| The Sports Network (TSN) | |
|---|---|
| TSN logo | |
| Launched | September 1, 1984 |
| Owned by | CTV Specialty Television (Bell Media 80% / ESPN 20%) (The Sports Network Inc.) |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (2003-present) 480i (SDTV) (1984-present) |
| Slogan | Canada's Sports Leader |
| Country | Canada |
| Broadcast area | National, 2 regional affiliates |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Sister channel(s) | TSN2, RDS, RIS |
| Website | www.tsn.ca |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Bell TV | 400 (SD), 1400 (HD) |
| Shaw Direct | 400 (SD), 280 (HD) |
| Cable | |
| Available on most Canadian cable systems | Check local listings, channels may vary |
| IPTV | |
| Bell Aliant TV | 100 (SD), 470 (HD) |
| Bell Fibe TV | 400 (SD), 1400 (HD) |
| MTS | 22 (SD), 475 (HD) |
| Optik TV | 110 (SD), 660 (HD) |
| SaskTel | 110 (SD), 410 (HD) |
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels.[1] TSN is owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture of Bell Media (80%) and ESPN (20%).
Bell Media also operates additional TSN-branded properties, including TSN2, TSN Radio 1050, TSN Radio 990, TSN Radio 1290 and two part-time regional feeds, Canadiens on TSN and Jets on TSN.
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Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 2, 1984 as Action Canada Sports Network,[2] the channel was launched by the Labatt Brewing Company on September 1st of the same year as "The Sports Network", or "TSN". TSN was formed partly to promote Labatt's flagship products, but also to act as a vehicle for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team (which was also owned by Labatt at the time). In 1989, TSN also launched a sister French language service, Réseau des sports (RDS).
Due to CRTC regulations on the foreign ownership of broadcasters, Labatt was forced to sell TSN and RDS upon its acquisition by Interbrew in 1995. Labatt's broadcasting assets were sold to a privately held consortium named NetStar Communications, the investors of which included a number of Canadian firms as well as ESPN, which held about 30%.
In 2000, after ESPN blocked two attempts by the Canadian partners to sell NetStar to Canwest, CTV Inc. acquired the Canadian partners' shares thanks in part to ESPN's disapproval of Canwest. CTV Inc. was acquired by Bell Canada and The Woodbridge Company (owners of The Globe and Mail newspaper) as part of the joint venture Bell Globemedia in 2001. As a result of its purchase of TSN, CTV would be forced to sell its regional sports network CTV Sportsnet, eventually selling it to part-owner Rogers Media. Incidentally, while TSN would move its operations to CTV's Agincourt complex after the acquisition, Rogers Sportsnet would not immediately move from Agincourt, effectively having the two competing networks sharing the same headquarters. This oddity would become an inside joke between personalities on both networks, would be referenced on-air by personalities on both networks, with many referring to moving between TSN and Sportsnet as "crossing the parking lot." Rogers Sportsnet would move from Agincourt to a new studio at the Rogers Building in Downtown Toronto in 2008.[3]
Plans were made to re-launch TSN as ESPN Canada in 2001. However, due to the name recognition and value of the brand, the TSN name was maintained. However, TSN would begin incorporating elements of ESPN's branding into their own throughout the year, including a new logo using a similar design to ESPN's, and the re-naming of its sports news program SportsDesk to SportsCentre (a variation of ESPN's SportsCenter, rendered using Canadian English).
In 2001, TSN would also launch a number of sister digital specialty channels; including a local version of ESPN Classic, and the NHL Network — a network devoted to ice hockey and the National Hockey League. TSN only holds minority interest in NHL Network however, it is also owned in part by Insight Sports and a consortium of the NHL and several of its Canadian franchises.
Beginning in 2006, the CRTC officially allowed TSN to operate national secondary digital feeds with limited amounts of alternative programming.[4] Following this development, TSN began to use such a feed to broadcast additional programming that could not be aired on TSN due to scheduling conflicts or other events. On August 29, 2008, the feed evolved into a new 24-hour channel, similar to ESPN2, known as TSN2.[5]
In October 2010, TSN announced the launch of a part-time feed to carry regional broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games, in the eastern Canadian territory shared by Montreal and the Ottawa Senators.[6] This feed (referred to on the Canadiens' website as "TSN Habs"[7])
On September 10, 2010, Bell Canada announced plans to re-acquire 100% of CTVglobemedia's broadcasting arm, including its majority control of TSN. Under the deal, Woodbridge Company Limited, Torstar, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan will together receive $1.3 billion in either cash or equity in BCE, while BCE will also assume $1.7 billion in debt (BCE's existing equity interest is $200 million, for a total transaction value of $3.2 billion). Woodbridge has since simultaneously regained majority control of The Globe and Mail, with Bell retaining a 15% interest in December 2010. The deal closed on April 1, 2011, after the CRTC approved the sale on March 7, 2011.[8]
After a longstanding speculation about TSN's interest in launching its own TSN-branded radio network, TSN entered radio broadcasting with the launch of the first TSN Radio station, a re-launch of AM station CHUM in Toronto on April 13, 2011.[9] Bell Media's Bell Media Radio division already operates several sports radio stations elsewhere in Canada most of which currently branded under The Team moniker (which was introduced by previous owner CHUM Limited in its own failed attempt at establishing a national sports radio network), and it is expected that (if the launch of TSN Radio 1050 was a success) they will eventually adopt the TSN Radio branding as well, forming a sports radio network.[10]
Also in 2011, TSN acquired broadcast rights to the returning Winnipeg Jets, through another regional TSN feed for the Jets' home market, and radio coverage on Bell-owned CFRW[11] (which, along with Montreal station CKGM, also migrated to the TSN Radio brand on October 5, 2011)[12] Additionally, Bell would also launch TSN Mobile TV, streaming versions of TSN and TSN2 offered through Bell Mobility's Mobile TV services.
