18 replies to this topic

[Majarvis]

This is of great importance to Canadian Formula One TV viewers, so please read

TSN will not be broadcasting the Brazilian Grand Prix live on October 22, 2006. Instead, they will be airing the NASCAR race, and will be airing a tape-delayed Brazilian Grand Prix at 4:30pm EST.

What does this matter? Well, we (the Canadian viewers) run the risk of having SPEED's live coverage blacked out. Since TSN holds the exclusive rights to broadcasting Formula One in Canada, they could (and have in the past) opt to black out SPEED's live coverage of the race at 12:30pm EST.

So, I am posting how to contact TSN, to voice your concern over this in a polite and professional manner. They do listen, as anyone who can remember the uproar that was caused when they ditched ITV's coverage for one race, had thousands of angry emails, and duly brought it back for the next race.

So, I ask that any Canadian F1 viewers reading this (or even if you're not, contact them anyway! ) contact TSN at the below link and voice your concerns over this matter, and plead with them to not black out SPEED's coverage. This is a real risk that we may not see the final race of this season live, so please, send them a message as soon as possible so they can sort this matter out.

Click here to contact TSN broadcasting

Every message sent is a help! Even if you don't like SPEED's coverage, it's better than a tape-delayed race.

I just sent them a message pleading for them to not black out SPEED's coverage. I would advise the rest of you to follow suit by visiting the link above. We need all the support we can get so that we can enjoy a live Brazilian Grand Prix on SPEED!

[metz]

Thank's for the heads up...
I wrote them
On behalf of F1 fans everywhere in Canada, I would like to ask you NOT to tape delay the final and most important race of the season.
If you absolutely must, to respect your NASCAR schedule, I strongly urge you to NOT black out the SPEED coverage for us fans.
Most of us would prefer your ITV feed to SPEED and have opted for and supported you all year long.
We have been loyal to TSN.
So, please don't disappoint us now.

Hope it helps...

[NZX_Lorne]

Noticed your heads-up on the SPEED board and after a few too many Saturday night drinks sent this off to TSN. . .

To whom it may concern,

While I understand that due to your commitment to Nascar you're unable to broadcast the Formula 1 GP (live) from Brazil next weekend, please do not blackout Speed channel's live broadcast. Brazil is the last race of the F1 season, there's a lot on the line, and it would obviously be a travesty if Canadian F1 fans were unable to watch it live.

That said, on behalf of all Canadian F1 fans, I want to thank you (big time!) for providing us with the vastly superior (to Speed) ITV F1 coverage of the races, and also thank you for your ability to keep the commercials down to a reasonable minimum --- makes me proud to be a Canadian!

The only way things could be better for us Canadian F1 fans is if you gave us more of ITV's pre/post-race shows - i.e. you should reduce the TSN-in-house pre/post-race F1 coverage and give us more ITV.

By the same token, despite the fact that ITV doesn't provide (live) coverage of all the F1 qualifying sessions throughout the season, it sure would be appreciated if you could (go back to) using the ITV feed for all the F1 qualifying sessions they do broadcast live.

Thanks again,
Lorne

(hardcore F1 on TSN fan)

[imaginesix]

Great feedback guys!

Here's what I wrote...

It has been brought to my attention by other Formula One racing fans in Canada that TSN has chosen to tape-delay the final and deciding race of this season's championship, in Brazil on Oct 22. In it's place will be the live NASCAR race from Martinsville.

Though it appears to be a decision lacking in good judgement, I can accept that you are far better informed to make these decisions than I. In fact, you have displayed very good judgement all year by consistently broadcasting the best available F1 coverage (from ITV), so I can accept that you would not compromise your F1 broadcast schedule without good reason.

If you must give priority to the NASCAR race next Sunday, I urge you to refrain from blacking out the live race coverage from Speed TV so that fans in this country can partake in the thrilling finale at the same time as the rest of the world.

I look forward to another great season of F1 racing in 2007 on TSN.

[Majarvis]

Awesome, great work guys! Keep it up!

[rce]

Well I'm not that shocked - TSN has a bad habit of dropping F1 when ever it suits them, but for NASCAR - whatever. I did find this at the Speed site:

WHAT EVENTS ARE BLACKED-OUT AND WHEN?


