TSN Announces '07-'08 Season

courtesy of
broadcastermagazine.com
June 6th, 2007

TSN confirmed an unparalleled slate of sports programming as part of its Fall 2007 schedule and the year ahead.

Included in the mix is TSN’s ongoing commitment to High Definition. TSN HD will offer more sports coverage, more hours and more events in High Definition than any other network in Canada. In all, TSN will televise more than 6,000 hours of sports action in HD from 1,650 national and international sports events and games. TSN HD's comprehensive lineup includes SportsCentre, NHL, CFL, NFL, NBA, International Hockey (including World Juniors), Toronto Blue Jays Baseball, NASCAR, golf, tennis, boxing, poker, NCAA football and Molson That’s Hockey.

TSN will continue its aggressive campaign to secure and stream live coverage of key sports properties on TSN Broadband, including all 50 CFL on TSN games beginning this Summer. TSN Broadband made headlines in June 2007 with its live coverage of the America’s Cup, marking the first time a Canadian sports broadband network provided exclusive live coverage of an entire major national or international sporting event.

The 2007/08 season is filled with a tremendous amount of exciting news for TSN. Below is the network’s jam-packed sports lineup for the upcoming year:

Hockey Lives Here

Increased audiences for NHL telecasts, a significant multimedia agreement for the Men’s World Hockey Championship and stellar ratings for the World Juniors on multi-platforms all solidify TSN’s number-one status as the home of everything hockey.

* NHL on TSN –TSN gears up for another exciting NHL campaign with 70+ national broadcasts during the 2007/08 regular season and the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup? Playoffs. More than half of TSN’s NHL broadcasts will air in High Definition next season. TSN enjoyed one of its most successful NHL broadcast seasons ever in 2006/07. The 2007 Stanley Cup? Playoffs attracted record ratings with a national average audience of 510,000 viewers over 32 games throughout the first three rounds – an 11 per cent increase over last year’s playoffs, while TSN’s coverage of the regular season attracted an average of 425,000 viewers over 73 games, making it the network’s second-most watched NHL regular season in 11 years. Three of TSN’s NHL broadcasts this year cracked the network’s Top 10 list of most watched NHL games.

* IIHF World Junior Championship – TSN’s annual holiday hockey tradition continues with multi-platform coverage of the 2008 World Juniors from the Czech Republic in late December/early January. TSN will provide extensive live coverage of the tourney, including all of Team Canada’s games, on TSN, TSN HD and TSN Broadband as Canada looks to win its fourth consecutive championship. Last year, TSN’s television coverage of the gold medal game attracted 1.8 million viewers, making it TSN’s 10th most watched program of all time. On TSN Broadband, a record 241,000 Canadians watched some portion of the live coverage while an additional 72,000 accessed the broadcast on-demand.

* IIHF Men’s World Championship – TSN will be at the forefront in May 2008 when the 100th anniversary of the Men’s World Championship takes place for the first time in Canada – in Halifax and Quebec City. TSN will televise 15 games from the tourney. The 2008 tournament also marks the beginning of a new 4-year deal that provides TSN with exclusive English coverage in Canada for television and radio, as well as a comprehensive suite of multimedia rights including broadband, video-on-demand, mobile, podcasts and interactive TV. TSN’s coverage of the 2007 gold medal game attracted a national average audience of 681,000 viewers, making it the sixth-most watched World Men’s Championship game ever on TSN as Canada won its first title in 3 years.

* Additional Hockey – TSN has extensive coverage of additional national and international tournaments/events on the hockey calendar during the 2007/08 season: NHL Entry Draft, TradeCentre on NHL Trade Deadline Day, NHL on TSN Free Agent Frenzy, Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, World Women’s Championship, World Under-18 Championship, World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, National Women’s Under-18 Championship, World Junior A Challenge, TELUS Cup, RBC Royal Bank Cup, Allan Cup and the ESSO Women’s Nationals.

