TSN to drastically ramp up “Live Mic” games
Justin Dunk 3downnation June 21, 2018

TSN “Live Mic” games are about to become a regular occurrence.

According to sources, “Live Mic” games will begin in Week 3 and end in Week 20, the final slate of the 2018 regular season. Each team will participate in two home and two away “Live Mic” games.

The reason for increased “Live Mic” games: they provide a ratings bump. There have been nearly 10 per cent more average viewers in CFL matchups featuring “Live Mics.”

Both head coaches, starting quarterbacks and back-up quarterbacks from each team will wear the “Live Mics” with the focus being the team on offence. There will be a 10-second delay so CFL and TSN representatives can monitor any potential foul language and use the mute button if needed.

TSN’s first ever “Live Mic” broadcast aired on Sunday, August 28, 2016, in a game between the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Stamps won 30-24.

“This Live Mic Broadcast is a next-level fan experience. Our viewers will feel like they’re standing right there in the huddle,” said Paul Graham, Vice-President and Executive Producer, Live Events, TSN in a statement when the progressive initiative was announced.

There has been some pushback from the teams in regards to wearing the “Live Mics”, the CFL fined the Edmonton Eskimos and Jason Maas for refusing to wear the mics in an October 2016 game in Montreal.

Four “Live Mic” games aired in 2016 but none in 2017.

Argos team president Bill Manning is quoted as saying that 175K of those 661K viewers were in Ontario.

Argos season ticket holders are also up to 6K.

So that probably puts the amount of viewers in Toronto only at around 100k or so - maybe even less. And this comes fresh off a Grey Cup win.
This more closely lines up with their poor attendance and overall lack of interest/talk in Toronto.

Yet those of us who have been stating that tv viewership figures are primarily from outside the GTA were laughed at on these forums for years now with all kinds of excuses why that isn't so. It looks like not just the GTA, but Ontario in general is less interested in the Argos than the prairie provinces.

Just to be clear, people from the prairies weren't watching for the Argos... they were watching the Riders. There is no Argo fanbase out here. That team's fanbase is small relative to the other Toronto teams, but it's definitely concentrated in Southern Ontario.

Well at least we can take solace in the fact that Manning's number is still 3x better than the whopping 38k (cross Canada) that TFC was pulling a year ago.

This has nothing to do with the conversation at hand. :shrug:

Really, the usual suspects trolling the CFL isn't the usual topic at hand, you've been doing it forever. But you're right, maybe we should take it to the MLS thread.

And if you don't like it perhaps you should stop your campaign of not so insidious shitting on the CFL seeing as you don't like it when it's done to you.

It's not trolling genius, it's proof that the likes of you were wrong and I was right. Just like the silly talk about how TFC's popularity was declining vs the Argos, who were going to "dominate and replace" TFC at BMO. Ill probably be proven right about BMO's expansion to 40-45,000 as well now we have the World Cup. Where's your apology for being completely wrong as usual?

You're funny. Exactly who said the Argos would replace TFC, certainly wasn't me and you can't prove that, because I never said it. How could Argos dominate when their highest seating capacity configuration will always be 4-5k less than TFC?

I have proof that at his last state of the Union address commissioner Cohon said that Argo TV games had half of the viewers coming from Ontario. At that time ratings were over 600k, anyway it's no big deal to me because the Argos have the same owner as TFC and according to MLSE will put the same resources into the Argos as they've done for TFC for the last 10 years. That's gotta hurt doesn't it :)

I'm but a humble poster and not a university perfesser who has humbled himself to post at a mere Internet forum, I know not better.

Changing the topic a bit, but here in Vancouver/Lower Mainland with our heavily immigrant population overall, I never get why we get so much reporting from TSN/Sportsnet/Local news outlets on MLB. I've never met anyone who watches or cares and the Blue Jays aren't our team. I know a ton of people who follow the NBA obviously, but aren't Raptors fans necessarily. I get reporting about local teams - Canucks, Whitecaps, Lions, even the Vancouver Canadians and the Stealth, but I totally do not understand this general pandering to a Canadian team in mainstream media sport reporting.

There are probably more fans of the Portugal National Football Team and would want updates on how they are doing in Vancouver than the Blue Jays. The World Cup gets maybe five seconds in the sports update on local radio channels yet every (frankly, meaningless) Blue Jays game seems to have sound bites, coverage and even shows covering it. We probably have more people interested in the UFC, PGA tour, tennis... hell Formula 1 than MLB. Someone care to enlighten me where all of these Jays fans are because I don't see them around to be worth the amount of undue attention Vancouver media seems to give them.

Basically I'm just saying there is a lot going on in Sports for an immigrant-heavy population and we get peddled a team that isn't even local to us and I don't see much support or interest here in Vancouver, and that befuddles me. That and I'd like to hear less about them and more about other goings-on in my sports updates :)

My 2c.

The thing about Argos TV numbers is that they're usually near the lowest in the CFL. In 2016 they had the second lowest average viewership in the CFL (547K average/game, only ahead of Ottawa's 545K/game) and are, at least in the past five years or so, usually involved in the least-viewed CFL game of the season.

