This move to simulcast TSN tv for radio doesn't bode well for the future of the Argos in Toronto. We'd listen to radio calls in the stands and were glued to the post game show. Has Bell Media mandated cuts to costs until stadium revenue is reversed?
I must not be understanding this correctly.
Does this mean that fans listening in on radio will only hear is the noise of the game - & the occasional stadium announcer's voice....?
I can't see how they would think this will keep listeners tuned in for very long!
But if radio fans would instead hear the TSN television PbyP - then lost jobs aside - it could work fine I guess.
I really don't think the CRTC ruling on simulcasting had anything to do with this as the Argos radio broadcasts have not been economically viable for decades. Do you remember the year they had no radio coverage at all...I think around 1999 or 2000. It had gotten that bad, and word was out that the Argos were paying for their airtime. That won't drive radio sponsors to your product.
You definitely have several years on me if you remember listening to games in the 1960s and 1970s, but I'm pretty sure that Mel Profit had moved out of Toronto by the time Sazio became Argo GM and President in 1981. So it wouldn't have been him who influenced CFRB in their decision. I believe I've heard that happened during one of the late 70s seasons which saw Profit work as a radio analyst with Dave Hodge doing play-by-by....wow, talk about outspoken on-air talent, something that you hardly see and hear from today's company "yes" men.
It's that, but it won't be very good. As Angelo pointed out above, the TV PBP is intended to help you understand what you're *looking* at; things that are obvious on TV (e.g. incompletions) aren't always explicitly stated. Those listening on the radio will be confused at times this year.
I hope the day comes soon for the Argos when it isn't 1 step forward, 2 steps back.
Now hang on a minute - the TSN guys will know they are now also providing sound to a radio audience.
And the sponsors will want to keep those listeners happily tuned in.
So you can't tell me the TSN crew won't be upping their game - & I'm sure you'll hear a more descriptive telecast.
Unfortunately, the Argos' radio broadcasts have had little to no value since TV blackouts were removed back in 1991. I recall that the removal of TV blackouts was done for a couple of home games back in 1988 and that is when CFRB pulled the plug on their long-standing relationship with the Argos.
Cameron Dukes + Dan Adeboboye + Kevin Mital + David Ungerer + Damonte Coxie + DaVaris Daniels + Dejon Brissett = Unstoppable Force
Wasn't Profit's final game on radio the season-ending loss to Hamilton in 1976 which put the Argos out of the playoffs again? Didn't he say something like Russ Jackson's offence could fit on the head of a pin? That was five years before Sazio became involved with the Argos.
Cameron Dukes + Dan Adeboboye + Kevin Mital + David Ungerer + Damonte Coxie + DaVaris Daniels + Dejon Brissett = Unstoppable Force
This is a terrible decision. Mike Hogan and company are a big part of the Argo family and he is my favourite sports radio personality. How can you throw aside someone who shows such passion for the game? This is a very big blow to the Argo ship in my opinion. I go to every home game, but I love listening to the post game show as I drive away. Hopefully they at least keep that portion of the show.
Sports radio is killing itself really. I absolutely detest it when I hear programming just brought in from the US. We will never, ever hear anything about Canada while that is on. Sports radio hosts fall over themselves to interview American sports people and will talk endlessly about some college basketball when I am sure there are no more than 100 people in the country who care about it. Or talk about some linebacker for some NFL team and never, ever talk about our own league that way. I think this is what is killing their market. They may not think so. Please keep Mike Hogan. This move will only show that the Argos are cheap, cheap, cheap.
It was reassuring to the see the quantity of outrage voiced on Mike Hogan's Twitter account yesterday. Coast-to-coast colleagues and fans have expressed dismayed on this call. Dismantling the product hardly shows a renewed commitment to the future of the Argos. If anything, I thought adding an internet live stream to the radio broadcast would demonstrate renewed management to addressing demographic changes facing the local market.
Seems to me almost everyone is making assumptions that is was entirely the Argos who made the decision. No one here actually knows the details, except for the one member.
Should have read "in the best interest of the bottom line of our organization"
As Ravi correctly notes, radio broadcasts have been a declining asset since 1991 when the team began lifting TV blackouts. They were worth a lot when home games weren't telecast, much less so after that. Every Argo game, home and away, has been available on TV for several years now. Hard-core fans love the pre- and post-game shows, and some even listen in the stadium although I see far fewer people wearing headphones than I did back in the transistor radio era. But most fans are either at the game without access to radio, or watching on TV. A few turned down TV sound to replace Rod Black with Mike Hogan, but even that is difficult given that TV signals are mostly on a delay.
In a perfect world, we'd all have everything we want. In the real world, TSN is no longer producing its own radio programming in the evenings, and it very likely made little to no sense for the Argos to buy 72 hours worth of airtime when the listenership would be small and the likelihood of attracting new fans through radio even smaller.
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Argo ratings were not good, and this is a cold hard business decision. The media companies (5 main companies) are combining resources from coast to coast which has been very hard on radio and tv, but we are also seeing the same in the print business.
Conventional media usage is going through a revolutionary seismic realignment.
Bell has used the CRTC decision(s) to reason away some of their cost cutting moves. I believe they would happen regardless. The CRTC is weak and relatively useless anyway. They are pretty much a rubber stamp for licenses.
Simulcast won't improve or increase ratings, it will just improve the bottom line for the share holders reports. Simulcast has traditionally failed on terrestrial radio, but failure in presentation is no longer a consideration unless in a cash earning margin.
Argo fans have been marginalized. Toronto is a weak market for CFL Football, so you see it here first. Get ready for other markets to follow, unless they are selling enough time to circumvent the costs of productions, which are not cheap.
This is the new reality in the media business.
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