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced that it would sell its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to two major telecommunications companies; Bell Canada (TSN's main parent company) and Rogers Communications (owners of the competing Sportsnet chain of sports channels) with a 37.5% share each (Larry Tanenbaum will increase his ownership to a quarter of the company as well), in a deal expected to be valued at around $1.32 billion in total.[13] The deal is expected to be completed in summer 2012, pending the approval of Canada's Competition Bureau, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (with regards to MLSE's TV channels), as well as the leagues for each of MLSE's main sports franchises. The deal is expected to have a major impact on future broadcast rights for MLSE's teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, as their ownership of the teams will offer enhanced coverage for the team through new platforms such as mobile television.[14]
Following the announcement however, concerns were again raised by critics, speculating that Bell Media may attempt to acquire full rights to the NHL once CBC's current contract with the league expires in the 2013-14 season{{emdash}using their potential ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL's highest valued franchise, as a impetus for such a coup. Concerns were also raised that such an arrangement could prevent wireless service providers other than Bell and Rogers from accessing its content. However, the CRTC ruled in favor of Telus in a decision requiring Bell and other media companies to allow other competing wireless providers access to its content, and not exclusively tie it to their own service.[14]
TSN's flagship news program is SportsCentre, a sports news program airing several times throughout the day. Formally known as Sportsdesk, it was re-vamped to closer resemble ESPN's own SportsCenter (including the use of its theme music, logo, and opening) in the Fall of 2001 as part of a corporate restructuring, closer aligning itself with new minority owner ESPN. In 2006, a new studio was built in order to prepare the show for its transition to high definition television — becoming the first daily news program in Canada to be produced in HD beginning on September 25, 2006. Other original programs on TSN include the talk show Off The Record, the automotive newsmagazine Motoring, and TSN The Reporters.
Through its minority ownership of TSN, the network also airs some of ESPN's original programming as well, including Pardon the Interruption, Sunday NFL Countdown The Sports Reporters, and other ESPN programs and documentaries.
As of the 2008 season, TSN is the exclusive broadcaster of the Canadian Football League, airing all of the league's games, including the season-ending Grey Cup.[15] The network also airs the Vanier Cup, the country's championship university football game.[16]
In February 2011, TSN announced that it had began a new broadcasting relationship with Major League Soccer, airing 24 matches during the 2011 season that involved the league's Canadian clubs, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 30 games will be shown by TSN in 2012 due to the addition of the Montreal Impact to the MLS. In addition the network, along with TSN2 will broadcast a package of other regular season games, the MLS All-Star Game, MLS Cup Playoffs and the MLS Cup.[17]
On October 27, 2011, Bell Media and TSN announced that they had secured broadcast rights for FIFA soccer from 2015 to 2022. The rights include the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[18]
TSN has hosted much of Canada's supplementary Olympic coverage, being the first pay-TV station in the world to ever broadcast the Olympics with the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, and having been part of the CBC's coverage from 1998 to 2008. In 2010, TSN began to participate in CTV and and Rogers' current broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games for 2010 and 2012. Additionally,
TSN has also broadcast major curling events; it began its current television contract with the Canadian Curling Association beginning in the 2008-09 season[19], and also runs the Casino Rama TSN Skins Game, an annual skins curling tournament. For major national and international events, including the Tim Hortons Brier, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the Ford World Championships, it has historically had a curling broadcast deal where the round-robin and page-playoff quarter-finals have aired on the network, while the semi-final and final rounds air on CBC — however, TSN's current contracts for the events give it exclusive coverage.
TSN has also historically been a broadcaster for Major League Baseball in Canada, as its former parent company was also the owner of the [[Toronto Blue Jays]. However, TSN's coverage of the Blue Jays has decreased in recent years; primary broadcast rights to the Blue Jays were acquired by Sportsnet — which is owned by the team's current parent company, and was previously owned by CTV before it was forced to divest it in order to purchase TSN. Rogers continued to sub-license a yearly package of games to TSN for several seasons afterward until 2010 — when TSN traded its remaining Blue Jays games back to Sportsnet (to allow it exclusive coverage of the team) in exchange for rights to ESPN Sunday Night Baseball (which now airs on TSN2, however Sportsnet may still re-claim telecasts in case of scheduling conflicts).
