TV ratings

[ArgoRavi]

Hopefully with the Olympics over, those numbers increase. Last week being all blowouts surely didn't help.

Tonight's game in Ottawa was a terrific start to this week's games!

[PullTogether73]

Not TV ratings specifically, but TV...

I was impressed to see Sportsnet Connected show the highlights of tonight's Lions/REDBLACKS game less than 1 minute after the game finished.
Is this the new Rogers in relation to the CFL?

[Gill The Thrill]

Argos beat the Lions handily just a few short weeks back.

Week 3 might as well be the first pre-season game Ravi. The Argos have flattened and are still in pre-season mode because they either don't have skill, or are poorly coached, perhaps both, while the Lions are ascending and progressing as the regular season schedule and standings start to take shape with the games becoming more intense.

[mint83]

Not TV ratings specifically, but TV...

I was impressed to see Sportsnet Connected show the highlights of tonight's Lions/REDBLACKS game less than 1 minute after the game finished.
Is this the new Rogers in relation to the CFL?

I have no inside information but my theory is that Rogers are showing respect to Tanenbaum.

[Neely2005]

Week 3 might as well be the first pre-season game Ravi. The Argos have flattened and are still in pre-season mode because they either don't have skill, or are poorly coached, perhaps both, while the Lions are ascending and progressing as the regular season schedule and standings start to take shape with the games becoming more intense.

Unless BC had won that game against us, right?

[Gill The Thrill]

Unless BC had won that game against us, right?

The Grey Cup has never been won in July, has it. The W's do all count, but the W's later in the season do carry more weight because of how important they are. By the 2nd half of the season, you start to notice the wheat (contenders) seperating from the chaff (pretenders).

[Neely2005]

The Grey Cup has never been won in July, has it. The W's do all count, but the W's later in the season do carry more weight because of how important they are. By the 2nd half of the season, you start to notice the wheat (contenders) seperating from the chaff (pretenders).

Weird I thought a win was worth 2 points no matter when it happened.

[KCargosfan]

The Grey Cup has never been won in July, has it. The W's do all count, but the W's later in the season do carry more weight because of how important they are. By the 2nd half of the season, you start to notice the wheat (contenders) seperating from the chaff (pretenders).

Weird I thought a win was worth 2 points no matter when it happened.

I've never bought the line, "The season really starts Labor Day." Whatever. Ask the Riders if their season starts this weekend. Their season is over. Fact is, you can't piss away the first half of the season, because the chances of going 6-3 or 7-2 the last half aren't good.

When Winnipeg went to the Cup a few years back they were shit the last 6-7 games of the year. They still made the Cup, and if Odell Willis doesn't drop a sure pick 6, they win the Cup.

[AngeloV]

if Odell Willis doesn't drop a sure pick 6, they win the Cup.

He was probably offside anyways. It seems like he's always offside, and never get called for it.

[ArgoRavi]

I've never bought the line, "The season really starts Labor Day." Whatever. Ask the Riders if their season starts this weekend. Their season is over. Fact is, you can't piss away the first half of the season, because the chances of going 6-3 or 7-2 the last half aren't good.

When Winnipeg went to the Cup a few years back they were shit the last 6-7 games of the year. They still made the Cup, and if Odell Willis doesn't drop a sure pick 6, they win the Cup.

I concur. You are talking about the 2011 season and the Argos started 1-6 IIRC and didn't get going until it was too late. In fact, the Argos were the best team in the East over the final month of that 2011 season as all of the other eastern teams were playing lousy football by that point. However, the 1-6 start eventually became 2-9 before the Argos went 4-3 during the stretch run. They missed the playoffs however.

Every game from Game 1 to Game 18 is important. If you win early in the season, it may take some of the pressure off later in the season.

[PullTogether73]

The Grey Cup has never been won in July, has it. The W's do all count, but the W's later in the season do carry more weight because of how important they are. By the 2nd half of the season, you start to notice the wheat (contenders) seperating from the chaff (pretenders).

Weird I thought a win was worth 2 points no matter when it happened.

Yup.
By definition, if all wins are worth two points in the standings, there is no greater weight applied to two points in June versus two points in October.

Also, the Grey Cup has never been lost in July either.
I'm pretty sure it has never been played in July actually.

[ArgoZ]

I've never bought the line, "The season really starts Labor Day." Whatever. Ask the Riders if their season starts this weekend. Their season is over. Fact is, you can't piss away the first half of the season, because the chances of going 6-3 or 7-2 the last half aren't good.

When Winnipeg went to the Cup a few years back they were shit the last 6-7 games of the year. They still made the Cup, and if Odell Willis doesn't drop a sure pick 6, they win the Cup.

That's just it though. You can go 6-3 (normal winning football) after a terrible first half and somehow, still make the playoffs in the CFL, hence "the season can be for REAL starting Labour Day." Add to the fact that a lot of teams rosters significantly change come Labour Day.

[Gill The Thrill]

I concur. You are talking about the 2011 season and the Argos started 1-6 IIRC and didn't get going until it was too late. In fact, the Argos were the best team in the East over the final month of that 2011 season as all of the other eastern teams were playing lousy football by that point. However, the 1-6 start eventually became 2-9 before the Argos went 4-3 during the stretch run. They missed the playoffs however.

Every game from Game 1 to Game 18 is important. If you win early in the season, it may take some of the pressure off later in the season.

Early wins can take pressure off, but it doesn't necessarily mean you are contender. Let's face it, the CFL is a watered down product early in the season because of the large amount of talent that attends NFL training camp. It's why guys like OV and myself complain about below avg American players getting all this playing time to play themselves out of the league, while a Canadian who's grown up watching the league and would cherish a Grey Cup win is forced to play special teams, or worse yet toiling on the sidelines waiting for their opportunity.

