Rogers Newcomer fires latest shot in sport radio wars, landing Giants broadcasts
by 
Jawn Jang (left) and Satiar Shah co-host The Playbook on Sportsnet 650.
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Did your perception of Vancouver’s all-sports radio wars change Thursday morning?
The people at Sportsnet 650 will tell you that it should, what with their announcement they’ve added the Vancouver Giants to their stable and will be broadcasting the team’s games this coming Western Hockey League season.
The folks at TSN 1040, who used to have the Giants’ games on their airwaves, will tell you the opposite. They’ll tell you that strong daily programming is the key and they have the more recognizable personalities in those slots, with the likes of Don Taylor and David Pratt. They’ll tell you about brand loyalty, about their time in the market, beginning with their kickoff in 2001.
The reality in this is that teams like the Giants pay for their air time and then sell ad spots to their sponsors to help recoup costs. If you’re looking at pure, unadulterated facts with this move, Sportsnet has a revenue stream for 68 regular-season Giants games plus playoffs that they didn’t have before.
Ponder the optics, though. That’s where things get more compelling.
While Vancouver Giants radio broadcasts won’t draw droves of listeners, there will be a fair bit of interest in their prospects, such as defenceman Bowen Byram.
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Do you look at it as Sportsnet 650 taking what TSN 1040 had and gaining an edge? Or does it simply not resonate enough? Would this be different if it was the B.C. Lions or the Vancouver Whitecaps switching? They’re both staying at TSN 1040, by all accounts.
Sportsnet 650 outbid TSN 1040 for the Vancouver Canucks’ rights and are preparing for their second season calling their games. It’s part of a five-year deal. It’s the genesis of the station’s rebranding last fall.
We’re hours into the Giants move and Sportsnet 650 has already started to use “Home of hockey in Vancouver,” in its social media posts. Fun. Catchy. To be determined if it sticks with people and matters to them.
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I doubt if my 3 sports-loving sons and I have spent more than 5 minutes listening to 650. We love hockey, but not 24/7/365. We enjoy CFL/NFL/NCAA football, F1/IndyCar, Raptors, and so on.
1040 has a wider reach, but we miss Bro Jake.
Giants hockey…you likely can fit listening audience in the penalty box.
Let Rogers/TSN continue to lose $$ in sports radio in Vcr, which isn’t Toronto/New York/L.A. in mkt size or head office importance…
A few things here.
Good Luck to them, I always want to see almost any business succeed as it means employment, contributes to all parts of the economy, and it creates other opportunities for other supporting enterprises etc.
Really encouraging to see the “Bagover Guy” has encouraged his Boys to be interested in Sports, too many youngish Boys/Men today like TIM are more interested in Video Games and other Social Media while camped out in the Dark in their Mother’s Basements. Very nice to hear!
Would I be off topic if I asked “The Bag” how He and His Boys feel about the NFL “Knee” Controversary? Has/is the NFL handling it correctly? How do they feel about ESPN ‘Politicizing” Sports?
Must admit I do not listen to a lot of Sport Radio as much as I once did, or CKNDP (NW) since it has morphed into Almost 24/7 Anti-Trump and Anti-Conservative NOKO Radio. It is really sad to see that Jon McComb has for some reason gone through “Political Re-Assignment “ Surgery, he was once fair and balanced.
I now find myself escaping to Sirius XM most of the time while out in the Car.
Must admit I do make an effort to listen to Campbell, Palmer, Bruce, Smyth while on NW, along with JILL Bennett and Roy Green so I do listen the “Once Top Dog” fairly frequently.
As to Adler? I now only listen if I get in the car and the Radio is tuned into NW and I find his topic of interest then tune out when it becomes a “Bash Trump” and anything American Segment.
Always thought Adler was OK but he also seems to be morphing into a Silly Little SJW and much like PM Justin he “IS ONLY a LEGEND in His Own Basement”!
I suppose they believe that is where the Listeners are and it will improve ratings.
As they are currently Number 2 or 3 they may feel it works.
