GATINEAU – Sounding an awful lot like they’d be very interested in morphing one or both of LeafsTV and RaptorsTV into a more general purpose sports channel, Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment brass told the CRTC today that the sports TV genre in Canada is plenty strong – and able to withstand unfettered competition.
Given the myriad sports channels already in existence and the massive amount of sports content available on the web, MLSE’s COO Tom Anselmi and SVP broadcast Chris Hebb said the company’s pair of team-branded category two digi-nets must be able to stretch beyond their narrow genres in order to prosper.
The Leafs channel faces another limitation as well since LeafsTV, thanks to NHL rules, is confined to Ontario distribution and can’t be distributed in the Ottawa Valley at all.
And despite spending over $34 million on programming over the past six-plus years, on both channels, “(w)e have been stalled in our quest to be relevant to the Canadian sports viewer and to contribute to the broadcast industry in general,” Hebb told the commissioners.
The main reason for this, said Hebb, is the explosion of sports content available over the ’net. “The Internet is the ultimate niche programmer and has rendered our services slightly redundant to sports content consumers,” he added.
Hebb’s solution? Dumping the genre exclusivity policy when it comes to sports. “We want the ability to compete, to invest and to contribute more,” said Hebb. “However, the Commission’s application of the genre exclusivity policy leaves us with such a narrowly defined niche it gives us no options for growth within the sports broadcast industry.
“We have been left scratching our heads asking ‘where do we go from here?’”
Hebb (and others throughout the hearing) have pointed out that the sports genre is so sliced and diced anyway that genre exclusivity is all but gone. And Hebb pointed out that with the Commission’s 2007 approval of a TSN alternate feed channel, it’s ready to be even more flexible with the sports genre.
And last year, the Commission cracked open the pay TV sector by adding Super Channel as a new licensee, Hebb also noted, saying the genre protection policy has already been shown to be rather malleable.
Added Anselmi under questioning from vice-chair Len Katz about the channels: “It doesn’t look good long term.”
“Our niches are so narrowly defined, it’s hard to compete,” added Hebb. “We think there’s more room in sports for general interest services.”
“The market is very robust,” said Anselmi.
– Greg O’Brien
