http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl? http://www.eblah.com en http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283792084/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283792084/#num1 Zelkovich: Anger over Sportsnet One could be productive
Published On Sun Sep 5 2010
  
By Chris Zelkovich
Toronto Star
Sports Media Columnist

Betty Tucker has no idea what she started.

Inspired by the retired Willowdale nurse’s angry comments over the Rogers Sportsnet One situation in The Star on Friday, hundreds of Toronto Blue Jays fans aired their displeasure in emails and phone calls.

There’s 98-year-old Dollie Shoveller, a former Ontario softball champion who loves nothing more than watching her beloved Blue Jays, but now can’t because her Hamilton retirement home can’t get Sportsnet One.

Then there’s 90-year-old Margaret McDonald, another baseball lover who can’t get the channel. Hearing problems mean radio broadcasts aren’t even an option.

“The days are long for some older seniors and they look forward to having a Blue Jays game to watch,” wrote her daughter, Lynda McNichol. “Rogers does not seem to have any thought to fans who are not rich.”

There’s obviously a lot of anger out there. The words “greed” and “cruelty” appeared frequently in the flood of emails.

While complaints came from a variety of age groups, most were from seniors who spend their summer evenings watching baseball on TV and now can’t. And there’s one of the many lessons Rogers can take from this ham-fisted approach to launching a new channel: Don’t mess with seniors.

After all, they were the ones who helped bring the CBC to its publicly funded knees when the corporation deprived them of curling a few years back. Hell apparently hath no fury like a senior sports fan scorned.

That anger may do more than just provide a little venting therapy. It may actually allow people to watch the rest of the 2010 baseball season. Rogers is feeling the heat over this and that should put some pressure on them to speed up dealings with other distributors.

The damage this is doing to Rogers’ baseball team — and Sportsnet’s ad revenue — can no longer be dismissed as the cost of doing business. The Jays have already seen their ratings take a huge dive.

Right now, the other cable and satellite operators are circling like sharks in the water, and they smell blood. No matter what price Rogers is asking, they’re all looking for a bargain.

While most of the fan anger is aimed at Rogers — nobody’s buying the corporation’s claim that the others are at fault for not accepting a free preview of the new channel — it won’t be long before it’s directed at the other operators, too. When that happens, both sides will relent and soon everybody will be offering Sportsnet One free for the rest of this season.

Normally, by next season few would even notice that their cable bills had gone up. But I get the feeling that’s not going to happen here and that this wave of anger won’t ebb for some time.]]> Mon, 6 Sep 2010 09:54:44 TurnTable3 http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283699682/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283699682/#num1 Game face on
Tumour, stroke can't keep Mike Walker from his job as Seals announcer
By Sharie Epp,
Victoria Times Colonist
September 5, 2010  

                  
                      Mike Walker at work in the broadcast booth during a Golden Baseball League game
                   between the Victoria Seals and Edmonton Capitals at Royal Athletic Park yesterday. The Seals lost 7-1.  
                                                                 Photograph by: Adrian lam, Times Colonist

Up in the press box at Royal Athletic Park, Mike Walker pulled off his headset, joking that from now on, he was blaming any broadcasting gaffs on his brain tumour.

At 22 years old, dealing with some devastating health issues, Walker was one upbeat guy.

"It's a terrible situation, but for the immediate future, nothing's going to change," Walker said.

Wisecracking as usual, between breaks, Walker was on the job last night, doing the Internet play-by-play of the Victoria Seals fan appreciation night against the Edmonton Capitals, which began with Tim Rodriguez doing backflips all the way from the Seals dugout to the outfield.

Unable to get their bats working on a chilly evening that didn't faze the boys from Northern Alberta, the Seals lost 7-1. The Caps, who downed the Seals 8-5 in the first game of the four-game series, fielded a crackerjack defence, and racked up eight doubles at the plate.

The Golden Baseball League regular season winds up today and tomorrow at RAP, starting at

1:30 p.m. both days, and Walker is looking for a winter job, preferably in hockey. Telling prospective employers you've suffered a stroke and have a brain tumour, however, gets dicey.

It's not something that was fathomable a month ago.

"It was like something you see on TV," he said. "It's bizarre."

Walker was just getting out of his car at home in Burnaby, when he felt a numbness in his foot and hand, and his speech slurred. Luckily, his girlfriend Amanda Eyolfson was with him. Doctors at the hospital diagnosed a small stroke, and discovered a tumour intertwined with brain matter -- both conditions apparently unrelated.

Walker took eight days off, then returned to the broadcast booth and told listeners about the stroke and tumour to avoid speculation.