All F1 events will be blacked out in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The Canadian GP will be blacked out in Canada. Re-airs of all F1 Qualifying and Races on the Speed Channel will be shown as scheduled in all countries (including Canada) with NO blackout restrictions.

And I can't recall other F1 races being blackout - other than the Canadian.

[Majarvis]

Originally posted by rce
Well I'm not that shocked - TSN has a bad habit of dropping F1 when ever it suits them, but for NASCAR - whatever. I did find this at the Speed site:



And I can't recall other F1 races being blackout - other than the Canadian.

That's encouraging news indeed, but doesn't guarantee that TSN won't pull a trick on us :

[rce]

Just had a thought - should we/could we contact Speed and ask them if it will be blacked out? On their message board is there a place to ask or is there an email address we can send a question to??

[Majarvis]

I'm not sure if contacting them would be helpful. They may not even know if it will be blacked out in Canada or not.

Their forum isn't a place to contact them, but their website is. I suppose it wouldn't hurt.

[jonpollak]

I'm not in Canada but I DO see the urgency here, so I sent them an email in sympathy.
Does this mean RDS is not airing it live either?
Best of Luck gang...
Jp

[rce]

Well I sent them off a nice and polite letter, hopefully it will work - for the race to be blacked out will be truely a shame (not to mention pissing me and others off a great deal).

[FLB]

Originally posted by jonpollak
I'm not in Canada but I DO see the urgency here, so I sent them an email in sympathy.
Does this mean RDS is not airing it live either?
Best of Luck gang...
Jp

RDS will have it live.

[Balzz]

Boooo. Email sent.

[jonpollak]

Originally posted by FLB
RDS will have it live.

pratiquez votre français

Jp

[Majarvis]

Thanks for the support everyone!

And thanks for letting us know that it will be live on RDS. My French is a little rusty, but I can manage to get by

[rgagne]

Originally posted by jonpollak


pratiquez votre français

Jp

Ainsi, vous pourrez constater que les Canadiens francophones ayant accès à RDS jouissent d'une couverture très décente de la saison de Formule 1!!

(So, you you will find out that french Canadians with access to RDS enjoys a very decent coverture of the Formula 1 season!!)

[FordPrefect]

Depending on how TSN deals with the situation there may not be a conflict next year thanks to a ruling by the CRTC.

The CRTC announced on Thursday that it had approved an application by The Sports Network which would allow the station to distribute a second national broadcast feed.

TSN had told the commission that it needed the second national feed so Canadians could access sports programming that would otherwise be not be available in Canada.

In its application TSN, had told the government agency that approval of the second feed would avoid the possibility of viewers seeking grey- or black-market means to access this programming.

It’s unclear what evidence there was to suggest that Canadians would drop their Canadian cable and satellite provider and move to U.S. satellite because of an inability to watch the odd sporting event that was being broadcast in the U.S. and not Canada due to scheduling conflicts on the station. It’s also unclear why Bell Globe Media couldn’t simply broadcast the conflicting events on another one of its many specialty stations.

Apparently CanWest, the owners of the Global Network, felt the same way because in their intervention to the CRTC, the company argued that Bell Globemedia, the owner of CTV and TSN, has numerous other sports-related programming services on which to place the additional programming.

Rather than the threat of the Grey market, the move appears to be more about increasing advertising revenues for the station.

Although both TSN feeds will be national, the decision allows the network to increase its audience by offering two regional feeds disguised as national feeds. For example, TSN could offer a national feed with a Toronto Maple Leafs game and a national feed with a Calgary Flames game.

Although both feeds would be available nationally, pragmatically each feed would appeal to a distinctly regional audience. The result would be a bigger audience overall for the network which would translate into more advertising dollars.

The Globe and Mail, which is also owned by Bell Globemedia, also reported that the additional feed should help TSN and CTV help them in their attempt to outbid the CBC for National Hockey League rights after the 2007-08 season.

In its ruling, the government regulator has restricted the second feed to being digital only and only allowing the second feed to have 10% of its programming be unique from the analog version of TSN.

[Majarvis]

Originally posted by FordPrefect
Depending on how TSN deals with the situation there may not be a conflict next year thanks to a ruling by the CRTC.

Source link?

[FordPrefect]

CTRC decision

Globe & Mail article