I've also read posts where you've stated the season "really starts" after Labour Day and I do agree because rosters become more finalized. A bad start is a bad start whether it's an 18 game or 16 game schedule. So that 2-9 start would've been a a 2-7 start, and that 4-3 stretch in the end would've still put the Argos at 6-10. That's not exactly a great season either way, but it is easier to watch than a 6-12 team. (not as much suffering to endure with those 2 extra losses and more merciful to season ticket holders...lol)

That's just it though. You can go 6-3 (normal winning football) after a terrible first half and somehow, still make the playoffs in the CFL, hence "the season can be for REAL starting Labour Day." Add to the fact that a lot of teams rosters significantly change come Labour Day.

Remember the BC Lions in 2011 started 0-5. I remember some of those games were close and the Lions were still an entertaining team to watch. They were not this year's Saskatchewan losing games 53-7 or hanging in for 3 quarters and still losing 35-15 to Calgary. I wasn't counting them out because of the forgiving schedule.

Ravi, you may remember how perilous a bad first half of the season used to be in the shorter 16 game schedule. The Argos used to start their annual airlift on Labour Day becuase they wanted to salvage their season after a 1-4 or 2-5 start. That made every game, even early season games more meaningful because you didn't have 10 games left after squandering you're first 8 playing mediocre football like this year's Argo team. Remember 1982 when the Eskimos were 3-5 after a Labour Day loss in Calgary. There was serious talk throughout the country of whether that team would even make the playoffs. It turned out that they ran the table winning 8 in a row to end the season and winning 2 more playoff games to win their 5th Grey Cup in a row. But do you think that talk would even happen today if a team started 3-5, this year's Esks started 2-4 but their was very little talk about missing the playoffs because they had 12 games left.

Even Saskatchewan is not out if they can go on a run. The chances are highly unlikely as Chris Jones does seem to be operating that team with long-term goals in mind and seems more worried about the process than the results. If they can beat Winnipeg in back to back games, that would put them within a couple of games back with 7 to play for them. May I dare say even 1 game behind the Argos if they continue to tailspin and go 4-7, or even tied with Montreal at 3-8 if they don't improve. This puts them in contention for a possible crossover. Highly unlikely, but not impossible. That just goes to show how forgiving the CFL is because of the long schedule. This is what triggers the perception that the games after Labour Day do mean more than the games before ,despite all the games being mathematically worth 2 pts . Even Kent Austin is on record today saying that he's happy with the way the Cats are playing at 4-5, and the goal is to make the playoffs and playing their best football by the time the playoffs arrive so that they can contend for the Grey Cup.

[ArgoRavi]

I seriously doubt that I have said that the season really starts after Labour Day as I abhor that thinking. What I have said repeatedly is that it is a long season which is why nobody should be panicking if their team is 4-4 and one point out of first place with more than half of the season remaining.

[Gill The Thrill]

I seriously doubt that I have said that the season really starts after Labour Day as I abhor that thinking. What I have said repeatedly is that it is a long season which is why nobody should be panicking if their team is 4-4 and one point out of first place with more than half of the season remaining.

No problem, but you are inferencing that games later in the season are more important which virtually means the same thing when you tell Argo fans not to panic. The Argos are technically half a game ahead of the Hamilton Ticats right now, whom are 4-5, but objectively I would think that the Ticats are on the right road and heading in the right direction compared to the sputtering Argos. The Argos are at 4-4, and after Wednesday which objectively I think will be a loss based on what I've observed, the Argos will be 4-5, identical to Hamilton in standings. The big difference being the Ticats will play 6 of their remaining 9 at home where the Argos are on the road for 6 of their last 9. I just think the Cats have a better all-around team with more depth and you will see the unusual home team records actually get turned around in the 2nd half, especially in Hamilton with Zach at QB.

[Neely2005]

@paulosenra: 2.4 million Canadians tuned into the first-ever Live Mic Broadcast regular season #CFL game on @TSN_Sports last night. #CFLWired

https://twitter.com/paulosenra/statu...50637431201793

[Neely2005]

@simmonssteve: 2.9 million was the audience on Labour Day for the Argos-Ticats game on @TSN_Sports. So, yes, people are indeed watching the CFL.

https://twitter.com/simmonssteve/sta...36455986061312

@simmonssteve: The 2.9 million TV audience for the Argos-Ticats on Labour Day is a lot more than any Stanley Cup Finals game did on its own in 2016.

https://twitter.com/simmonssteve/sta...48836103315456

[ArgoRavi]

@simmonssteve: 2.9 million was the audience on Labour Day for the Argos-Ticats game on @TSN_Sports. So, yes, people are indeed watching the CFL.

https://twitter.com/simmonssteve/sta...36455986061312

@simmonssteve: The 2.9 million TV audience for the Argos-Ticats on Labour Day is a lot more than any Stanley Cup Finals game did on its own in 2016.

https://twitter.com/simmonssteve/sta...48836103315456

Steve might have mistaken the 2.9 million as the average audience vs. the number of unique viewers at any point in the game. I haven't seen the average audience figures yet but they would have been strong too with that many unique viewers.

[Shipyard]

Steve might have mistaken the 2.9 million as the average audience vs. the number of unique viewers at any point in the game. I haven't seen the average audience figures yet but they would have been strong too with that many unique viewers.

agree thats total viewers (# of unique people that tune into the game) ... avg over 3hrs probably 800-900k

[Scooter McCray]

I'm assuming that with such a large audience for a Toronto based team and what was an exciting game played in front of a sold out Southern Ontario crowd this game was one of the main topics of sports radio Tuesday. I was not able to listen in. Can anyone verify whether the Argos and the LDC were discussed. If it was not discussed what if anything does that tell us about the business decisions driving Toronto media?