The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Talk about getting the shaft, if it wasn't for playing the Toronto Maple Leafs, CBC would be leaving Canada's most storied franchise in the cold and absent from HockeyNight in Canada (HNIC). There are two problems with this, the first being that Canada's public broadcaster is providing biased coverage on a team in Eastern Canada and secondly, it's misuse of taxpayers money should be known. Over coverage of the Maple Leafs is inexcusable as there should be a balance between all Canadian teams. Pat Hickey wrote a piece called "CBC neglects the Habs". Hickey pointed out that the Maple Leafs will be televised every weekend for 27 on HNIC. Lucky for them, meanwhile the Habs will be televised eight times, six against the Maple Leafs. He then points out that Vancouver follows with 15 games, Edmonton 13, and Ottawa and Calgary with 10. This wouldn't be a problem if the majority of Canadian fans loved the Leafs, but they don't. It's likely close to 50 per cent without sounding sarcastic. If you have ever watched a game in Vancouver, live or televised, when the Leafs score, half the arena is cheering. Vancouver isn't the only Canadian city that experiences this. CBC's reasoning for having their schedule like this is obviously money. One might think it could be the time difference, but then what about Ottawa and Montreal? They are both in the same zone as Toronto. As for Vancouver, having them being televised second highest makes sense because of time difference, as they're three hours behind Ontario, so it works for the double-header. However, various members of the media have been known to say that watching the Canucks is entertaining because of the style they play. Like any television channel, you want to put out a product so the ratings reap the result. Nonetheless, Canadians should make it known to CBC they are unhappy with watching their favourite teams only a few times. The saving grace is that Sportsnet's coverage is regional, so coverage is higher. There is a difference between Sportsnet and CBC, that difference lies in that your tax money goes to the latter. Think about it, the money you work hard for is paying for these games to be televised. Shouldn't you get to see your Oilers or Senators more often? What makes this even more disappointing is that CBC puts themselves in the same group as TSN, Sportsnet, even The Hockey News for showing favouratism towards the Maple Leafs. It's a problem when the Maple Leafs are televised every weekend and other Canadian clubs are getting snubbed. With the CBC doing this, you would think that it woulld hurt their ratings as the rest of the country would become tiresome of watching Toronto. Silencing this problem is the fact the majority of Canada's population resides in Ontario The CBC is doing a disservice to fans in this country with their broadcast schedule. The best way for CBC to feel the pain is for fans to not watch their telecast when Toronto plays. This might seem extreme, but it would send a message.
