The CRTC approved a new CBC sports specialty channel Wednesday, but will limit the amount of high-ratings sports like hockey, basketball and football.

CBC SportsPlus is expected to start early in 2009.

As part of the licence, at least 30% of the content must be covering amateur sport, calculated weekly. Also, no more than 30% of weekly broadcasts could involve pro sports and only 10 per cent could be high-profile sports such as hockey, baseball, football, basketball, golf, soccer or tennis.

Calculating weekly, rather than hourly, will make it difficult for new station to exceed its programming limits during high ratings — playoffs, for example — and then make it up in slack periods.

A number of groups, including CTVglobemedia, Rogers, and Score Media, had opposed the proposed channel saying it would unfairly compete against their sport channels.

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	Sports	Posted at 1:31 am (21 Aug 2008)

Beginning in July 2008, and continuing through to 2010, CBC will provide more than 90 total hours of daily coverage of the legendary Calgary Stampede on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca and bold, (formerly CBC Country Canada). This makes it the most extensive coverage ever of the Calgary Stampede on CBC. CBC will also serve as host broadcaster for the duration of the agreement.

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	Asides, Sports	Posted at 2:07 pm (10 Apr 2008)

Don Wittman, synonymous with CBC Sports for nearly a half-century, died early Saturday after a battle with cancer. He was 71.

Wittman passed away in a Winnipeg hospital surrounded by his family.

Don Wittman joined CBC Sports in 1961 and went on to call some of the most vicious, arresting and triumphant moments in Canadian sports history.

Don Wittman joined CBC Sports in 1961 and went on to call some of the most vicious, arresting and triumphant moments in Canadian sports history.

“On the Saturday mornings of every telecast I worked with Don, I recall him spending a couple of hours talking to players, coaches, writers and broadcasters, gathering as much information as possible, far more than he could ever use on the air,” Scott Oake of CBC Sports said. “But, in Don’s mind, better that than being unprepared.”

His voice appears on perhaps the most replayed sports clip in Canadian history, Ben Johnson’s apparent win in the 100-metre sprint at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, a result overturned days later after Johnson tested positive for a steroid. More recently, he expressed the shock so many viewers felt when favourite Perdita Felicien crashed into the first hurdle at the 2004 Athens Games.

Covering a calamity more sobering than any sporting event could ever be, Wittman was near the scene in Munich in 1972 after gunmen attacked and held hostage members of Israel’s Olympic team, with 11 eventually killed.

During the standoff, Wittman and producer Bob Moir crawled under a fence to get into the Olympic Village and the evacuated Canadian quarters. They were positioned directly across a courtyard from the Israeli dormitory.

More at CBC.ca

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	Obits, Sports	Posted at 10:26 am (22 Jan 2008)

Ouimet, the mystery management blogger, has a great interview with the Corp’s Andrew Lundy on the changes to CBC.ca’s sports page. Lots of detail on the new branding strategy and how the changes came to be.

In the interview, Lundy answers the question a lot of folks asked in the last few months:

O: I have a lot of friends who live overseas. Every time I talk to them they ask me why they can’t watch the Stanley Cup online….

AL: Our agreement with the NHL is for Canada only. NBC and Versus wouldn’t like it if someone in Boise was watching an HNIC broadcast online, eating into their customer base. Ditto for someone in Sweden (although I don’t know who’s broadcasting competitively there).

I understand the frustation, though. We’re sending this online to a population that can watch it on main net and in HD.. why give them online? But it’s the way of the future and our numbers were, I’d say, solid for a first-time, and for games that were played in the evening (not online’s prime time by any means).

O: So that’s that?

AL: For now, that’s that. I don’t know of anyone who has global rights. Not for anything major, anyway.

O: Why doesn’t the NHL sell a subscription a streaming site of their own making? So people could pay to watch?

AL: You’d have to ask them. Major League Baseball sure does, and they do a fantastic job. But each league is different, and maybe there’s a different philosophy at play between the two leagues.

