Bell Media Cuts hit YYC hard

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

The problem the sports media faces is that people are willing to do their work for next to nothing. There are probably more people covering the Flames now than they've ever had in their history.

But for the traditional media person, they are now competing with the people from Flames Nation and the SB Nation site who are willing to get paid either very little or nothing. Those sites also catering to the diehard fans much better than the TV or Newspaper. And for the more casual fan - Sportsnet, TSN, the Flames website and the NHL website offer better coverage than the local media does.

I don't know if its relevant, but I do/did (I'm retiring) run www.cflhorsemen.ca. In the span of a few years we've managed to get media accreditation including to the Grey Cup. We've gotten locker room access, we do player and management interviews, and the Stamps even sponsor a annual beers with event with Stampeder management and coaches where they buy dinner for our membership base.

We don't get paid for it, we do it for very little beyond the satisfaction of saying that we became a media outlet and on top of it we generate enough ad revenue to cover our costs.

To me that's going to be the future of media. In the past we've had the CBC and CTV reach out to us and talk to us about events that happened with the Stampeders (Ie Grey Cup losses, a player going on a bad rant on twitter).

Its not too hard to imagine where the major outlets could ask us to submit reports or stories to them for very little and the rest could be handled with highllights. We already have locker room access and we already get invited to media events.

You look across for example the CFL and you have the Lions Den gaining similar access. Even in the NHL I think the Islanders have experimented with basically amateur media.

Its cheap and its probably easier to control from a league and media perspective.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

As someone that works in Internet Marketing, its amazing to see how poorly some of these entities have adapted to the online world. To see a companies like ESPN and TSN have two of the worst websites on the net (on a UI basis), and no ability to watch on services like Apple TV for a subscription basis is beyond me. They have tried to adapt their sites to online monetization in poor ways (see: ESPN Insider).

ESPN is losing over 500K subscribers a MONTH, and don't know what to do about it.

Here's a good long-form piece on the ESPN issue:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...really-into-it

I feel like media outlets are the same as the newspaper industry of 10 years ago: We don't need to change! People will just come back and watch us! They have to!

Adapt to the new generation. Adapt to cord cutters. Or die.
Bell is doing their best to die.

I'm an ESPN insider subscriber and I'm still scarred by the website change a few years ago as before they had a long time setup that would have a box with the main stories then below would be a list of columns which were easy to navigate and find but some geniuses felt that giant pictures of main stories dominating your screen while other stories are randomly scattered all over is better. To my horror TSN basically copied that and it went from a frequently visited website to one I only venture to if something big happens in the NHL or CFL. In a world where are so many options on the internet is seems really strange that these companies would make their websites more complex and frustrating to navigate.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yes, most sports reporting is pretty worthless. But we're not just going to lose the bad stuff, we're going to lose the Eric Duhatschek's. And not just Duhatschek himself, but today's 26 year potential Duhatscheck. Nobody with brains, ambition, and the aspirations of a middle-class lifestyle is going into journalism today.

I could not care less about Duhatschek. I watch sports or participate in it, I don't read about it.

Really the only thing of value that wasn't on TV that I can think of is team and tactics analysis for soccer, and that stuff doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It's also stuff I pay for. Maybe there's a connection.

In fact, tactics and team analysis is the only stuff I would be ready to pay for, but reliable high quality analysis like you can find for soccer seems to be impossible to find for hockey. They never know the rosters deep enough, and they almost never have any insight on even the basic stuff like what kind of special teams are used.

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

What's lost is not the perfunctory reporting of scores and news conferences, but the sheer talent of a few talented wordsmiths who drew you into caring about the sport. Who created legends and spun lyrical elegies.

That is what is lost. The sport dies a little without its poets.

I don't think I've ever read anything like what you describe in a paper. I have read good stuff online though. From where I'm standing, the internet is not killing the good writing, it's creating more good stuff than ever.

Besides, most journalists are simply technically competent writers. Sure, it's a skill that has some value, but there are now so many people in the world that can write on that level that it doesn't have much value anymore.

It's much the same as with professional photography. Most formerly professional photographers have proven to be no better than enthusiastic amateurs. If you can't truly set yourself apart from a horde of amateurs, you're going to be out of a job. Being a little better and a little more consistent isn't something people are going to pay for.

[curves2000]

I go back to some earlier comments I made about media in general and the changes that are occurring in the industry both in news and in sports. Somebody has to gather it and that someone isn't doing it for free or for the goodness of their heart.

It is unreasonable to expect random people off the street to leave their day jobs and go sit in a city council meeting and properly report on the City of Calgary's budget where property taxes increases are really hurting taxpayers and business's alike.

It is not reasonable to think that we, as Calgary Flames fan's, are all going to be granted one on one access to Mark Giordano to discuss what the team needs to do in order to finish the season strong and in a playoff spot.

