CTV Globemedia Has To Put The Grey Cup On CTV

My blog is about technology and impact it has in Canada, but I do write about technology and Canadian media. For once I will write about Canadian media and my weekend passion, football.  For the forth year in a row many fans of the Canadian Football League, including my parents who only subscribe to a basic cable package which doesn't include TSN will not be able to watch the Grey Cup (or any other game from the previous four seasons).  Despite owning both TSN and the CTV network, CTV Globemedia chooses to air the No Fun League from south of the border on CTV for all Canadians to see and punt the CFL onto their cable sports channel.

The nine percent of Canadian homes that use antennas as the only source of television signals combined with the larger proportion of homes that subscribe to cable and satellite packages that don't include TSN, leaves about one in five households with no access to the CFL on TV.  The potential lost ratings and advertising revenue has to be something that somebody at CTV Globemedia or the Canadian Football League has to be at least aware of. 

Undoubtedly CTV Globemedia would argue the carriage issue revolves around access to CFL games in High Definition, If Canadians from coast to coast with high definition service could watch on an HD feed from CTV (CFTO Toronto) through their digital cable or satellite service wouldn't generate as much revenue as viewership on TSN.  Since cable and satellite providers pay for the TSN signal, versus not having to pay for CTV.  It clear how much CTV Globemedia only sees revenue from the cable and satellite providers and not to mention the already big revenue TSN makes from advertisers, they don't see the 20 percent of Canadians who would watch CFL if they could.  Including that 20 percent by moving the CFL to CTV would generate far greater advertising revenue for CTV Globemedia.