CFL on TSN

Wendy’s CFL on TSN returns this summer with a 50-game broadcast package that will be available for the first time ever on multiple distribution platforms – TSN, TSN HD and TSN Broadband. All 50 regular season games will air live on TSN and TSN Broadband, with a minimum of 35 broadcasts televised in High Definition on TSN HD. The majority of HD telecasts will air Friday nights during the 11th season of the weekly staple Friday Night Football. TSN’s 2007 broadcast schedule gets underway on June 28 with a season opening doubleheader. The CFL on TSN broadcasts continue to grow in popularity, as evidenced by the past 2 seasons – the most successful CFL seasons in network history. In fact, the average audience of the 2005 and 2006 seasons is nearly double TSN’s average audience throughout the 1990s (376,000 viewers vs. 189,000). Joining TSN’s award-winning CFL broadcast team this year is 3-time Grey Cup champion and 17-year CFL veteran Danny McManus, who will work as a game analyst. TSN has been televising CFL game since 1986 and announced last year a new 5-year broadcast partnership beginning in 2008 that provides TSN with broadcast and digital rights for the CFL’s entire 77-game package annually, including all regular season games, divisional playoff matches and the Grey Cup.

NFL on TSN

TSN is the prime time home for the NFL in Canada with 42 regular season games, beginning with the season opener on September 6 as the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts host the New Orleans Saints. With exclusive Canadian coverage of Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football, TSN offers viewers a one-two punch with back-to-back nights of NFL action throughout the regular season. Included in the mix is coverage of games on Thursday/Saturday nights, as well as NFL Countdown, Football Night in America, Monday Night Countdown, NFL Primetime and the NFL Draft. All games and magazine shows will air in High Definition on TSN HD. TSN’s all-encompassing NFL broadcast package complements CTV’s recent acquisition of the Sunday early afternoon regular season games (1 p.m. ET), all playoff games and the coveted Super Bowl.

NASCAR

TSN will continue to be the home of NASCAR in Canada for years to come with two recent announcements: i) exclusive broadcast rights to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series through 2010, including the series’ crown jewel, the Daytona 500, and ii) a multi-year deal for exclusive English-Canada broadcast rights to all NASCAR Busch Series races, including this year’s inaugural race in Montreal on August 4. In 2007, TSN will air 28 NEXTEL Cup Series races and all 35 Busch Series races, all in High Definition.

The Presidents Cup and Golf

TSN will provide exclusive Canadian coverage in English of the most prestigious golf event ever in Canada – The 2007 Presidents Cup, taking place September 27 to 30 in Montreal, marking the first time the tournament has been held on Canadian soil. TSN will provide live coverage of all 4 rounds as well as opening ceremonies. A biennial event, The Presidents Cup features the 12 best players from the United States competing against the 12 best players from the rest of the world (excluding Europe) in competitive match play format. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player will return in 2007 as Captains for the U.S. and International teams, respectively. TSN’s golf coverage also includes the four majors: U.S. Open (June 14 to 17), British Open (July 19 to 22), PGA Championship (August 9 to 12) and The Masters (April 10 to 13, 200

.

Euro 2008

Next summer, TSN will be the home of the most prestigious continental soccer championship with exclusive Canadian coverage in English of UEFA European Football ChampionshipTM 2008. TSN’s multi-platform coverage of EURO 2008 includes television coverage as well as broadband, video on mobile devices, video-on-demand and interactive TV. TSN will provide coverage of all 31 matches of the quadrennial tournament, as well as a highlights show on match day, EURO 2008 Final Draw, magazine programs and unlimited encores. EURO 2008 takes place from June 7 to 29, 2008 from Austria-Switzerland and features the Top 16 European national soccer teams. TSN has televised the past 5 EURO tournaments, dating back to the 1988 tourney in Germany. Coverage of the EURO 2004 final on CTV, TSN and RDS set record ratings with a combined English and French national audience of 1.55 million viewers.

Curling and Casino Rama Curling Skins Game

TSN’s popular made-for-TV curling skins game returns in 2007 with the Casino Rama Curling Skins Game, airing live on December 8 and 9. The all-Canadian event features four invited Canadian men’s rinks competing for a total cash purse of $100,000 (Cdn) plus additional prizing. TSN produced and televised curling skins events from 1986 to 2004 as part of its all-encompassing curling coverage. In 2008, TSN’s curling coverage includes the Scotties Tournament of Heart (February 16 to 22), Tim Hortons Brier (March 8 to 14) and Ford World Women’s Championship (March 22 to 2

. Beginning in the 2008/09 season, TSN will be the exclusive Canadian home of all eight Season of Champions events, including the semis and finals, with coverage of the morning, afternoon and evening draws.

SportsCentre

Sports fans from across the country have voted SportsCentre, TSN’s flagship news and information program, the number-one source for sports news every year in Roper Canada’s annual report.* With SportsCentre’s transition to High Definition in September 2006, SportsCentre remains the only sports newsroom in Canada to deliver a daily sportscast in HD. With bureaus in 9 Canadian cities, SportsCentre brings viewers the most comprehensive news, highlights, scores and exclusive interviews from across the sports spectrum.

