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In an ambitious move that will have an impact on sports television in several ways, TSN is planning to launch a companion channel called TSN2.
The new service, which will start in the fall, will provide content that will include major-league programming such as NHL and NBA telecasts on a cycle of 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Executives and spokespeople at TSN are mum on the subject, but sources in advertising say TSN has already bought for the channel the rights to NBA games that were discarded by Rogers Sportsnet at the end of last season.
The new service will provide extensive auto racing and tennis coverage and, apparently, will air at least one major-league event daily.
And it will be the first digital channel in Canada to provide programming in high-definition television.
A sidebar to TSN's plans is the status of the network's existing alternative digital channel, which has been carrying overflow programming for the past several years.
TSN asked cable and satellite companies this summer to sign agreements to carry TSN2. By the end of last week, several, including Rogers Cable and Bell ExpressVu, had not agreed.
As a result, TSN's alternative channel, which had been available free of charge, was cut off from the distributors who were unwilling to commit to TSN2.
The alternative channel will be discontinued once TSN2 is up and running, but, in the short term, its absence will have an impact, particularly in September, when it airs U.S. Open tennis telecasts.
The launch of TSN2, which was previously licensed by the federal regulator, will not be good news for Sportsnet or The Score. It will represent more competition. Nor will it be helpful to the CBC, which is hoping to start its own digital sports channel.
Games begin
Forget about tomorrow's opening ceremony, the CBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics started yesterday morning with a live telecast of the Canadian women competing in the soccer tournament.
Unfortunately, the Canada-Argentina game, which started at 4:45 a.m. EDT, was not replayed later in the day. And that might have been a mistake.
After all, the women are potential medal contenders and could become one of the CBC's big stories of the Games.
Repeating their 2-1 victory in prime time would have been a way of introducing the women to Canadian viewers and inspiring interest in their pursuit of a medal.
The coverage was fine, except for a few minor problems. The CBC's reporting of the soccer team's international status was confusing, starting with an opening voiceover that told us they had "finished second in qualifying."
That doesn't say much, particularly to the uninitiated. The announcer should have said Canada finished second to the United States in North and Central American qualifying.
Later, host Ron MacLean told us that Canada ranked 14th in the world and China ninth. He corrected himself a few minutes later, stating he had reversed the correct rankings.
A halftime report by Erin Paul disappeared immediately after she said "the upsetting news …"
It was a technical glitch that lasted only a second or two. Paul later finished her sentence by explaining the bad news involved Canada's Melissa Tancredi, who injured her ankle in the first half.
The play-by-play of Nigel Reed and Jason De Vos, who called the game from a monitor in Toronto, was fine. De Vos, a former professional and Canadian defender, has developed into a smart and enthusiastic game analyst.
He drew us in by critiquing the performances of the players throughout the game. And he made the right call on Tancredi, who continued to play after hurting her ankle, when he said, "I'm not sure how long she will last." She was gone before the first half ended.
Reed showed a homer's bias when, discussing the nervousness of the Canadians, said, "Hopefully, the butterflies have settled." He should have said that it appeared as though the butterflies had settled.
Overall, his work was fine. He stayed on top of the action, in his low-key way, and was able to rise to the occasion when a big play needed to be called.
Barred in Beijing
It's not just the Chinese who are banishing journalists from the Olympic facilities. The International Olympic Committee barred Australia's Channel Nine, a non-rights holder, from official Olympic areas for a week after the network breached rules that prohibit the use of television equipment at venues.Channel Nine apparently did the same at Athens four years ago.
- Canadian Football Hall of Famer Ron Lancaster is fighting lung cancer and has left his job as game analyst on Hamilton Tiger-Cat radio broadcasts. He was a long time analyst on CBC football telecasts.