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	CBC.ca web site, Sports	Posted at 8:13 am (13 Jun 2007)

The Globe and Mail speculated late last week that it might be time for the CBC to retire Hockey Night in Canada’s play-by-play team.

Will the longest tenured play-by-play team in Canadian broadcasting, the CBC’s Bob Cole and Harry Neale, return to the Hockey Night in Canada booth next season?

It’s too early for a CBC announcement, but you can anticipate one of two decisions: Either the network will thank Cole, 74, and Neale, 70, for their long and estimable contribution to the show and say goodbye. And Jim Hughson will be offered Cole’s spot as the No. 1 play-by-play caller, and the CBC will look for additional announcing and analytical talent.

Or Cole and Neale will both be given another one-year contract, with perhaps a reduced workload and the understanding they will retire at the end of 2007-08.

I don’t watch a lot of hockey (I know, I know…) but I’ve always really liked their input and commentary. Then again, I’m a bandwagon-jumper (Go Sens! What? They lost?) so what do I know.

What do you think? If you were in charge of Hockey Night in Canada, would you pick them up for another year or find new people?

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	Hockey Night in Canada, Personalities, Sports	Posted at 10:32 am (11 Jun 2007)

The CBC has inked a two-year broadcast agreement for the rights to eight Toronto Blue Jays regular season games in the 2007 season and up to 30 regular season games in 2008. CBC’s Jim Hughson will call the play-by-play. The CBC and the Jays have a long history together dating back to 1977 when the CBC was the team’s original broadcaster. The deal adds to the strong sports showing: CBC also secured rights to Major League Soccer and FIFA coverage including the FIFA U-20 World Cup taking place across Canada. First game airs Saturday, June 23 at 1 p.m. ET.

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	Asides, Sports	Posted at 4:43 pm (29 May 2007)

The CBC has secured broadcast rights to Toronto FC, Canada’s first Major League Soccer club, for the 2007 season. CBC Television will broadcast a package of 14 regular-season Toronto FC games this year, including the expansion franchise’s home opener on April 28 against the Kansas City Wizards.

The agreement also provides CBC with the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the 2007 MLS playoffs and MLS Cup, as well as the 2007 MLS all-star game on July 19. In addition, CBC will provide live and on-demand video streaming of all Toronto FC game broadcasts on the network in 2007, in addition to Toronto FC and MLS highlights.

CBC Country Canada will provide encore presentations of all 14 matchups broadcast by CBC Television. The agreement includes an option for CBC to broadcast additional games in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

More at cbc.ca

Photo: Chivas USA defenceman Lawson Vaughn, left, misses his kick, leaving Toronto’s Alecko Eskandarian open to take a shot during FC’s debut game last Saturday. (Mark Avery/Associated Press) 

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	Sports	Posted at 12:44 pm (11 Apr 2007)

Sorry about being late with this news — I’ve been on a flight to Toronto most of the day.

The CBC and the NHL announced a new television deal Monday that will keep Hockey Night in Canada on the air until 2014.

The six-year broadcast deal, which includes national English-language broadcast and multimedia rights to NHL games in Canada, will begin when the current agreement between the CBC and the league expires after the 2007-08 season.

“Can you imagine seven more years of me? How can it get any better?” Don Cherry, co-host of Coach’s Corner, told CBC Sports Online.

More at cbc.ca

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	Hockey Night in Canada, Sports	Posted at 4:38 pm (26 Mar 2007)

The Globe and Mail is reporting that the CBC and the National Hockey League will announce a new television agreement today that will keep Hockey Night In Canada on the air well past the 2007-08 season.

The Globe says the new rights are worth about $100-million a year, an increase from the $65-million that the CBC is now paying the NHL.

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	Hockey Night in Canada, Sports	Posted at 10:05 am (26 Mar 2007)

If you’ve ever watched Hockey Night in Canada and thought “If I were in charge, this whole thing would be altogether different…” Now’s your chance to show off your managerial stick handling. CBC has posted the job of Executive Director for TV Sports.