I wouldn't take the words of a random citizen Tweeting about the the Alberta NDP Government's policies with any sort of seriousness. Nobody on CP should be taking my "news" that Johnny Hockey is on the trade block and Crosby or Ovi coming back to YYC as real reporting.

If we look at the Mathew Tkachuk situation with Doughty over the last 2 weeks. All the media on both local, print, blog, fansites, Sportsnet/TSN etc gathered those quotes from I believe Wes Gilbertson and Kristin Odland of Postmedia over a few one on one interviews.

Like I said, I totally understand why the business has changed and I see it getting way worse but that doesn't mean it's better. Just because somebody read something somewhere online, doesn't make the fact that a reporter or journalist didn't go and gather that information properly. A lot of times the stuff you see or read online is just BS.

I flipped through some news after a game recently with a friend. The topic that was being reported on was Donald Trump making another visit to Florida for a weekend of meetings and more golf. A golf friend of mine was also watching and said he had read "somewhere" that Obama averaged 250 rounds a golf a year as President. I didn't have the heart to tell the poor guy that his "news source" was utter garbage.

Like I said, I understand things are changing but let's not all pretend that change is always positive for things. There was a point in time where the news outlets like CTV, Global etc ran the news division as a loss leader as a condition of getting the airwaves. It was a public service to keep them informed and the powers accountable.

Just my $.02

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

The problem the sports media faces is that people are willing to do their work for next to nothing. There are probably more people covering the Flames now than they've ever had in their history.

But for the traditional media person, they are now competing with the people from Flames Nation and the SB Nation site and CalgaryPuck

I get more pleasure reading Gaskal's ATLR than any of the sports media.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I'm going into a Communications and Journalism program next year and I'm genuinely concerned now for my future after school. I already have some connections within the industry but even still, this climate is making me want to reconsider my path more and more. It's a shame, because my dream has always been to inform the public about big events, but every day it seems like more of the public is content to just go without the news. At some point, doesn't somebody need to cover the news?

What kind of events are you referring to? In today's interconnected world, that sort of role is slowly going away. I would seriously reconsider my future if I were in your shoes.

I've noticed that for mainstream/traditional media, in their coverage of the last couple of major global incidents, they've just been reading tweets or re-airing social media pictures that they paid for. It's the people on the ground who can instantly report from their phones and share it to the world that is making traditional reporting going the way of the dinosaur. Even Peter Parker is outdated in today's world because by the time he can web-sling to a scene to take photos, someone has probably Instagrammed it all already.

Today, when everybody has access to information and data aggregation tools and there are millions of online venues to process that information, the need for the traditional reporter or journalist is quickly going away and any successful journalists are going to have to really change the game in order to succeed.

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

They've tried to adapt. But the problem is the new models don't generate any money. Getting 30K people to watch a video clip doesn't do much good if you can't monetize it. People vastly over-estimate how much money online ad revenue generates.

I work in online monetization. There is oodles of money out there if done right!

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm an ESPN insider subscriber and I'm still scarred by the website change a few years ago as before they had a long time setup that would have a box with the main stories then below would be a list of columns which were easy to navigate and find but some geniuses felt that giant pictures of main stories dominating your screen while other stories are randomly scattered all over is better. To my horror TSN basically copied that and it went from a frequently visited website to one I only venture to if something big happens in the NHL or CFL. In a world where are so many options on the internet is seems really strange that these companies would make their websites more complex and frustrating to navigate.

yup. Look no further than NHL.com. What an awful site....

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Itse

I could not care less about Duhatschek. I watch sports or participate in it, I don't read about it.

Really the only thing of value that wasn't on TV that I can think of is team and tactics analysis for soccer, and that stuff doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It's also stuff I pay for. Maybe there's a connection.

In fact, tactics and team analysis is the only stuff I would be ready to pay for, but reliable high quality analysis like you can find for soccer seems to be impossible to find for hockey. They never know the rosters deep enough, and they almost never have any insight on even the basic stuff like what kind of special teams are used.



I don't think I've ever read anything like what you describe in a paper. I have read good stuff online though. From where I'm standing, the internet is not killing the good writing, it's creating more good stuff than ever.

Besides, most journalists are simply technically competent writers. Sure, it's a skill that has some value, but there are now so many people in the world that can write on that level that it doesn't have much value anymore.

It's much the same as with professional photography. Most formerly professional photographers have proven to be no better than enthusiastic amateurs. If you can't truly set yourself apart from a horde of amateurs, you're going to be out of a job. Being a little better and a little more consistent isn't something people are going to pay for.

Then i have no question that you are not anywhere as informed about the game and various aspects within it, as you could be.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Then i have no question that you are not anywhere as informed about the game and various aspects within it, as you could be.

