Media Notes

In Toronto, Raju Mudhar examines the relationship between the CBC and the NHL and writes "Hockey Night in Canada" is “hugely important to CBC’s relevance and bottom line.” But it is clear that, despite a 60-year partnership with the NHL, Bell and Rogers “are salivating at the prospect of making a play for this country’s highest-rated program, when and if those rights come up.” Mudhar notes, “You have to wonder how Leaf owners Bell and Rogers would deal with these kinds of complaints from other Canadian teams about coverage. If you think CBC is chasing ratings with too much Leafs coverage, can you imagine what a private broadcaster that also owns the team would do?” (TORONTO STAR, 3/13).

THEATER OF ABSURD: The Knicks have lost six games in a row after losing to the Bulls last night, and in N.Y., Bob Raissman writes if the losing persists for the team, this “theater of the absurd, with its expanded cast of characters, will continue to produce robust TV ratings.” Considering that after last night’s game with the Bulls, the Knicks “have 20 games left on MSG and four exclusive dates on national television (TNT, ABC), this ain’t a bad thing” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/13).

NEW VENTURE: YouTube Global Head of Sports Content Claude Ruibal said that part of SB Nation's appeal for YouTube “was the company's 300-strong network of bloggers who cover local professional and college teams throughout the country.” AD AGE’s Jason Del Ray noted as a result, SB Nation “plans to outfit about 150 of its bloggers with high-end cameras to videotape short analysis segments on local teams that will be featured on subchannels.” Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff, whose company owns SB Nation, said that SB Nation's channel “doesn't have a sponsor, but multiple advertisers have expressed interest in getting involved” (ADAGE.com, 3/12).