Oh well.
BMCQ You might want to listen to CFMJ the Global station in Toronto, more balanced than CKNW.
Getting back to the topic at hand putting the Giants on the radio is not exactly an anchor for more listeners; probably more of a tune out factor. Not to mention I don’t know how they will handle overlapping games unless they offer the Giants as a stream when the Canucks play.
BMCQ just to note that not everyone is inclined, built or has the talent for physical sports. Yes, they are important but ridiculing gaming as a whole is unproductive, as the skill involved is no joke. many top tier pro sports players and the NBA, MLB & NFL and their owners, not only play video games, they host league tournaments worth thousands of $$$ and invest heavily in the ever growing Esports arena. Tyler Blevins aka Ninja is 27, and makes over $500,000 ,per month playing Fortnite. Red Bull just sponsored him, he hosted his own tournament in Vegas with all winnings going to charity. He participates in weekly charity competitions with proceeds benefiting St. Judes Hospital and the Alzheimer Society. He and his wife also pay expenses for dogs medical bills monthly. They also just attended the ESPY Awards with hall of famers and the like, lining up to meet him and have their picture taken with him and wanting to learn from him. You can read about him at business insider, msnbc business, to name a few. For those not skilled at gaming themselves, the opportunities to get into the developing side of gaming has exploded and is a great thing for all the self proclaimed ‘nerds’ in school who now study the science to build the games.
Radio rights are increasingly insignificant, especially for smaller properties like this. If your regular evening programming has an audience, it’s disruptive.
I would suspect that the Lions and Whitecaps radio audiences are also very small.
Does this mean less work for Sheldon? Or will he host the games?
Elle
I was very fortunate to grow up in a Vancouver Neighbourhood that happened to have many very good Athletes and we made sure our now 29 year old Son played Community Team Sports and attended a School that stressed Sport and Academics. He eventually played College Golf in the U.S..
Like most younger people and friends of mine he plays Video Games and enjoys it, My God Son in Facts plays NFL Football and he also plays Video Games, Facebook, Insta Gram and what have you.
We had them and many other Family and Friends visiting with us and staying in our House over the past several weeks and there was a lot of various Gaming and Social Media taking place.
The difference between the people I am describing in this Post and the earlier Post is the fact that FAR TOO MANY other Young People today are Consumed with their Addiction to Video Games and other Social Media sometimes very Violent that condone Sexism, Abuse of Women, Rap Culture, Criminal Activities, and other very Negative examples of Bad things that are having a serious detrimental affect on our Society in General.
Far too many Young Men today spend too many evenings up all night playing Games and other Social Media and they cannot Drag Their Asses out of Bed and be ready for work. This type of behavior is hard to change and it in fact becomes a Life Style.
My Company Employs People in a few ?Countries and our Management all complains about the problem that too many younger males in particular have with tardiness.
Bad Habits like Tardiness and even worse usually begin in the Home and Parents should very quickly familiarize themselves with what Clinical Psychologist JORDAN Peterson is attempting to point out to them before it is too late. You Tube Peterson yourself.
Not every once can make a $ Million or more living in their Mothers Basement honing their Skills Playing Video Games. Any Parent that lets them attempt to try that is Guilty of Child Abuse.
YIKES
Mark
Thanks for the tip, I will give CFMJ a try.
BMCQ I agree with you on the awesomeness of Sport. Addiction, violence towards women and other serious criminality is not exclusive to gaming though. It’s hard to miss the tragic headlines of NFL, MLB & NBA players who have committed such crimes. Every community has stories of Sports parents behaving badly at their children’s games. Instead of letting kids be kids and enjoy the game, some parents go to extremes, believing their child will be one of the chosen ones to earn the million dollar paychecks. My point is, abuse happens in every Sport and is not exclusive to gaming the same way any career field can have it’s share of violent criminals that no one is aware of until sadly, too late. To single out gaming as the sole negative influence is simply not true.