There isn't any information about the game that Duhatschek has exclusive rights to.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

There isn't any information about the game that Duhatschek has exclusive rights to.

About the game? Like the one on the ice any particular night? No, nothing exclusive there.

His insight and understanding of the game along with his connections and ability to sift through the noise, is unlike many (very few exceptions) in the entire world when you talk about the NHL and even international hockey.

[Jay Random]

Nevertheless, anything useful that Duhatschek says is quickly repeated by other sources. And he is not the only person on Earth with that quality of insight.

It is quite possible to be an informed hockey fan without reading Eric Duhatschek. Millions of people manage it every day.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Nevertheless, anything useful that Duhatschek says is quickly repeated by other sources. And he is not the only person on Earth with that quality of insight.

It is quite possible to be an informed hockey fan without reading Eric Duhatschek. Millions of people manage it every day.

Not AS informed. Period.

So when guys like him are forced out...there is no repeating by other sources, because there is nothing to repeat.

Instead that spot will be filled in with someone no where nearly as competant, knowledgable, connected, and able to deliver that information in a way that the average hockey fan (those "millions" you refer to) can absorb and understand.

This isn't hard to grasp.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Not AS informed. Period.

So when guys like him are forced out...there is no repeating by other sources, because there is nothing to repeat.

Instead that spot will be filled in with someone no where nearly as competant, knowledgable, connected, and able to deliver that information in a way that the average hockey fan (those "millions" you refer to) can absorb and understand.

This isn't hard to grasp.

Yeah, sorry but I'm still not going to miss him. I mean, I do like some of his stuff like the history articles. But it's not THAT special.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Itse

Yeah, sorry but I'm still not going to miss him. I mean, I do like some of his stuff like the history articles. But it's not THAT special.

Yeah..OK

[Corral]

What is disappearing here is that aggregator who brings stuff together and gives it meaning for others ... investigative journalism if you like. The value of traditional media was, in part, it gave folks like this a platform and a stable place to do their craft and earn a living. The internet is ruthless in this regard. Its great paradox is that while it provides us with more information than ever before, we are collectively less informed.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Not AS informed. Period.

So when guys like him are forced out...there is no repeating by other sources, because there is nothing to repeat.

So what? Nobody is talking about forcing him out. You're saying that you must get your hockey news or commentary from him and him only, or you will be judged uninformed. That's a foolish and ignorant thing to say.

Instead that spot will be filled in with someone no where nearly as competant, knowledgable, connected, and able to deliver that information in a way that the average hockey fan (those "millions" you refer to) can absorb and understand.

This isn't hard to grasp.

I grasp it. I just don't agree with it. You may find that a hard combination to understand.

[VladtheImpaler]

I wonder if it will become like the old Soviet-era media back home, where the best writers/reporters are in the sports sphere (i.e. a reversal here)... Over there, because of censorship and having to spew propaganda, the most talented writers wound up in sports, because they were largely left alone, and could really let it all hang out. Even back in 1995/96 when I went back to work in Moscow, the sports newspaper was such a delight to read, even though it was dealing with stuff I had to particular stake/interest in. Theoretically, sports media here (because of the fanatics) should be the easiest part of the media to monetize, no? It seems to me there is a significant segment of the population that would pay for "insider" access and would want to read stoies that "capture the spirit of the thing". At least that's my impression...

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

So what? Nobody is talking about forcing him out. You're saying that you must get your hockey news or commentary from him and him only, or you will be judged uninformed. That's a foolish and ignorant thing to say.



I grasp it. I just don't agree with it. You may find that a hard combination to understand.

No Im not.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by transplant99

About the game? Like the one on the ice any particular night? No, nothing exclusive there.

His insight and understanding of the game along with his connections and ability to sift through the noise, is unlike many (very few exceptions) in the entire world when you talk about the NHL and even international hockey.

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Nevertheless, anything useful that Duhatschek says is quickly repeated by other sources. And he is not the only person on Earth with that quality of insight.

It is quite possible to be an informed hockey fan without reading Eric Duhatschek. Millions of people manage it every day.

Depends on what you're looking for. An analysis of a particular game? Sure. The current fortunes and prospects of your local team? Yep. No problem getting that stuff.

Looking at those things in the context of every other team in the league? With a perspective and insight that takes in 35 years of the NHL? From someone who watched Gretzky and MacInnis and Lemiuex and Fetisov play in their prime and knew them off the ice? Who often talked hockey with Scotty Bowman while he was coaching? Who knows dozens of scouts, agents, and managers?

Nope. Not gonna get that stuff from a local blogger.

For those of us who value context - across the league, on and off the ice, over decades - we absolutely will lose something.