Politics As Usual

Well put.

I like following the Raps, but I rarely watch more than parts of games on tv. I check the box scores each day, the online newspaper write ups and articles of BBall interest (Sun, Globe, Star), Raptors.com (particularly the Swirsk), and of course RaptorsHQ.com.

I consider myself a casual (as you described), but very interested fan.

In an age where there are many competing ways to have money siphoned out of my wallet, RaptorsTV is not one of them, and I doubt it will become one over time. To get my dough, MLSE would have to shut you down, kill off Raptors.com, and put the major online newspaper outlets out of business.

A wise man I knew many years ago opined: "There is a limit to how smart you can be, but there is no limit to how dumb you can be."

MLSE is doing a lot of good things (we, as fans, think and hope) to the Raps, to improve the product from BC, to draft picks, long term contracts, free agents, and trades, all of which looked pretty smart to me. Raptors TV and exclusive coverage of 25 games or so looks pretty dumb.

But, that's just one man's opinion, and "money talks. BS walks." IN my case, my money is walking.

Franchise - I read in the Star this month that the move was because The Score, Sportsnet and TSN didn't have the scheduling flexibility to show more games (dude to commitments to hockey, golf and wrestling). I'm not how much of this is B.S. but it does make a bit of sense as to why Raps TV would show games.

MSLE chief operating officer Tom Anselmi told the Star that "The other broadcasters have less shelf space available so we have a package that works better for them and works better for us. Getting some exclusive games on Raptors TV is big for us."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1154641811690

Any modestly serious sports fan already buys the "sports pac" from their local cable co or dish and both Leafs TV and Raptors TV are included. For the really cheap B-Ball fan Raptor TV costs $2 per month.

I would like to more and better programmimg on both Raptor TV and Leafs TV - who wouldn't. Aside from covering a good number of games and replaying historic contests, their programmimg is fairly weak.

57 Raptor games on basic cable really covers at least 10x more games than the accidential or causal viewer wants to see anyway. What's the big deal here???? And if Sportsnet or TSN coughed up enough money - you don't think they get the rights to broadcast? And where's CBC in this?

I wonder if this isn't an ultimately self-defeating move by MLSE, although they are by no means alone in implementing such a policy. In this age of multitudes of media and entertainment options, you would think that it would be in a team's best interests to make their games as accessible as possible in order to attract a core base of fans. Yes, there's more revenue in the short term, but how many potential fans will decide that subscribing to Raptors TV is just not worth the bother? I'm a big fan but I can tell you right now that I won't subscribe. So I miss the odd game. It's not like there aren't plenty of other things I could be doing.

i agree 100% franchise, i even sent an email to swirks asking why MLSE would slap their loyal fans in the face with something like this, and he also said that it was about getting people across canada to tune in. 25 games is wayyy to many. the leafs only had 13 last year, and won a lot more than 27 games the year before that too. if the raps don't come strong out of the gate, RapsTV numbers will suffer.

This seems like the beginning of the end . . . soon all sports will be on specialty channels and the "regular guy" (like myself, a student, who doesn't want to spend any extra money on Raps TV, even though I would watch 60+ games if they were on cable) will be stuck with 20 sports channels that only show hilights.

I hope this scheduling will change, sometimes things happen just prior to the season--who cares about hockey in this country anyway? Definitely not me. (not sarcasm!)

i am a a subscriber to RaptorsTV, i do it because it shows raptors games and also other nba games that shows on nba tv. in addition when you order raptors tv, you will recieve all 4 sportsnet for free and i also get other free network, like fight network and other network. so i don't think it is such a bad idea for them to have more game on raptors tv, becasue it only cost around 4 dollars to get raptv

Raptors TV needs to improve its programming . No more shows which look like these are done by amateurs worthy of you tube presentation. the hosts need upgrade too. get some of those former raptors w/ communication skills rather than nobodies . they totally lack credibility . right now , i turn the sound off when watching raptors presentations on raptors tv .

i'm pretty sure that who's ever in charge of the tv sked has worked out the margins and they realize the casual fan skimming through the channels isn't worth as much as what the subscription market is going to be , so the time has come to start the exodus to subscription channels i for one am not going to be complaining till they HAVE the market and start ratcheting up the price because the price right now is more than reasonable - a couple bucks a month - you can't honestly call yourself a fan if u can't shell that out ... i'm also a student so thats no excuse

I like headline sports the best for Raps and Nba Basketball in Canada

Let me tell you about how it is, if it is not Born in the USA then it is not born at all, and it does not exsist. How dare BC who is a Born in the USA, got the first pick and choose an outsider, Americans do not like when their BOYS are too brave, here he goes again first he choose a Canadian name Steve Nash, who they try to ignore and he would just go away, but it did not happen that way, and he got MVP, and they thaught he was over paid now he is MVP, and he does not even play like an MVP, but here he goes again MVP again, some say he does not deserve it, and so they realize they cannot ignore it and let Steve go away, because he is still growing in their faces.

So here comes BC again he has another chance he was Born in the USA, so he has another chance to be their popets, he has the first overall pick so he is going to do the right thing in their eyes, but BC is young and defiant, so he chooses again, how dare he did it again another NOT Born in the USA, ok the last time he did that we ignore it thinking it would go away, instead it grows, well we will fix him this time we will not show the games on TV that will fix him. HAAA!!!