Here are the lowest rated CFL games in the regular season from 2009-2017, according to CFLDB (TSN only, no RDS):

2009: Montreal/Saskatchewan (294K)
2010: Calgary/Hamilton (454K)
2011: Hamilton/Calgary (356K)
2012: Calgary/Toronto (434K)
2013: Winnipeg/Hamilton (437K)
2014: Hamilton/Calgary (387K)
2015: Montreal/Toronto (246K)
2016: Toronto/Montreal (257K)
2017: BC/Toronto (364K)

Toronto also took part in the lowest rated games in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2007. Data isn't available for 2003/2006/2008, but you get the picture.

Here are the highest rated regular season games, for comparison:

2009: BC/Saskatchewan (1.2M)
2010: Winnipeg/Saskatchewan (1.34M)
2011: Saskatchewan/Edmonton (1.00M)
2012: Saskatchewan/Toronto (1.06M)
2013: Saskatchewan/Winnipeg (1.34M)
2014: Winnipeg/Saskatchewan (1.14M)
2015: Winnipeg/Saskatchewan (1.12M)
2016: Ottawa/Saskatchewan (950K)
2017: Saskatchewan/Montreal (851K)

If we know Ontario was only 25% of the viewing audience for the Riders game in Week 1 i'd be genuinely curious to see what that makeup would be when the Argos play the Tiger-Cats or REDBLACKS. Hamilton/Toronto games typically have above-average numbers but Ottawa/Toronto games have below-average numbers. The RDS crowd is negligible for REDBLACKS games (between 20K-40K, roughly).

Ottawa's most-watched regular season game each year has been against Saskatchewan. In two of those years the least-watched REDBLACKS game has been against the Argonauts.

When the Blue Jays play in Seattle Jays fans frequently outnumber Mariners fans. Here's an opinion piece from last year written complaining about what they call an infestation of Jays fans during the series.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mariners-de...le/c-202416814

https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-f...es/c-202417026

https://sports.vice.com/en_ca/articl...blue-jays-fans

If 15K-20K Jays fans are showing up in Seattle when the Jays play there i'm guessing there's a few Jays fans to pander to on local sports coverage. :shrug:

I think your "research" is as usual a little selective in it's approach, usually to show something CFL in a bad light and TFC in the glowing halo. We get it, you want the CFL dead.

You can't dispute your favourite source below.

https://i.imgur.com/wCLmKjo.png

Good editing. Stop with the TFC nonsense.

Argos/Ti-Cats Regular Season Games (all numbers courtesy of CFLDB), TSN:
2013, Week 16: 956K
2014, Week 10: 796K
2014, Week 16: 636K
2014, Week 18: 601K
2015, Week 6: 559K
2015, Week 11: 559K
2015, Week 12: 418K
2016, Week 1: 747K
2016, Week 11: 902K
2016, Week 12: 497K

Numbers aren't available for any missing games.

Why did you delete my explanation, my God you TFC people are so pathetic! Scared shitless by the little CFL.

I've sent you a PM explaining why your posts were removed. You've shown a complete inability to discuss topics in this thread in good faith. Anything further on this will be removed.

I provide numbers on the CFL, without mentioning anything else, and you call me a TFC fanboy.

I provide more numbers and you continue.

You call others trolls when you, yourself, are trolling this thread.

This thread is not for you to call others names without providing any actual content to the discussion in a constructive manner.

I don't want the CFL dead but you seem fixated on the idea that I want it that way. End of discussion. Provide something on topic or it'll be removed.

Bullshit, you manipulate numbers one way, but if I go to your MLS thread and do the same thing I'll get deleted. Man up, why can't you just admit you want the CFL dead without going through this insidious premise that everyone knows that you do here and elsewhere. Do you really think people are so stupid they can't see what you're doing.

What have I said that isn't the truth? You hold the hammer (ironically in the CFL thread) and don't have the guts to go toe to toe without wielding the hammer. I get it now and it's bigger than this site.

Really, then why is every post you make slanted that way. There's lots of good stories out there, have you ever posted one?

I cannot manipulate numbers I lift directly from CFLDB. You're free to look them up for yourself.

This is an internet discussion forum. Relax.

I'm posting TV numbers. I can't manipulate CFL TV numbers to show they're going down.

Here's an article from 2014: CFL audiences down but still strong
Here's an article from 2015: CFL audiences drop 15 per cent after tough season

I can't manipulate Grey Cup average audiences to show that they've been trending down since TSN's extension of their broadcast agreement. They just are.

I guess Zelkovich hates the CFL too. :shrug:

The CFL can post articles talking about year-over-year growth in weekly figures but they're never going to release data about double digit drops year over year. I'd rather analyze numbers than just copy-paste feel-good articles straight from a league's PR department.

I point out that attendance is down and TV ratings are down and i'm called an anti-CFL heathen. Fuck sakes. I was at the REDBLACKS home opener. :haha::haha::haha:

I don't feel the need to regurgitate PR communications pieces. Enough others provide positive CFL news here that it's covered fairly well.

Again, you've still yet to provide any constructive content to this thread and instead seem focused on me. This thread is not about me nor my opinion, and this thread also isn't for you to chastise others because you don't agree with them.

It's embarrassing for this forum that we can't go a page without some senseless argument about who feels what way or another and feeling the need to attack them instead of actually having a discussion.

If you don't agree with my content then post constructive content proving otherwise.

End.