CBC Pulls Out As Blue Jays Broadcaster Citing Declining Sales

Blue Jays Will See 145 Games Telecast In '09 Season Even Without The CBC

The CBC has "pulled out as a carrier of Toronto Blue Jays telecasts ... citing declining sales," according to William Houston of the GLOBE & MAIL. CBC Sports Exec Dir Scott Moore yesterday said that a "drop in revenue, coupled with the cost of TV rights, knocked the Jays out of the box." Moore: "We weren't able to make a deal that made financial sense in these economic times." Houston notes another factor in the decision is the CBC's "inability, as a broadcaster, to supplement ad revenue with revenue from cable companies." Moore indicated that "even in good times ... it is difficult to get top ad revenue for Jays telecasts when three networks -- Sportsnet and TSN in addition to the CBC -- are competing for the same dollar." The CBC's two-year contract with the Blue Jays expired at the end of the '08 season, and Houston notes the team was "demanding the same fee, about [C]$150,000 a game, from all networks." Blue Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston called the CBC's move a "disappointment," but added, "We're not going to give away the rights." Beeston said 145 of the team's 162 games will be televised for the '09 season -- 125 on Sportsnet and 20 on TSN (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/15). In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich notes the move means that CBC Blue Jays analyst Jesse Barfield is "probably out of a job," while fellow analyst Rance Mulliniks "will continue to work Sportsnet games." Play-by-play announcer Jim Hughson will "restrict himself to hockey, where he has become CBC's lead announcer" (TORONTO STAR, 1/15).