Sports in Canadian culture

[elly63]

Originally Posted by osmo

The reason why curling is big on the TV because it's cheap content to produce. You get 100s of hours of curling for next to nothing in costs

You ever work in TV? No remote is cheap to produce.

[Prometheus]

CURLING DRAWS GREAT RATINGS TO TSN

TSN.CA
April 17, 2013

With the final audience data of the season now in, the numbers show that curling is one of the most-watched sports properties on Canadian television. Overall, more than 13.7 million Canadians, or close to half the population, have tuned in to watch some of TSN's extensive curling coverage this season.

As official broadcaster of the Canadian Curling Association, TSN broadcasts close to 300 hours of live Season of Champions curling each year, including the Tim Hortons Brier and Scotties Tournament of Hearts, along with the Men's and Women's World Championships, Capital One Canada Cup, WFG Continental Cup, and M&M Canadian Juniors.

Throughout TSN's live curling coverage in primetime the network attracted an average audience of 561,000 viewers – making it one of the network's most popular sports properties.

TSN wrapped up its exclusive Season of Champions coverage with its most-watched draw of the year, attracting an average audience of 1.13 million viewers for the 2013 Ford World Men's Championship Final on Sunday, April 7.

"Curling is a cornerstone of the TSN schedule and it consistently ranks as one of most-watched sports on TSN every year," said Stewart Johnston, President, TSN. "We are exceptionally proud of our curling coverage and are thrilled to have such a broad and dedicated audience turn to us time and time again – at all hours of the day – for the biggest events in curling."

"This is yet another sign of the passion that curling fans have for this sport," said Greg Stremlaw, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Curling Association. "Our long-term partnership with TSN, which we renewed this season, has taken curling to new heights and we look forward to continued growth down the road."

Snapshot of Season of Champions Curling on TSN during 2012-13 season:

• Total reach (number of Canadians who watched on TSN this season) – 13.6 million
• Average audience for curling in prime time – 561,000
• Average audience for all draws of Ford Men's World Championship – 613,000
• Average audience for all draws of Tim Hortons Brier – 594,000
• Average audience for all draws of Scotties Tournament of Hearts – 497,000
• Average audience for all curling events on TSN including morning and afternoon draws (294 hours) – 454,000
• Total hours of live coverage – 294
• Total events – 97

TSN's top five audiences from the 2012-13 curling season are as follows:

• 2013 Ford World Men's Championship Final – 1.13 million
• Scotties Tournament of Hearts Final – 1 million
• Tim Hortons Brier Final – 894,000
• Tim Hortons Brier Draw 17 (Alberta vs. Ontario) – 857,000
• 2013 Ford World Men's Championship Semifinal – 836,000

Source: http://www.tsn.ca/curling/story/?id=420999

[logan5]

Would it be fair to draw a parallel between The Curling World Championship final and hockey's gold medal final? An average of 16.6 million viewers for the 2010 final vs 1.1 million for the Mens final in the curling world championship. Even a regular season hockey game draws twice as many viewers as the most important curling match of the year - 5 of those NHL games you listed were regional broadcasts compared to national curling broadcasts

Ah I give up. You got me. Curling is just as popular as hockey. I see that now.

NHL

PIT-TOR, Mar 9, CBC: 2.021 million
MTL-TB, Mar 9, RDS: 748, 000
CGY-LA, Mar 9, CBC: 601, 000
MTL-FLA, Mar 10, RDS: 726, 000
EDM-CHI, Mar 10, SNW: 225, 000
VAN-MIN, Mar 10, SNP: 364, 000

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by logan5

Ah I give up. You got me. Curling is just as popular as hockey. I see that now.

You are deeply confused, logan5.

Let me recap events for you: No one claimed curling is just as popular as hockey. Instead, I made a very simple claim:

curling broadcasts often equal or beat NHL hockey broadcasts in television ratings.

That's an objective, irrefutable fact, shown by the empirical data.

You responded by expressing your belief that curling is not shown nearly as much as NHL hockey (as if that could be relevant to the truth of the claim).

However, I informed you that there are in fact many hundreds of hours of nationally televised curling every season, that TSN alone shows more nationally televised curling than it does nationally televised NHL hockey (and possibly more than TSN and CBC put together). And that doesn't even include the many additional hours of curling that Sportsnet and CBC nationally televise each season.

What was your response? You bring up the fact that curling's ratings don't beat the Stanley Cup Finals and Team Canada playing for gold at the Winter Olympics!

And that refutes the original claim how? LOL!

Let me repeat: curling broadcasts "often" equal or beat NHL hockey broadcasts in television ratings each season. That means: it's not a rare occurrence. It happens a bunch of times. And it's an irrefutable fact. Get it?

