ROGERS SPORTSNET’S TENTH anniversary has hockey analyst Nick Kypreos thinking about where it all started.
For a decade, Sportsnet, through its various incarnations, first as CTV Sportsnet, then just Sportsnet, and now Rogers Sportsnet, has made a name for itself on the Canadian sports broadcasting landscape. In 1998, it landed a national broadcast rights deal with the National Hockey League, an agreement that would eventually secure carriage across the country.
This year for the 2008-09 season, Sportsnet will broadcast more of what it calls "hockey that matters", 206 Canadian regional NHL games. And while live events are what drive viewers to Sportsnet, a stable of talented and tenured commentators and analysts are what keep viewers coming back. It’s been that way from the start.
“I was called and asked to come in for an audition,” recalls former NHL tough guy and Stanley Cup Champion Kypreos. “I was up against guys like Mike Gartner, Mike Keenan and Marc Crawford. I thought I had no chance – but somehow I fooled them. Without a doubt, I have a tremendous loyalty to Sportsnet, they gave me my opportunity.”
Kypreos, Jamie Campbell, Gerry Dobson, and Rob Faulds have been with the network since its first day on-the-air. From a change in ownership in 2001 to a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art facility on the Rogers Campus, they have seen many changes since the channel launched on October 9th, 1998. However, a constant throughout the changes, has been their presence as the faces of the Sportsnet franchise.
"In the early years, serving four regions seemed like such a daunting task," said Campbell. "Now, it’s habit. Furthermore, I am constantly impressed with our reach. Last summer, I received an e-mail from a viewer in the Northwest Territories and thought it amazing that someone up there watched Sportsnet."
Campbell recently completed a 100-game Jays broadcast schedule and will cover the Major League Baseball playoffs, in-studio for Sportsnet, along with Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun.
In recent years, Sportsnet has established itself as the Canadian broadcast home of baseball in the summer and hockey in the winter, an advantage, in terms of properties, that the regional broadcaster did not have in the early years. And while baseball fans can get their playoff fix by watching the channel this October, soccer and junior hockey fans can also find the content they crave on the channels.
Gerry Dobson hosts Sportsnet’s weekly magazine show, Soccercentral and also calls the play-by-play action for Toronto FC and Canadian National Soccer Team matches. He believes that Sportsnet viewers tune in to watch programming they cannot otherwise find elsewhere and cites one such instance early in the Rogers era.
"With the FIFA Under-19 Women’s World Championship in 2002, we knew we had something special,” said Dobson. “It gained momentum and importance as far as the network’s growth was concerned. As it turned out, 914,000 viewers tuned-in to the championship match between Canada and the U.S., which still stands as one of Sportsnet’s top all-time audience numbers for a broadcast produced by the network."
Dobson and Rob Faulds are former members of the CTV Sports broadcast team, who made the jump to CTV Sportsnet ten years ago.
Faulds, a recent Gemini nominee for his play-by-play work at the 2007 LPGA CN Canadian Women’s Open in Edmonton, cites the network’s ability to deliver quality work on exclusive live events as a key to its success.
"We had to be good right out of the gate," says the veteran sportscaster, who also hosts Sportsnet’s MasterCard Memorial Cup hockey coverage. “There was already an established cable sports channel and we had no opportunity for baby steps, we had to be fresh and professional from day one. I’ve watched as we’ve gone from ‘who are you guys?’ to ‘I watch you all the time’.”
In 2005, it was announced that CTVglobemedia, in partnership with Rogers Media had acquired the broadcast rights to televise the Olympic Games in 2010 and 2012. Rogers Sportsnet is an official broadcaster for both Games, further cementing itself as a major player in Canadian sports broadcasting. And while Faulds sees the value in being an Olympic rights holder, he believes Sportsnet’s greatest strength remains its regionality.
“Doing what we do so well regionally is such a big part of our success," said Faulds. "The national events will always have their cachet, and being part of the Olympics is important, but the strength of the network is in each region, where viewers feel Sportsnet will cater to their favourite teams and that’s what will drive the network in the future. It’s not an easy task with the growth of sports television in this country but it will be the foundation of what makes us successful."
While the four Sportsnet “lifers” cover different sports, they share a common belief in the guy who’s name is on the building. “Ted Rogers has been able to take us to the next level,” says Kypreos. “CTV, in the early stages, was trying to get us established but having a powerful backer has really changed our fortunes immensely. Without Ted, the new studio would never have come to fruition, and it will help take us to another level.”
New studio
/article/sportsnet-opens-new-state-art-facility”right”>Written by Dan Zaiontz, community relations representative, Rogers Sportsnet.