So now it is up to the players to proove the TV stations wrong, they have to win games!!! when VC was our star they told him he would be bigger if he did not resign with the Raptors, he was defiant, but all our other stars, jumped on the band waggan, but the questions are, are any of them star? ANSWER: no, not one, even VC is no longer a star he has fallen.

If the raptors gets in the playoffs much less in the finals BC has won again and remember he is Born in the USA. I am a proud Canadian who now lives in the USA, I will always love my Raptors, and I know I have to pay to see them therefore every season I buy the NBA League, it is just too bad they the the NBA translation (National Basketball Association) and not Nation Basketball Association which means it is for the whole wide world to be a part of does not realize it, it is not for Americans only, and how fast they forget it was discover by a CANADIAN!! GO RAPS GOOOOO!!!

I just hope they put some of these games on in HD. Last season I think I saw 1 Raptors game in HD. For those that don't have it - get it lol.

Some interesting thoughts on this topic for sure. Steve you bring up a good point about CBC. CBC is always trying to figure out ways to re-market itself and draw in a dwindling audience...wouldn't taking on some exclusive rights to the Raptors make sense? The NBA broadcasting is relatively cheap, and if the Raps take off this year, it might be a serious coup for the beleaguered network. And I guess that's why I don't buy this whole "the stations didn't have shelf space for all the Raptors programming." If it were the NHL, the Leafs in particular, TSN would make room. Yes "a fan," you're right, it's not exactly back-breaking financially to subscribe to RapsTV, I guess I'm just thinking that down the road, is it inevitable that eventually all Raps game will be broadcast exclusively on Raps TV? Without a huge demand, as in the case of the Leafs, I can't see other sportsnetworks putting up much of a fight as they've already lost 25 games...

This is a topic we'll definitely be touching on in more detail as the summer moves on...

If you already have digital TV, than the $4 is nothing. However, if you don't, the upgrade is substantial. For those who don't make a habit of watching too much TV (outside Raptor games that is), than you probably don't already have digital tv.

This will not make me get the set top box. If anything, it may be ammunition to investigate the NBA legaue pass on Direct TV or DISH.

Canadian has always been indipendant, get the NBA League Pass I have been doing it since I move to USA 2 years now, and when I come back home I will do the same things, I will not let these people stop me from watching my team on TV. the Raps won more games than Atlanta and Portland, Houston and other teams yet they are shown on National TV station and the Raps aren't. If Raptors TV would show all Rap's games live then good I would get it but they only show some after the games are played and you already know the score.

C'mon guys...this is not as big a deal as our media friends like to make it out to be. There are now millions of digital cable subscribers across Canada, and many of them have RapsTV and don't know it. This is a business move to get people to start watching or drop the extra few bucks to pick up the channel. Most fans like us will drop the money without thinking for 27 games.

It could be worse...these games could be on PPV and cost you $5 each.

I think sports in general are moving to a PPV model. As the TV universe keeps expanding to a zillion channels, Major networks aren't going to pony up to pay for sports properties. Even the NFL has now moved four games this year to the NFL Network. It won't be long till prime games are strictly PPV. I betcha not far from now, NBA playoff games will be PPV only. I think hoops is such a regional game, that unless it's a major market team it doesn't get the draw. I think the NHL will be the first to test out pay-per view games, if some teams haven't done it already?

Is it just me or do I need a translator for Marcia's rant? Something to do with Bruce Springsteen? (Just kidding!! Love your rants, even if I don't understand them)

The problem with the pay per view model is that it does nothing to attract new fans. Maybe the hard core fans will fork out (although I don't think it's a sure thing that they would) but potential "casual" fans just won't bother. Look at hockey in the United States. They basically get ratings of zero. How does paying for the privilege of watching games that nobody's watching anyway grow the sport? The Chicago Black Hawks refused to televise their games locally for years, and now they're an afterthought in the Chicago sports scene.

It may be too late, but I think that for North American sports leagues to survive, they need to attract a broader audience than the PPV model can provide. I remember when basketball was THE sport in the days of Magic, BIrd and then Jordan. Maybe with Lebron and Wade, we can bring those days back.

I'm not saying that the PPV model would work, however, that is the direction. We've kinda been spoiled over the last 10 years with the saturation of sports on Canadian TV (at least when it comes to Toronto Teams). Prior to TSN, Sports Net, Headline we got two Jays games a week if we were lucky (One on Wednesday and One on Sunday). And it was the same for the leafs (remember Wednesday night hockey on CHCH with Dick Beveto(sp?)).

The CFL tried it with the black outs and lost a generation of fans and i think it'll be the same for the PPV model. There's been a couple of books out recently predicting the demise of sports as an entertainment form. I happen to agree the it's probably cyclical, it's already peaked, however it'll always exist in some form. Kinda like wrestling.

It was really the WWF(E) that created a successful PPV model, and 20 years later everyone wants a cut. They used to buy up air time to put on their shows on TV (Those saturday jobber shows) but they understood that those shows were like infomercials to sell gate events and PPV. It was tremendously successful.

The same could probably be done with sports. We have too much content now, so any one game on TV just doesn't seem all that special. But if you could only watch the Raps/Leafs/Jays once a week, you might make a special effort to watch it. And if you're hard core, you'll pay the gate or by the PPV.

Having said all that, I like the free free world of TV sports as-is.