"I'm not permanently disabled, I'm not in a wheelchair, I'm not bedridden," he said. "I needed to get back to normal."

Normal, for Walker, is compiling stats, writing press releases, doing player interviews and, above all, being a broadcaster. His work days run eight or nine hours, or maybe 12 or 14.

"Some days hanging around the ballpark feels like a day off," he said. "I get as excited when the Seals win as the guys on the field do."

Walker's off-season will begin with more tests, but the tumour is slow-growing, one he might have had since childhood. It will be carefully monitored. The stroke is a question mark.

"Right now, they're not sure why it happened, or where it came from," he said, adding the Seals have been incredibly supportive. "It's nice to know you've kind of got a second family."

Despite being afraid of the baseball in Little League, Walker figured out he wanted to be a sports announcer in high school at Lambrick Park. Working with Mavericks baseball, he did everything from public address announcements to groundskeeping.

When the Victoria Salmon Kings came to town, Walker called the hockey team "100 times" to talk them into a job. He made his play-by-play debut at 18.

"I put the headset down, and thought, 'This is what I want to do.'"

After two years with the Salmon Kings, Walker convinced the Seals he was a good hire, while finishing the broadcasting and communications course at BCIT.

The big time -- the NHL or Major League Baseball -- is Walker's ultimate goal.

sepp@tc.canwest.com]]> Sun, 5 Sep 2010 08:14:42 clockwatcher http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283126903/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283126903/#num1 PSR has no knowledge of the source for the allegations made in this thread.  So the headline has been altered to reflect our doubts.



                                                                      Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press

Is this finally it for Wally Buono?  
News conference has been called for Monday

.EDITED BY ADMIN.]]> Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:08:23 30 decibels http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282773425/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282773425/#num1 BroadcasterMagazine.com DAILY NEWS Aug 25, 2010 2:03 PM

TSN & TSN2 Report Largest NHL Broadcast Package
News Release
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the most nationally-televised NHL regular season games in Canada, TSN and TSN2 deliver Canada’s favourite pastime to fans from coast to coast with its 124-game NHL on TSN broadcast schedule for the 2010-11 regular season.  
All games are available nationally in High Definition.  
Games and highlights are also available on demand on TSN.ca.
This year’s combined 124-game national broadcast package is part of TSN and TSN2’s multi-year broadcast and digital rights agreement with the NHL.  
A total of 76 regular season games will air on TSN, with 70 games featuring at least one Canadian team.  
TSN also retains exclusivity of Wednesday Night Hockey, during which there are no other national or local NHL telecasts.  

TSN2’s regular season schedule features 48 live NHL games showcasing non-Canadian teams.  
In addition, TSN and TSN2 have pre-season action featuring all six Canadian clubs.

“As we saw with our regular season audiences last year, Canadian fans are watching the NHL more than ever.  
With 124 games this year, TSN and TSN2 will ensure fans across the country are well-served with a broadcast package that has the most nationally-televised NHL regular season games in Canada,” said Stewart Johnston, President, TSN.  
“In addition to live games, Canadian hockey fans also receive all-encompassing coverage of their favourite NHL teams on all of TSN’s broadcast, digital, online and mobile platforms.”

Regular season coverage on TSN gets underway on Thursday, October 7  – opening day – with an NHL Premiere game from Europe, as the Carolina Hurricanes take on the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland.  
In total, TSN has four NHL games from Europe to kick off the regular season.  

Additional highlights of the NHL on TSN regular season schedule include:
·      12 Original Six match-ups
·      10 games featuring Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks
·      14 games featuring Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals
·      10 doubleheaders on TSN
·      Dany Heatley’s highly-anticipated return to Ottawa with the San Jose Sharks on December 2
·      Continued exclusivity of WEDNESDAY NIGHT HOCKEY, during which there are no other national or local NHL telecasts

As part of its broadcast rights agreement with the league, TSN has exclusive Canadian specialty television rights for national English-language broadcast and digital coverage of NHL games.  
Once again, TSN has coverage of the first three rounds of the STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS, exclusive Canadian coverage of the NHL DRAFT LOTTERY and NHL ENTRY DRAFT, and a suite of broadband, wireless and video-on-demand rights for NHL On TSN telecasts.]]> Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:57:05 mikedup http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282749528/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282749528/#num1 Usual Suspects
Sportsnet One issue refuses to die
Network president says angry customers are pointing the finger in the wrong direction


By Bruce Dowbiggen
GlobeandMail.com
August 25, 2010

“Please listen to the menu as our options have changed. If you have an inquiry about the new Rogers Sportsnet One channel, press one...” When you warrant your own prompt on the phone menu of a cable company like Shaw, you know you’ve gone viral with an issue. But the dissatisfaction with the launch of Rogers’ new Sportsnet One channel - and the loss of Blue Jays games for customers of non-Rogers carrier - is refusing to die down.

