TSN 1040 loses Canucks to Rogers

[flyonthewall]

Watch for the official announcement tomorrow morning on CITY TV. Rogers has scooped the Canucks broadcast rights from Bell's TSN 1040.

Will the games appear on News 1130 or on JACK or KISS FM??

[Aaron]

Probably 1130, possibly JACK, def not Kiss.

[Jim Walters]

I wonder if it would make sense for Rogers to buy 1410 from Bell and have a Vancouver based Sportsnet or Fan?

Perhaps Newcap could deal CISL or Corus could sell off AM 730?

With the number of PM drive games from out of town, is it worth the gamble to mess with CKWX's successful News format?

[Howaboutthat]

I agree with Jim. I think it would be silly to mess with News 1130. Maybe they could turn 104.9 into an all sports. None of the music formats have worked since the Fred & Cathy days when it was Clear.
However, I think buying the underperforming 1410 would be the best route. They certainly have enough space in the Ash building for another studio or 2.

[Aaron]

The 1410, 730, and 650 theories all make a ton of sense.

I'm not confident that it will be any of them though. I can't imagine Bell selling 1410 just to create a competitor to 1040. 1410 makes nothing, but it costs nothing. Same idea with 730, to a degree. 650 is most likely.

Still, I think Rogers will wedge it in wherever they can. Good point about all the afternoon games on 1130....I'm east so didn't think of that.

[jon]

If I were a betting man, my money would be on 104.9 (KiSS-FM). Especially given that the only numbers that we have at the moment actually score CISL as having better ratings than 104.9, even it is only one tenth of one percent.

Add that to the fact that Rogers already owns 104.9, and it seems pretty obvious. Not to mention that CISL's night signal is pretty rotten, especially compared to 104.9's.

I'm also sure that Rogers could negotiate some pretty cheap air time on someone else's station, but, as they say in the PR business, the Optics of that look pretty awful. With the Border Blaster on 1550 losing its sole source of Programming to the new 600 licensee, I'm sure their rates would be pretty low.

[albertaboy4life]

Not a betting man here either but I would bet on 104.9 too.

Mt. Seymour transmitter at 104.9 plus the other two, 107.5 and 92.5, serving the Fraser Valley give the station AM signal like reach in the lower mainland. 104.9 was also listenable in Victoria back when I lived there.

Sportsnet 104-9 has a nice ring to it. Rogers could make use of the resources of the Calgary and Toronto Sportsnet radio stations and partner with Sportsnet Pacific TV for content.

Why continue competing with the established station with the CHR/Top 40 format? Not to mention the two Hot AC's.

Will 1040 now lose the homer treatment of the Canucks?

Why bother with 1410? Turn it off or sell it to an ethnic broadcaster.

Are the BC Lions the next team to leave 1040?

Put the new KISS morning show on JACK in a time slot that suits them if the current JACK morning show is doing good business.

[Aaron]

These deals don't just happen overnight. They would not have hired a new morning show knowing this is in the works. You can put the games on 96.9 and keep the format, you can't with KiSS. It won't be 104.9.

[MonteVideo]

1. Great scoop flyonthewall!
2. Audacious and good move for Rogers! Brings all their NHL stuff together.

[Aaron]

Agreed! He's been incredibly reliable. Option (c): it isn't true never even occurred to me.

[Mike Cleaver]

I don't think even Robbers is stupid enough to put play by play on News 1130.
It's a successful recognizable brand and people have come to expect 24 hour news, traffic and weather information.
When I did afternoon drive at the mothership Sick Sadie News in Toronto, every time we stopped the news-wheel for any reason, the phones lit up and complaints flooded into the switchboard and all the direct lines, even flooding the lines into CHFI even though they continued to air regular traffic and weather reports.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Put hockey on one of your other underperforming properties.
Judging from the ratings, there aren't many listeners there anyway.

[Tighthead]

Reports are 96.9 FM for the first year.

That could mean that Rogers will set up a sports station for year 2.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Why not pick up AM 600? You can park the Canucks & Jays there plus the Tim & Sids etc. The channel is available. Fan 600.

[Dan Sys]

Why not pick up AM 600? You can park the Canucks & Jays there plus the Tim & Sids etc. The channel is available. Fan 600.

Sher-E-Punjab Radio was awarded a license for 600 AM in Vancouver this past November.

[WheresFredTaylor]

Why not pick up AM 600? You can park the Canucks & Jays there plus the Tim & Sids etc. The channel is available. Fan 600.

Nationally syndicated radio doesn't work in Canada, it's why TSN 1410 focuses on American programming.