CTV SportsNet execs were "facing the embarrassing and
costly prospect of dropping" several Blue Jays games because
of "conflicts" with the NHL playoffs and have had to
"remove" a Jays game from its national schedule, showing it
only in Ontario, according to Chris Zelkovich of the TORONTO
STAR. Sunday's Jays game, with a 2:00pm start, conflicted
with the Red Wings-Mighty Ducks Stanley Cup Playoffs 3:00pm
start. So SportsNet will show the first hour of Sunday's
Jays game, and then advise viewers to switch to local
affils, such as CFTO in Ontario, while hockey will run at
3:00pm. Zelkovich: "(It's) a move that won't please the
Blue Jays or advertisers." Next week, the Jays "butt heads"
with NHL games on Monday and Wednesday, and Zelkovich notes
that dropping a Jays game would cost CTV C$100,000 in
"rights fees and a bundle in ad revenue" (TORONTO STAR,
4/23). In Toronto, William Houston writes that, "switching
a game, midway, from cable to over-the-air has never been
done in Canada, but industry sources call it a reasonable
solution to a difficult problem" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/23).