[logan5]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin View Post

That was the point after all - that [curling] is not a widely popular sport the way hockey is.

Your reply...

Originally Posted by Prometheus

You do realize that curling often equals or beats NHL hockey in television ratings? It often beats the NFL (by a wide margin too) and it absolutely destroys the NBA every time.

From this post, one might get the impression that you think curling is just as popular as hockey.

[elly63]

^I think we can call time on this one.

Well, I've been throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks and aside from anything to do with the merits or non merits of Torontonians or the city of Toronto nothing seems to be sticking.

I may go back to posting curling girlie pictures (and I'll make sure they're all Canadian)

How's aboot great moments in Canadian sports history? And my version of history is not like the "classic" games you see on TV. My history goes back past 10 years.

Don Jackson - 1962 World Figure Skating champion - Prague
Great commentary by Jim McKay and Dick Button to add to the excitement when the marks were given.

"I'm glad I could do it for Canada" That's just too cool for school!

BTW, no one did a triple lutz in competition for the next 12 years.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by logan5

From this post, one might get the impression that you think curling is just as popular as hockey.

Only if one goes beyond what I actually wrote.

A better impression would be that I was simply pointing out that curling is in fact one of the most popular sports on Canadian television (even beating NHL ratings not infrequently), as stated in this TSN article:

With the final audience data of the season now in, the numbers show that curling is one of the most-watched sports properties on Canadian television. Overall, more than 13.7 million Canadians, or close to half the population, have tuned in to watch some of TSN's extensive curling coverage this season.

Throughout TSN's live curling coverage in primetime the network attracted an average audience of 561,000 viewers – making it one of the network's most popular sports properties.

TSN wrapped up its exclusive Season of Champions coverage with its most-watched draw of the year, attracting an average audience of 1.13 million viewers for the 2013 Ford World Men's Championship Final on Sunday, April 7.

"Curling is a cornerstone of the TSN schedule and it consistently ranks as one of most-watched sports on TSN every year," said Stewart Johnston, President, TSN.

http://www.tsn.ca/curling/story/?id=420999

[Antigonish]

Originally Posted by logan5

Would it be fair to draw a parallel between The Curling World Championship final and hockey's gold medal final? An average of 16.6 million viewers for the 2010 final vs 1.1 million for the Mens final in the curling world championship. Even a regular season hockey game draws twice as many viewers as the most important curling match of the year - 5 of those NHL games you listed were regional broadcasts compared to national curling broadcasts

Ah I give up. You got me. Curling is just as popular as hockey. I see that now.

Look man I seriously doubt he (or anyone) disputed curling is more popular than hockey. Clearly he just went out to undermine your assumption that 'nobody watches curling at least under the age of 60'. I think he's done a pretty good job to refute those claims, time to give it a rest.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

Clearly he just went out to undermine your assumption that 'nobody watches curling at least under the age of 60'. I think he's done a pretty good job to refute those claims, time to give it a rest.

Amen and amen!

[Acajack]

It's nonetheless interesting to compare Canadian curling ratings to those in Canada for the NFL, the world's richest pro sports league.

[Antigonish]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's nonetheless interesting to compare Canadian curling ratings to those in Canada for the NFL, the world's richest pro sports league.

But-but it'll make us a world class city!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

But-but it'll make us a world class city!

I'm not the one who said it!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

I'm a mod now? That's news to me.

.

Sorry. Confused you with Ramako!

[Barnard's Star]

Originally Posted by elly63

^I think we can call time on this one.

Well, I've been throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks and aside from anything to do with the merits or non merits of Torontonians or the city of Toronto nothing seems to be sticking.

I may go back to posting curling girlie pictures (and I'll make sure they're all Canadian)

How's aboot great moments in Canadian sports history? And my version of history is not like the "classic" games you see on TV. My history goes back past 10 years.

Don Jackson - 1962 World Figure Skating champion - Prague
Great commentary by Jim McKay and Dick Button to add to the excitement when the marks were given.

"I'm glad I could do it for Canada" That's just too cool for school!

BTW, no one did a triple lutz in competition for the next 12 years.

That's really a fun nine minutes of viewing elly, thank you. The smile on Jackson's face could've lit up a city.

Here's an interesting question (assuming you don't mind giving a rough indication of your age): what seminal moment would be your earliest Canadian sports memory? My pick is the last Lemieux goal from Gretzky in Canada Cup '87.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

Look man I seriously doubt he (or anyone) disputed curling is more popular than hockey. Clearly he just went out to undermine your assumption that 'nobody watches curling at least under the age of 60'. I think he's done a pretty good job to refute those claims, time to give it a rest.