My original post was to merely point out the opportunities now available to kids in the gaming field. As with anything, of course not everyone will rise to the top of their respective fields. Tyler Blevins works 12+ hours every day, as do the game developers. The rise of Esports has opened up a lot of opportunities for young people who are not built for physical sports.
As for tardiness, self discipline and motivation, those traits or lack of, are again not exclusive to gaming and I agree it begins at home with parents being parents and not the child’s best friend or potential meal ticket.
I am familiar with Jordan Pederson.
Your last paragraph that it’s child abuse to allow a child to play video games seems a bit extreme. Would you also give the same label to parents who push their young children in the same way in other sports, the ones whose children don’t have summer vacations because of summer camps, no other interests or after school free time for themselves because of strict workout/practice regimes the parents have designed to to hopefully turn their kids into superstars.
It is a different world today than before the advent of social media. Kids today are not all lazy, selfish and addicted to many vices as so often portrayed. They are so much more aware of the world than ever before and I hope people everywhere support children and speak up for them. Labelling doesn’t solve anything; we did create this world we currently live in, best to guide them positively to help make it better for all.
In Response to Elle Last paragraph….. I have worked with some of the young people coming into the work force….. Some are good people and work hard. But what I have found with more and more newbies, they feel “entitled” to everything. And are in for a reality check once they hit the work force……
Most can not get off there cell phone, and do the job they are supposed to do. And if you take it away from them, they get the shakes as they can not go with out it for one hour let alone 10 minuntes…….
Elle
My Post and the To ne of the Post clearly pointed out that I was referring to Young People mostly Males that become virtually hooked on Gaming and Social Media, I was very clear that my Son, God Son and many others I know play but they are not addicted and it does not interfere with ?Work of any kind.
We have several early 20’s part time males that do everything they can to get to the ?Washroom to do Social Media, some up to 3 times an hour.
I really do not know where you have been hanging out or who you are are listening to but the problem/behavior is epidemic and if you are not aware of that I cannot help you.
You are entitled to your own Bushell of Opinions but you are not entitled to your own set of facts.
Of course it is not ALL youngish males but simply look around And familiarize yourself with the truth, it is there for you to see.
Labeling in fact points out a problem and in fact it affords an opportunity to recognize a problem behavior and deal with it.
Take a minute and see what group makes up about 80% of the Students at UBC andSFU, that will give you a clue. Also look at the most recent declining percentage of White Males Graduating from those Schools and that will give you a clue.
Then turn on T.V. News One Night and simply see exactly who the Researchers, Dr.’s, and other Professionals are that are being interviewed, they are generally NOT White Males.
My Sons Wife is entering her last year at Sauder in Sept and she confirms exactly what I point out here.
Labeling, Shmabelling, if PARENTS DON’T SOON Wake Up they will allow the same thing to happen to their own Children.
Over exposure to Video Games and the Rap Culture is decencitizing young men and it is harming our Traditional Societal Norms, you can either recognize that and help or you can be an Apologist for the upcoming Catastrophic Result, it is your choice.
BTW – are you a Retired Public School Teacher? If so that explains a lot.
I would like to see the sports stations succeed, however, the talent has been either let go or dispersed. To me, the best airwaves we have had in recent times was when we had Rick Ball and the Canucks being broadcast on TSN 1040. In fact, I could not wait for summer to listen to CFL broadcasts with Rick and Julio doing play by play & colour on Lions broadcasts. That, coupled with the Moz and Farhan working the sidelines. The pregame, during game and post-game were entertaining and enlightening.
Ever since then, it has not been the same.
Insofar as Adler is concerned, he has embraced Social Justice Warriorism to the point of parody. I too tried to escape to 167 on Sirius but Arlene Bynan is absolutely unlistenable with Trump this and Trump that. I only renewed because the cut me a subscription deal cheap enough to allow me to listen to CFL and the old radio classics.
One bright light is that Roy Green still seems to be immune to terminal-SJWism. I enjoy his broadcasts and podcasts.
good luck to the hopeless SN 650
zzzz