Category:The CFL on TSN

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The principal television broadcasters are TSN (who began televising CFL games in 1985) and CBC, while RDS broadcasts Montreal Alouettes games in French for the Quebec television market.^[1] Games are typically scheduled for Thursday to Saturday evenings during June, July and August, but switch to more Saturday and Sunday afternoon games during September and October.^[2] TSN has created a tradition of at least one Friday night game each week, branded as Friday Night Football, while CBC airs at least one game every Saturday. CBC and TSN drew record television audiences for CFL broadcasts in 2005.^[3] The 2006 season was the first season in which every regular season game was televised, as the league implemented an instant replay challenge system.^[4] In 2006, the CFL also began offering pay-per-view webcasts of every game on CFL Broadband.^[5]

Starting in 2008, TSN will be the exclusive provider of televised football, playoffs and the Grey Cup as part of a massive rights agreement. The five-year agreement, which includes an option for a sixth year, cuts out the CBC completely as a CFL broadcaster. The CBC network has been airing CFL games since 1952, when it showed the first televised Grey Cup game. The 2007 season will be its last. TSN, along with its French language arm RDS, will pay the league about $16-million annually, or $2-million for each club. They will also provide broadband broadcasts via the internet. It means that starting in 2008, Canadians will not be able to watch the CFL on terrestrial TV. ^[6]