Rocky wrote:I quite honestly don't see Rogers doing a deal with Bell to move hockey to 1260.
Now that Bell owns 1260 (CFRN) and has it branded TSN, I cannot see what had long been considered the more logical alternative: Rogers buying 1260.
Does the Rogers "master agreement" with the Oilers and the NHL see them more or less automatically acquire the Radio Play-by-Play rights when the contract with CHED expires? I don't know.
But, if it does, I can't see them interrupting regular programming on either Sonic or The Bounce to air Oilers games. Running play-by-play plus all the pre- and post-game shows, plus the regular daily Oilers Report, would simply kill their existing music-based audience on whichever of the two stations they chose. You could get away with that in Yakima in the '60s, but not Edmonton today.
One FM possibility does exist, though it may not be possible under the current CRTC license: World-FM (CKER) could pre-empt their ethnical programming for games.
Like Rocky, I cannot see the possibility of arch rivals Rogers and Bell coming up with an agreement that sees Bell-owned TSN-1260 run Oilers games. Though more likely than 1260, Bell and Corus undoubtedly consider each other major rivals, which makes it hard for me to imagine Rogers buying 880 or cutting a deal to continue airing games on CHED after Rogers acquires the rights.
So, what other possibilities are there?
- Rogers applying for a license for one of the many AM frequencies that are currently available in Edmonton. 580 is probably the only one where they would have a chance at 50,000 watts.
- Rogers cutting a deal with Newcap to have CFCW-790 air the games
- Rogers buys time on CJCA-930 for the games. John Short had a daily Sports show on CJCA for about a year, so there is a precedent for Sports on the religious station.
- With three CHR stations in Edmonton, Rogers may just decide to bite the bullet and turn The Bounce into Sports Net 91.7. ...with CRTC license amendments, of course.
Although there is no clear winner in all that has been discussed in this thread, I think killing The Bounce makes the most sense.