Canadian viewers have brought a "constant stream of complaints" regarding Rogers Media's NHL broadcasts since the net acquired media rights beginning with the '14-15 season, according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. The first type of complaint "can be summed up as get rid of Hockey Night In Canada host George Stroumboulopoulos and bring back his predecessor, Ron MacLean." The second is "hate for the new look and new faces Rogers brought to the broadcasts, with the bulk of the complaints" about "Hockey Night In Canada," which was a CBC institution for 62 years. The "irony about the intensity of the complaints" about Rogers' version of national hockey broadcasts is that the company "went to great lengths to find out what Canadian fans wanted before it made all of the changes." It was "called a 'listening tour.'" Conversations with those connected to the show "reveal that while the complaints are vexatious, there is a belief they stem from more than just an aversion to the Rogers version of hockey." The main reason is that all seven Canadian teams "missed the playoffs, which left a lot of fans in a sour mood." In the "worst mood of all" are Maple Leaf fans. Other factors are the "deterioration of the game itself -- scoring is at its lowest in decades and more than a few hockey people believe the steps to eliminate fighting and concussions have taken too much passion out of games -- along with too many games on television and simply the fact some people really do not like the Rogers broadcasts." Another suggestion by a long-time "HNIC" employee is that Rogers "introduced too many radical changes in the broadcasts all at once." A more gradual approach "might have softened the criticism." But those employees believe that there will be "major changes over the summer to the hockey shows in response to the poor ratings in the first two years of the NHL contract." That was "signalled by the recent firing" of Senior VP/Hockey Production Gord Cutler. What changes the net will make, "aside from cost-cutting, has the staff guessing" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/19).
GUY'S CODE: The GLOBE & MAIL's Christine Dobby notes Rogers "posted a drop" in Q1 profit "amid lower advertising revenue and restructuring costs related to layoffs at its media division." The company said that its profit fell 3% to C$248M, or $0.48 a share, in the first three months of the year, compared with C$255M in the same period the previous year. Rogers President & CEO Guy Laurence said, "Sports revenues, which represent about half of the media segment, continue to grow." He added ad revenue for the Rogers-owned Blue Jays is "better than we expected," and hockey advertising is "up, but still not quite where we expected it to be." Rogers owns the national rights to NHL broadcasts, and the lack of Canadian teams in the '16 playoffs has raised the question of "whether the company will be able to turn a profit on that investment this year." Rogers last year said that it earned a 10% return on the rights (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/19).