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	Asides, Getting a Job, Sports	Posted at 1:12 pm (15 Dec 2006)

From “CBC takes early lead in battle for NHL TV rights” in the Globe and Mail:

The buzz this week has the CBC emerging as the favourite to retain National Hockey League broadcasting rights. A source well connected to the NHL speculated the CBC will hang onto the rights by signing a relatively short-term deal with the league, perhaps only three or four years in length.
     Insiders say the network made a presentation to the NHL about two weeks ago in New York and, as the incumbent rights holder, is operating now in a window of exclusive negotiation. Although it has been speculated an agreement could be announced as early as this month, others say a complete presentation by Bell Globemedia, which owns CTV and TSN, has yet to be heard.

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	Hockey Night in Canada, Sports	Posted at 11:14 pm (07 Dec 2006)

For those of you who are interested…

Saturday, Nov. 4 CFL Semi-finals Preview Show 5:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 5 CFL ON CBC Pre-Game Show 12:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 5 Scotiabank East Semi-final 1 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 5 Scotiabank West Semi-final (HD) 4 p.m. ET
Saturday, Nov. 11 CFL Championships Preview Show 5:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 12 CFL ON CBC Pre-Game Show 12:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 12 Scotiabank East Championship 1 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 12 Scotiabank West Championship (HD) 4 p.m. ET

GREY CUP WEEK
Monday, Nov. 13 Grey Cup Classics: The ’50s Midnight Local
Tuesday, Nov. 14 Grey Cup Classics: The ’60s Midnight Local
Wednesday, Nov. 15 Grey Cup Classics: The ’70s Midnight Local
Thursday, Nov. 16 Grey Cup Classics: The ’80s Midnight Local
Friday, Nov. 17 Grey Cup Classics: The ’90s Midnight Local
Saturday, Nov 18 Grey Cup Saturday
     Peter Jordan’s Grey Cup Adventure 2 p.m. ET
     93rd Grey Cup Championship (encore) 2:30 p.m. ET
      94th Grey Cup Preview Show 4:30 p.m. ET
      2006 Grey Cup Parade 5 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov 19 94th Grey Cup Pre-Game Show 3 p.m. ET
Sunday, Nov. 19 94th Grey Cup Championship (HD) 5:30 p.m. ET

Feel free to email this to a friend.

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	Sports	Posted at 10:43 am (01 Nov 2006)

Nancy Lee, the executive director of CBC Sports,  is leaving the corporation after almost 20 years.  Lee will become the chief operating officer for Olympic Broadcast Services Vancouver. CBC-TV vice president Richard Stursberg says the search for Lee’s replacement will begin immediately. In the meantime, David Masse will be acting executive director of CBC Sports.

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	Asides, Executives, Sports	Posted at 9:58 am (17 Oct 2006)

CBC spares no expense for series on Canada’s game
“…The first episode is closer to being a slick docudrama than a well-developed report on hockey’s early years…. Some of the commentary is excellent. Michael McKinley and Erik Zweig, journalists who have written books on hockey, bring plenty of smarts and enthusiasm to the narrative.”

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	Asides, Media Coverage, Specials, Sports	Posted at 4:51 am (23 Aug 2006)

CBC Sports on Thursday announced a four-year broadcast and multimedia agreement for the rights to FIS alpine skiing. Beginning this 2006-07 FIS alpine World Cup season and continuing through 2009-10, CBC will broadcast more than 30 hours of coverage per year of FIS alpine skiing events, including the FIS World Cup from Lake Louise and the FIS Alpine World Championships from Sweden.
     n addition to comprehensive alpine skiing coverage, all season CBC Sports has coverage of the top international sporting events, including the FIS World Snowboarding Championships, the FIS World Freestyle Skiing Championships and the World Figure Skating Championships presented by BMO Financial Group.

More: CBC Sports ramps up TV coverage for 2006-07 alpine World Cup season, SkiRacing.com

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	Sports	Posted at 10:12 am (18 Aug 2006)