TSN also broadcasts Toronto Raptors games produced by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which included 47 games across TSN and TSN2 in the 2010-11 season..[20]
TSN is a major broadcaster of ice hockey in Canada. TSN holds the national cable rights to broadcast the NHL in Canada, including regular season games on weeknights, and exclusivity on Wednesday nights. Beginning on the 2009 contract, TSN has the third, fifth, and seventh choices of series during first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs (previously, the CBC automatically had rights to any series involving a Canadian team)[21] CTV also acquired the rights to The Hockey Theme after the CBC decided not to renew its rights to the theme song in June 2008 amid a legal dispute with its composer, Dolores Claman. A re-orchestrated version of the tune, which has been the theme song of Hockey Night in Canada for 40 years, has been used for hockey broadcasts on TSN and RDS since fall 2008.[22] TSN also frequently carries games broadcast by NBC and Versus, though more so on TSN2.
Additionally, TSN holds English-language rights to the Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets. Their games are aired exclusively on part-time feeds carried within the home markets of the two teams respectively.
In 2006, CTVglobemedia attempted to acquire full rights to the NHL on television in Canada in a $1.4 billion dollar bid, which would have included coverage on TSN, CTV, and its French network RDS.[23] However in March 2007, it was revealed that the NHL instead decided to maintain its relationship with CBC (which would allow it to maintain Hockey Night in Canada), but still expanded TSN's coverage to include more coverage of Canadian teams.
TSN also has a broadcasting contract with Hockey Canada, giving it the rights to broadcast the IIHF World Junior Championships, Men's and Women's World Hockey Championship, Men's Under-18 World Championships, Allan Cup, Royal Bank Cup, Spengler Cup, Telus Cup and ESSO Women's Nationals.
Along with its coverage of Canadian events, TSN also airs coverage of international sporting events (primarily American), often simulcast from other broadcasters. TSN also currently airs Formula One, NASCAR, and IndyCar racing events. As of the 2011 season, TSN2 carries a weekly early NFL game (to compliment sister terrestrial network CTV's other regional games), NBC Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football. TSN also carries some of ESPN's NFL analysis and highlight programs, including NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown, and Monday Night Countdown TSN also serves as the main Canadian outlet for TNT's NBA coverage, along with exclusive Canadian rights to the NBA Finals.
Much of TSN's coverage, especially for the NFL, NBA games not involving the Raptors, UEFA Champions League, American college football, the Grand Slams, and NASCAR events are simulcast from ESPN.
TSN featured live professional wrestling in the form of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s flagship show, RAW for over a decade. However, the WWE Raw program, which aired live, occasionally had been censored live for extremely violent scenes, or when female wrestlers or characters were assaulted by male wrestlers. These actions are supposed to be in order to meet Canadian broadcast standards, with repeat broadcasts often more heavily edited.
This disappointed many wrestling fans over the years, and is unusual since the violence of wrestling scenes are not significantly different from other television programs aired on regular Canadian networks. It was expected that in fall 2006, when TSN started airing the ESPN iteration of Monday Night Football (as well as the NBC Sunday Night Football games), that WWE RAW was expected to air on tape delay during the NFL season. However, the WWE decided to move the program to rival sports network The Score rather than air on tape delay, although RAW continues to air on tape delay on The Score by 15 minutes, for editing purposes in addition to limits on the amount of live programming the Score can air in a week.
In 2004, both TSN and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) Wrestling, (known then as NWA-TNA), erroneously announced that Impact! would air on the network, although that deal was never completed and the article on the TSN Wrestling page was taken down shortly after. However, TSN's French-language sister network RDS airs the program.
In past years, TSN also aired shows from the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Stampede Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Monday Night Nitro, as well as producing a one-hour show called Pro Wrestling Plus, which featured highlights from various promotions and was hosted by Stampede announcer Ed Whalen; that program was the Canadian equivalent of the syndicated American program Pro Wrestling This Week.
The final episode of WWE RAW, aired July 31, 2006, although it did not end the relationship between TSN and WWE as the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony was aired on the network. As well, Off The Record with Michael Landsberg continues to occasionally feature professional wrestlers in unscripted interviews, which it has throughout its run.
From August 2009, TSN and TSN2 have commenced screening live and delayed coverage of Australian Rules Football. Selected games from the Australian Football League (or AFL as the competition is also known) Premiership Season and Finals Series including the AFL Grand Final are broadcast live or on delay every weekend.
In 2011, TSN carried the Rugby World Cup, also with live and tape delayed coverage.
Various reporters and analysts from ESPN (such as Chris Berman , Barry Melrose and Steve Phillips) may also be featured in certain segments.
TSN HD is a high definition simulcast of TSN that launched on August 15, 2003. TSN HD airs widescreen and high-definition feeds of sporting events when available. On September 25, 2006, SportsCentre transitioned to HD, airing high definition highlights of sporting events when possible, adding even more high definition content to the channel.
The Sports Network launched their website TSN.ca on October 1, 1995.[25]
12.AFL and ESPN(TSN)in U.S./Canada TV Rights Deal.[28]
13.TV coverage returns to TSN and ESPN. [1]
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