TSN not hurting, but thriving without NHL

[albertGQ]

http://awfulannouncing.com/2015/tsn-...thout-nhl.html

Despite no longer having rights to air NHL games nationally, January saw TSN post its highest-viewed month (in terms of average audience) in five years, and the second-highest viewed month ever in the network’s 30-year history (behind only February 2010, when they had tons of content from the Vancouver Olympics).

Not a good sign for Rogers and Sportsnet.

[Travis Munroe]

I should read the article before posting as I am sure it is covered but having 5 channels covering 5 different shows is going to draw more viewers than 1 channel or the later expanded TSN 2.

[Sylvanfan]

Keep in mind that they had the benefit of a World Junior Tournament in Canada's two biggest markets.

TSN did a good job marketing that tournament plus the new NCAA football playoff provided them some Bowl Games on New Years day which likely drew more interest.

It tells nothing about Rogers NHL deal in my opinion.

[Toonage]

Good points re: world juniors and the Bowl games. Plus the NHL went dark for a week due to the All star break.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Are they really missing a lot of NHL content though? Sure they don't get the national games anymore, but they've increased their regional programing by quite a bit. I'm kinda jealous that Winnipeg and Ottawa still get to watch hockey on TSN. Ball and Hrudey are the best TV PBP guys the Flames have ever had, but everything else about the Sportsnet broadcast sucks compared to TSN

The real test will be during the playoffs, I bet you see TSN's numbers take a huge hit come April and May

[MrMastodonFarm]

Yeah, it's 5 channels compared to two, I would hope ratings went up when you more than double your channel count.

January was a big month for TSN, the World Juniors is their marquee event now.

They also took the UFC coverage from Sportsnet to start the new year, so that night have helped. Not sure there was only a couple of events.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Are they really missing a lot of NHL content though? Sure they don't get the national games anymore, but they've increased their regional programing by quite a bit. I'm kinda jealous that Winnipeg and Ottawa still get to watch hockey on TSN. Ball and Hrudey are the best TV PBP guys the Flames have ever had, but everything else about the Sportsnet broadcast sucks compared to TSN

The real test will be during the playoffs, I bet you see TSN's numbers take a huge hit come April and May

Agree totally with the bolded above. Also, this is year one of a twelve year deal. Sportsnet will continue to bleed viewers away from TSN as the deal rolls on. People still think of TSN as a good source for NHL related content, but will they still feel that way by year five or year ten?

[Ducay]

Sounds like the same thing my ex's would say after I broke up with them, as they cried into a tub of ice cream. "Im not hurting, I'm thriving without you! *sobs*"

[Robo]

i haven't watched tsn since their last NHL game that I could actually tune into

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

I should read the article before posting as I am sure it is covered but having 5 channels covering 5 different shows is going to draw more viewers than 1 channel or the later expanded TSN 2.

Except they don't more often than not, the TSN feeds are still only two shows. TSN2 is unchanged, but TSN1, 3, 4, 5 are basically regional feeds like how Sportsnet does it, just nationally available. Usually three of those channels are showing the same thing, while the fourth will often be timeshifted.

I'm sure the extra feeds helps, but I think the impact on TSN's overall ratings is overstated.

IMO, three major reasons why TSN did so well:
1. Canada dominated the world juniors
2. Milos and Genie have become tennis stars
3. More Canadians in NCAA, making those games more interesting north of the border.

From Rogers' perspective, HNIC is disappointing, but Sportsnet was consistently outdrawing TSN early in the NHL season. Only the CFL playoffs and then the world juniors halted that trend.

[Senator Clay Davis]

TSN is also just a better, more respected brand by consumers. If someone is just gonna turn on a sports channel without wanting something specific to watch, 90% of the time it'll be TSN. And I really doubt Rogers can change this long term, especially when TSN figures to steal more of its current content that Rogers won't be able to afford because they overpaid for the NHL deal (like the EPL and Champions League namely).

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Robo

i haven't watched tsn since their last NHL game that I could actually tune into

You missed a real entertaining WJC.

[Buff]

Early rounds of Australian Open tennis saw four different TSN feeds airing matches. In previous years you could watch only one channel. That will help out a bit too.

[hwy19man]

I recall a similar media release 16 years ago when TSN did not have national rights to the NHL (Sportsnet had them from 1998 to 2002). There was no TSN2 back then or multiple feeds, but, TSN was giving a positive spin on not having the national contract claiming that all their other programming were all time high ratings.

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Are they really missing a lot of NHL content though? Sure they don't get the national games anymore, but they've increased their regional programing by quite a bit. I'm kinda jealous that Winnipeg and Ottawa still get to watch hockey on TSN. Ball and Hrudey are the best TV PBP guys the Flames have ever had, but everything else about the Sportsnet broadcast sucks compared to TSN

The real test will be during the playoffs, I bet you see TSN's numbers take a huge hit come April and May

Toronto and virtually the rest of Ontario still get to watch hockey on TSN with 26 Leafs games.

[polak]

Yeah I think it has a lot to do with being able to show almost every match or game in a tournament due to all the channels.

Instead of one or two Australian Open match they can show 5. Sure, one will get the big numbers but the rest will pick up some viewers too. I don't watch childrens sports but I'm assuming the WJC was similar (That is still TSN's biggest accomplishment - Getting anyone to care about the wjc).

[FanIn80]

I'm still trying to figure which is worse: TSN not talking about the Flames at all during the intermission of a Flames game, or listening to the clowns at SNET actually talking about the Flames during the intermission of a Flames game.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Except they don't more often than not, the TSN feeds are still only two shows. TSN2 is unchanged, but TSN1, 3, 4, 5 are basically regional feeds like how Sportsnet does it, just nationally available. Usually three of those channels are showing the same thing, while the fourth will often be timeshifted.

I'm sure the extra feeds helps, but I think the impact on TSN's overall ratings is overstated.

IMO, three major reasons why TSN did so well:
1. Canada dominated the world juniors
2. Milos and Genie have become tennis stars
3. More Canadians in NCAA, making those games more interesting north of the border.

From Rogers' perspective, HNIC is disappointing, but Sportsnet was consistently outdrawing TSN early in the NHL season. Only the CFL playoffs and then the world juniors halted that trend.

For this to make sense financially they need to become THE sports brand in Canada. It'll be interesting to see what happens after the season. Will Sportsnet ratings go up? That's when you'll see if this pays off.

I'm surprised they only won two months in 15 years prior to this though. They have had the Jays and the MLB deal for a while now. What was TSN showing in the summer that could beat that? No football, hockey or basketball. You've got tennis and golf I guess.

[-TC-]

I watched the WJC on TSN and haven't turned it on since...

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

For this to make sense financially they need to become THE sports brand in Canada. It'll be interesting to see what happens after the season. Will Sportsnet ratings go up? That's when you'll see if this pays off.

I'm surprised they only won two months in 15 years prior to this though. They have had the Jays and the MLB deal for a while now. What was TSN showing in the summer that could beat that? No football, hockey or basketball. You've got tennis and golf I guess.

If TSN got a bump in cable subscriber fees from having five channels instead of two, then it already makes sense financially. Their costs would only be marginally higher considering they haven't actually bought much in the way of new programming. i.e.: already had EPL and NCAA rights. They simply lacked capacity to air it all. Their expanded deal with the NLL is the only new property i can think of off-hand, and that surely was not too expensive.