Olympics

TSN will provide extensive coverage of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games from Beijing, China from August 8 to 24, 2008 with 150 hours of action, including 50 hours in prime time. This marks the 5th consecutive Olympic Games TSN has televised and leads into CTVglobemedia’s/Rogers Media’s coverage of the highly anticipated 2010 Olympic Winter Games from Vancouver.

Jays on TSN

TSN has secured a new 4-year broadcast extension with the Toronto Blue Jays that will see the network deliver a total of 80 regular season games beginning this year through 2010. In 2007, TSN will air 20 regular season games, all in HD, marking the first time TSN’s entire Blue Jays broadcast package will be produced and televised in High Definition. TSN is coming off another strong season, which saw ratings for Blue Jays games increase for the second consecutive year with a per-game average audience of 415,000 viewers. This is the 24th consecutive year TSN has televised Blue Jays baseball, dating back to the network’s inception in 1984.

NBA

After an exciting Toronto Raptors season which saw the team make the playoffs for the first time in 5 years, TSN looks forward to another successful NBA campaign with all-encompassing coverage in 2007/08. TSN will televise a minimum of 20 Raptors games next season, the NBA All-Star Weekend, a minimum of 17 playoff games up-to and including the Conference Finals, as well as exclusive Canadian coverage of the 2008 NBA Finals, all of which will be available in High Definition on TSN HD. The 2006/07 campaign was the third most watched NBA season ever on TSN with a 29 per cent increase over last season.

Tennis

TSN serves up 600 hours of tennis action in 2007 with coverage of the biggest events on the tennis calendar, including all 4 grand slam tournaments (French Open – currently airing; Wimbledon – June 25 to July 6; U.S. Open – August 27 to September 9; Australian Open which aired in January). TSN’s coverage also includes the 2 Canadian tourneys – men’s Rogers Cup in Montreal (August 6 to 10) and women’s Rogers Cup in Toronto (August 13 to 17), and the nine other Masters Series tournaments including the season finale Masters Cup from Shanghai (November 12 to 1

.

Formula One Auto Racing

TSN once again offers Formula One fans a trip around the globe with coverage of the entire 17 race F-1 season in 2007, including pre-race and qualifying. The network’s schedule is highlighted by live coverage of the Canadian Grand Prix from Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 9 and 10. In 2008, TSN will also have coverage of the entire F-1 season, which gets underway in March.

UEFA Champions League Soccer

Soccer fans across the country have a lot to look forward to during the 2007/08 soccer season as TSN will televise up to four UEFA Champions League games each week, plus comprehensive playoff coverage that includes the championship final live from Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on May 21, 2008.

Boxing

TSN's comprehensive coverage of the 'sweet science' features some of boxing's biggest stars going round-for-round. Viewers are invited to go between the ropes each week with the popular TSN original series In This Corner with Russ Anber. Weekly coverage also includes HBO Championship Boxing, HBO Boxing After Dark, Wednesday Night Boxing and Friday Night Fights, all of which are available in High Definition on TSN HD, as well as Classic Boxing bouts and The Contender boxing specials.

Poker

TSN's deck is stacked with 150 hours of poker programming in 2007, including the third annual Degree Poker Championship airing in September with 7 one-hour prime-time episodes on TSN, TSN HD and TSN Broadband. Last year’s Degree Poker Championship was the most watched poker tournament in Canada. TSN has numerous additional high profile poker tourneys on the broadcast schedule with the World Series of Poker, Poker Million, U.S. Poker Championship, Legends Cup of Poker and European Poker Tour. TSN has been televising poker since 1998.

TSN.ca is Canada's leading sports website with an average of 2.5 million unique visitors and 77 million page viewers per month. Currently there are more than 400,000 registered users, while 130,000 users receive TSN.ca's morning email blast. An average of 60,000 user comments are submitted to the site's Your Call feedback section each month. TSN.ca offers 140,000 pages of content, 700,000 minutes of audio and video clips each month, scores/updates/standings/stats from 35 different sports, daily fan forums and fantasy pools, podcasts of favourite TSN shows and commentaries from TSN on-air talent, and the most insightful and provocative analysis from Canada’s most respected sports writers and reporters.

*Roper Canada survey began in 1998
**2005/2006 Roper Canada – Winter

All audience figures are 2+ and exclude and pre- and post-game; source BBM Nielsen Media Research

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