even beating the Blue and NFL in 2014 - never saw 2015).

[jerrym]

Meanwhile Rogers' hockey broadcasts have had dropping viewership throughout the year, even in the early going.

In 16 games carried on the CBC, Sportsnet or City networks, the average audience for Leafs games was 863,825 viewers, down from 1,226,264 in the same period last year, when 14 games were shown. The difference is that in the first seven weeks of the 2014-15 season, the Leafs were still a playoff contender, unlike this season when they are in rebuilding mode and in last place in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division by Thursday night.
The drop in viewership also means a corresponding dip in advertising revenue for Rogers, which gambled heavily on NHL hockey by grabbing the league’s Canadian national broadcast rights in 2014 for $5.2-billion over 12 years. Revenue failed to meet the company’s expectations in the first season of the contract, although Rogers chief executive officer and chairman Guy Laurence said the company made a 10-per-cent profit on the NHL. Year 2 is off to an even worse start.
The Leafs ratings cratered in the last half of the 2014-15 season when the team collapsed in January and then decided to tear apart its roster. This left Rogers, which owns the club in tandem with rival Bell Media through Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, as a helpless bystander as Leaf fans turned away from their televisions.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle27702912/

[jerrym]

Forbes magazine discusses the effect of the lack of Canadian teams in the playoffs on Rogers viewership and revenue. Karma.

But Canada’s hockey teams are being party poopers.
Last season, five Canadian teams made it to the playoffs but none made it as far as the semi-finals. Television ratings for Rogers slid in the final two rounds. An average audience of 2.39 million for the Stanley Cup finals was 12% lower than the previous year. Some of the drop in television viewers is due to more people streaming the games. But far from all.

This season could be much worse. For the first time in more than 40 years, the Stanley Cup playoffs may lack a Canadian team this season. Only one of the seven Canadian teams–the Ottawa Senators–still have a shot at the playoffs. Canada’s two biggest NHL markets by far–Montreal and Toronto–are done.
Last month, Detlely Zwick, an associate professor of marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business, told cbc news: “They’re (Rogers) going to take a massive hit,” predicting a viewership drop between 30% and 40% compared to last year absent a Canadian team in the playoffs.”Simply, the product they sold to or they’re going to sell to advertisers is just not worth as much,” Zwick said.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2016/03/29/dearth-of-canadian-teams-in-nhl-playoffs-hurts-rogers-communications/#85da5cf19c14

[Neely2005]

And the first regular season Blue Jays game had almost 1.5 million viewers for Rogers Sportsnet.

[RB957]

In today's (April 23, 2016) Toronto Star, Bruce Arthur has a column about how great the Raptors fans are compared to Indiana and how much of a difference it seems to make for the players. Too true. The fans here have been great, as evidenced by the Jurassic Park events. However, as a CFL, and more importantly Argo fan, what I found interesting was one paragraph right at the bottom of the article, which I have copied below:

"It should be mentioned that despite a 56-win season, the Raptors still live in the shadow of hockey and baseball and, TV ratings-wise, the CFL. Toronto's [Raptors] TV's ratings slipped by about 15 percent this season; in the playoffs, they have produced 594,000 in Game 1, 624,000 in game 2 and 483,000 - a surprising low in game 3. That's better than the average NHL payoff game so far in a Canada-free post-season, but far short of the 912,000 per game the team pulled in against Brooklyn two years ago.''

It's nice that this fact was begrudgingly admitted by Arthur, because the numbers are the numbers, and as many posters to the Forum have pointed out, the CFL routinely draws high numbers in TV ratings. So the interest is definitely there. The big issue for us in T.O. has always been the lack of ownership support and leadership and the in-game experience and putting bums in seats. I am so jacked up for this season at BMO, because if done right (ala Winnipeg and Regina), we have the chance for a great resurgence of interest for the CFL here in Toronto.

[KCargosfan]

Is the lack of Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs going to help the CFL out of the gates this year with more coverage/interest and possibly ticket sales with people not spending cash on NHL playoff tickets?

[Argo57]

Is the lack of Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs going to help the CFL out of the gates this year with more coverage/interest and possibly ticket sales with people not spending cash on NHL playoff tickets?

I haven't watched 1 minute of the NHL playoffs, nothing to do with Canadian teams missing the playoffs, simply don't care about the NHL anymore.
TBH I follow the Argonauts and the CFL very closely, enjoy the NFL and have passing interest in the Jays, that's about it.

[argolio]

Is the lack of Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs going to help the CFL out of the gates this year with more coverage/interest and possibly ticket sales with people not spending cash on NHL playoff tickets?

Can't hurt.

[Ron]

"It should be mentioned that despite a 56-win season, the Raptors still live in the shadow of hockey and baseball and, TV ratings-wise, the CFL.

This was insulting to the CFL ... not a compliment. Once the games begin at BMO ... it'll be attendance wise as well.

[doubleblue]

I haven't watched 1 minute of the NHL playoffs, nothing to do with Canadian teams missing the playoffs, simply don't care about the NHL anymore.
TBH I follow the Argonauts and the CFL very closely, enjoy the NFL as have passing interest in the Jays, that's about it.

That pretty well sums it up for me as well.

[jerrym]

Is the lack of Canadian teams in the NHL playoffs going to help the CFL out of the gates this year with more coverage/interest and possibly ticket sales with people not spending cash on NHL playoff tickets?

The biggest boost this will give is just before and during training camp when the lack of Canadian teams in the playoffs will have sports media looking for alternative sources of articles and broadcasts.

[paulwoods13]

This was insulting to the CFL ... not a compliment. Once the games begin at BMO ... it'll be attendance wise as well.

Yeah, sure it will -- nine times a year vs. 41. And at a much lower price point.

[RB957]

Personally, I don't think so. The markets where the CFL is strong will always be strong. Toronto, for now anyway, seems indifferent to the CFL. Most so-called "football" fans follow the NFL. However, my hope is that with a new stadium, positive marketing and a great in-game, social experience, there will be interest created which will hopefully result in greater awareness and coverage.

[jerrym]

An old but interesting article on how the CFL is winning over fans in the US.

http://www.macleans.ca/society/two-p...rican-viewers/

[marcwagz]

I haven't watched 1 minute of the NHL playoffs, nothing to do with Canadian teams missing the playoffs, simply don't care about the NHL anymore.
TBH I follow the Argonauts and the CFL very closely, enjoy the NFL and have passing interest in the Jays, that's about it.

Exact opposite for me. Now that the leafs have the first overall pick im more excited about the nhl than ever, they seem to actually be building a decent team for once.
Ive watched every iihf game with auston matthews in it.
I also watch every raptors playoff game, although i know and im sure other fans do to, they arent actually a good team.
They only got as far as theybdid because the eaat sucks.

Anyway all the sports interest has me more excited about the upcoming cfl season, just bought myself a flex pack.