Most point the finger at Rogers, which launched its new venture on August 14, despite having just one carrier - Rogers Cable - signed up. (Even then, Rogers’ basic customers also can’t access the signal.) But Doug Beeforth, president of Rogers Sportsnet, thinks people are pointing the finger in the wrong direction.

“We have made this signal free of charge to all the carriers for the first three months,” he told Usual Suspects. “We gave them two months’ notice of our plans. Why aren’t they offering a free channel to see whether the public wants the service? We are absorbing the production costs of games so people can see what we’re offering. I think fans have to be asking the other carriers why they’re not carrying the signal rather than blaming us for providing a new service.”

(As explained in a previous column, rival carriers such as Cogeco, Shaw and Bell - perhaps sensing Rogers’ discomfort - are telling customers that they’re studying the issue and hope to have a resolution at some unspecified time in the future.)

Beeforth also takes issue with the claim that Rogers is “taking away” games from customers who have signed up expecting to see 137 games. “This year we’re producing more Blue Jays games than ever before. But there just isn’t enough room on our channels to carry all the Jays games without launching another channel. The only way to deliver more games is to create a new channel for them - and for our NHL teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.”

Finally, Beeforth sympathizes with Rogers’ basic cable customers who can’t access the free Blue Jays games on higher tiers of the dial. “But as we move away from analog to digital, we have to find new places to provide our services. It’s a bit like when we went from most sports being on over-the-air stations such as CBC or CTV to having most sports events on cable. It’s an evolution in the technical progress of our business. I know it doesn’t make people happy in the short term, but that’s how technology evolves.”

Raiding Party: With the news of Keith Pelley’s stealth mission, going from CTV/ TSN to Rogers, the folks at his old stomping grounds are probably happy they got featured performers such as James Duthie and Bob McKenzie under new contracts recently. Leverage and all that. Industry insiders are anticipating Pelley might look to bring some of former employees with him to revamp the Sportsnet brand. Certainly, Sportsnet could use the jumper cables on its product to help distract attention from Carriergate (see above).

Meanwhile, TSN has filled its executive openings in the wake of Phil King’s promotion to president of Sports and executive vice-president of programming, CTV Inc. Like King, new TSN president Stewart Johnston is from the business side of the operation. As King’s key aide, the 39-year-old was formerly vice president of programming where, among other things, he was responsible in negotiations and acquisitions of sports broadcasting properties. Reporting to Johnston are Mark Milliere, who’ll head production, and Shawn Redmond, vice president of programming (Johnston’s former post).

Meanwhile, Adam Ashton succeeds Pelley as the head of the Olympic Broadcast Consortium for the 2012 Olympics in London. Ashton was formerly the vice-president of marketing in Vancouver for the consortium.

You Talkin’ To Me?: There aren’t many hockey markets north of Edmonton, but, after going through over 100 candidates, the NHL’s Oilers found their new radio play-by-play voice in one. American Jack Michaels, formerly the voice of the Alaska Aces, will replace Hall of Famer Rod Phillips (who may still work as many as 10 games this season. Michaels, 36, was the ECHL's broadcaster of the year in 2004 and has worked the annual all-star game on five separate occasions. Michaels, who has 900 games under his belt, will work with analyst Bob Stauffer. He grew up in Pennsylvania, listening to Penguins legend Mike Lange. So expect a few “scratch my back with a hacksaw” references if the Oilers lose 47 games again this year.

Schadenfreude: Finally, no one in the American sports media pack has been quicker to condemn than Jay Mariotti of ESPN’s Around the Horn and AOL Fanhouse. Now Mariotti is hoping that his colleagues exhibit the milk of human kindness after he was arrested on a domestic assault charge in Los Angeles. Don’t hold your breath, Jay, as your own quotes are fed back to you. “If we can feel sorry for a man who threw away something close to a perfect life, just so he could sleep with bimbos, then this is the time,” Mariotti opined about Tiger Woods. Ouch.

It’s not just writers skewering Mariotti. NFL star Chad Ochocinquo tweeted his Cincinnati teammate Terrell Owens. “Lets see if they crucify their own like they do us.” No probs, Chad. ESPN says it’s monitoring the situation. Translation: Jay is pain grille.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/sportsnet-one-issue-refuses-to-die/article1684541/
.]]> Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:18:48 Grand Slammer