I'm gonna repackage this into one post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Hockey interest does seem to be slowly going down, even if the U.S. does care enough about it to make it seem "big time" to Canadians who care about such things.
I obviously agree that hockey won't die out, and nor will curling.
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I don't know, I don't think many Canadian hockey fans are under the impression that the NHL registers a whole lot in the US. I mean, you often hear sportscasters talk about "the big 3" pro leagues. But people still watch it. It'll lose ground to the other leagues, but I don't see it getting as small as it is in the US in my lifetime.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
In some cases, it's pretty darn close already, wouldn't you say?
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Absolutely, with movies I think it's as close to identical as it could be. But music a little less so (there are always a handful of Can-con artists that end up being big for a few months off the radio), and sports even less so than that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
In much of the country, curling's pretty big. People have posted recently about how it's been lucrative bread and butter content for TV networks, and over the years people have posted TV ratings that top 1 million which is excellent in Canada.
It doesn't rival for top spot but it's up there perhaps arguably in the top 5 spectator sports in Canada.
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But I said "openly" big, by which I mean that people would talk about it. Because the CFL gets massive ratings too, yet I find it very, very hard to find someone to talk to about it who knows any players, or how any of the teams are doing. So clearly it's not cool, and neither is curling, but they both still get good numbers. Basically what I'm saying is trends matter, but they're not all that matters. Clearly the Canadian label still has meaning, and we also still have some people who are fans of sport, not just hype.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
It's hard to distinguish between your two points, when I am out there in the real world.
For as long as I can remember, there is often a "eeewww" factor associated with anything that people perceive as being only popular in Canada. Vindication via popularity in the U.S. (or, lately, globally) is required in order for certain Canadians to take an interest in something homegrown.
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I agree. Drake and the Weeknd could have put out the exact same music they've put out since making it in the US, and they'd be on the same level of popularity in Canada as some random Can-con band from Mississauga that won a contest on Much Music.
But what I meant was that they care about what the US thinks, but it's not all they (we?) care about. I'd like to give us a little more credit than that. I think there will be struggles ahead (I worry about what the CFL will look like in 40 years), but I'm also optimistic that we won't go full-American by then either.