First off, you got the first line backwards, secondly, the under 60 line was said by somebody else. I realize these petty debates can be annoying, but before you tell somebody to give it a rest, make sure you're not all mixed up.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Barnard's Star

Here's an interesting question (assuming you don't mind giving a rough indication of your age): what seminal moment would be your earliest Canadian sports memory? My pick is the last Lemieux goal from Gretzky in Canada Cup '87.

If I really think about it, I can go back earlier to what a superstar Nancy Greene was at the time, but the 72 series is/was a very vivid memory. The anticipation was extremely high, it had never been done before and I remember my father pissing us off saying that the Russians would win (the first game). And when they did we were even more pissed off he was right. I can remember going to the corner store with another kid after the first four games in Canada and not being too confident about the next four games in Moscow (remember this series was almost a month long). I also remember watching a game on colour TV in a friend's finished basement, neither of which I had at my house.

If people weren't around then they have no idea how big it was. For Canadians, it ranks with the JFK assassination, 911 and the moon landing.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Barnard's Star

That's really a fun nine minutes of viewing elly, thank you. The smile on Jackson's face could've lit up a city.

Just to give some background on this guy and those championships and why we're still watching this after 50 years.

The 1962 World Figure Skating Championships may have been the most important ever and Canada kicked ass medaling in every event. The Figure Skating World Championships in Prague were originally planned for 1961, but were cancelled due to the crash of Sabena Flight 548, which killed everyone on board the plane, including the entire US figure skating team, decimating US figure skating for the next five years.

The iconic ABC's Wide World of Sports was only on the air for about a year and this was (I think) their first coverage of a great athletic achievement and story rather than simply covering an event.

It was behind the Iron Curtain (the Berlin Wall having just gone up) and the Cuban Missile Crisis to come. This was the height of the Cold War.

The story of the championships was that of Canadian pair skaters Otto and Maria Jelinek. As children, they and their parents defected from Czechoslovakia and were returning competing for Canada. Such was the enmity for the Communist regime, they were fan favourites skating in Czech costumes to Czech music. They won the gold. Otto later became Canada's Minister of Sport in the Mulroney cabinet. Future commentator Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell finished fourth and later third in the 64 Olympics.

Wendy Griner would finish second in the women's with Petra Burka fourth. Burka would win a bronze in the 64 Olympics and win the 65 world championship.

Virginia Thompson and William McLachlan won bronze in ice dancing and we also finished 5th and 6th.

Back to the men's event, aside from Jackson winning the gold, Donald McPherson finished fourth at 17 years of age and later became the youngest to win the world championship when he won in 1963.

Don Jackson was so far ahead of his time, it ain't funny. Back then they didn't have the same jumping technique they have now (they didn't wrap their free leg) Check out the height of his lutz, had he had the proper technique he could have completed a quad lutz 50 years before it finally happened.

I heard an interview a few weeks ago with him and he confessed to doing quad jumps in practice. He was very humble about it so it was no BS.

What makes Jackson's performance so extraordinary was that the guy he beat was a Czech and he achieved marks of 6.0 in a time when that just didn't happen, unlike 30 years later when they were giving them out with a box of cracker jacks. In the interview he said that the Czech, Karol Divin graciously said had he have won he would have given his medal to Jackson as the better skater.

If you liked that video have a look at Don Jackson in King of Blades an NFB production

[saffronleaf]

Originally Posted by logan5

First off, you got the first line backwards, secondly, the under 60 line was said by somebody else. I realize these petty debates can be annoying, but before you tell somebody to give it a rest, make sure you're not all mixed up.

Dude, don't be a sore loser.

[elly63]

If you're of a certain age you will likely remember this.

Time for another blast from the Canadian sporting past. The late Brian "Budgie" Budd came out of nowhere to shock the competition and win the World's Superstars Competition in 1978. He was to win again in 79 and 80. He was then not allowed to enter any further competitions.

Some believe that the rule was created specifically for Budd and refer to it as the "Budd rule." Budd believed that ABC wanted him removed from the show because he was not well known to the American TV audience. Those Americans are such poor losers

World Superstars - 1978

[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

The story of the championships was that of Canadian pair skaters Otto and Maria Jelinek. As children, they and their parents defected from Czechoslovakia and were returning competing for Canada. Such was the enmity for the Communist regime, they were fan favourites skating in Czech costumes to Czech music. They won the gold. Otto later became Canada's Minister of Sport in the Mulroney cabinet.

Wide World of Sports quick retrospective story on the Jelineks and I suppose the first "Miracle on Ice" (ABC called it a miracle) Don Jackson's win.

Not included but from the same doc IIRC was Otto Jelinek saying almost the same thing as Jackson thirty years later. "We won the medal...for Canada...but also somehow for the repressed people of Czechoslovakia"