CFL on CTV

Last updated
CFL on CTV
CFL on CTV.png
Starring The CFL on CTV game commentators
Country of origin Canada
Production
Running time360 minutes+
Original release
Network CTV (1961–1986, 2024–present)

CFL on CTV is a presentation of Canadian Football League football airing on the CTV Television Network produced by Bell Media's The Sports Network. [1] It was previously a standalone independently produced program on CTV from 1961 to 1986. CTV dropped coverage of the CFL after the 1986 season; and this coverage was replaced by TSN and the newly created Canadian Football Network.

Contents

History

1961–1986

In February 1961, CFTO-TV, outbid the CBC for the rights to the CFL's Eastern Conference regular season and playoff games. [2] The station was allowed to broadcast only in Toronto and could only air Ottawa Rough Riders and Montreal Alouettes games, as the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats were blacked out in that market. CFTO-TV's owner, John W. H. Bassett applied to the Board of Broadcast Governors for permission to set up a temporary network to broadcast the games in other markets, while another broadcaster, Spence Caldwell, set out to form a permanent network. [3] On April 22, 1961, the BBG rejected Bassett's application and gave Caldwell permission to start the county's first private television network. Caldwell reached an agreement with Bassett to broadcast the games on his new network, which launched as the CTV Television Network on October 1, 1961. [4] [5] After losing the CFL, the CBC acquired the rights to the National Football League and aired their games against the CFL on CTV. [6]

In 1962, CTV purchased the rights to the Grey Cup. [7] The BBG proposed that all stations in the country be required to carry CTV's feed of the game, however the CBC objected because the Corporation did not want to broadcast the game with CTV's sponsors. [8] The BBG eventually ordered the CBC to carry CTV's broadcast of the game and threatened network president Alphonse Ouimet with jail time if the network refused to comply. [9]

On March 15, 1963, the CBC and CTV reached an agreement that saw the two networks split coverage of the Canadian Football League. The CBC had first rights to Saturday games and CTV had first rights to games played on any other day of the week. If two games were scheduled for the same time, the other network had the right to air the game not picked up by their competitor and if a network had to cancel a broadcast, the other network could air the game. Both networks would spilt playoff coverage and the Grey Cup would be aired on both the CBC and CTV. [10] The two sides continued this arrangement until the end of the 1972 season, when the CBC outbid CTV for the rights to the CFL. The CBC still allowed CTV to cover some games and the two networks had a near even split of regular season games and both aired the Grey Cup. [11] [12]

In 1980, brewery Carling O'Keefe, outbid the CBC and CTV for the broadcast rights to the Canadian Football League. Carling O'Keefe sold the rights to the CBC and CTV. [13] The brewery won the rights again in 1983. [14]

After the 1986 season, the CFL and CTV were unable to reach an agreement on broadcasting rights and the league chose to form an independent network, the Canadian Football Network, to broadcast games not aired on CBC or TSN. [15]

2024–present

In June 2024, Bell Media announced that CTV would air on digital terrestrial television a late-season package of TSN-produced CFL coverage beginning in the 2024 season. CTV will air Saturday 3 p.m. ET games beginning September 7, share in coverage of the playoffs (CTV broadcasting the earlier time zone East Division playoff games), and simulcast the 111th Grey Cup with TSN. [1]

Commentators

Eastern broadcasts

Western broadcasts

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Football League</span> Professional Canadian football league

The Canadian Football League is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division. As of 2024, it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.

<i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> CBC broadcasts of the National Hockey League in Canada

CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the Hockey Night in Canada brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its history in various platforms. The brand is owned by the CBC and was exclusively used by CBC Sports through the end of the 2013–14 NHL season.

Réseau des sports (RDS) is a Canadian French language discretionary specialty channel oriented towards sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc.. Its full name translates as "The Sports Network", the name of its Anglophone counterpart, TSN.

CFQC-DT is a television station in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station has studios on 1st Avenue North and 23rd Street East in the Central Business District neighbourhood of Saskatoon, and its transmitter is located near Highway 41 and Burgheim Road, northeast of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annis Stukus</span> Canadian football player and coach (1914–2006)

Annis Paul Stukus was a Canadian football player, journalist, coach, broadcaster, and executive. He was the first head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and the BC Lions of the Western Interprovincial Football Union and the first general manager of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association.

<i>TSN Hockey</i> Regional NHL broadcasts by Canadian sports channel TSN

TSN Hockey is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the National Hockey League.

The Canadian Football Network (CFN) was the official television syndication service of the Canadian Football League from 1987 to 1990.

<i>CFL on CBC</i> Canadian TV series or program

CFL on CBC was a presentation of Canadian Football League football aired on CBC Television. CBC held broadcast rights for the CFL from 1952 to 2007. The exclusive broadcasting rights for the league moved to TSN starting from the 2008 CFL season.

NHL on CTV is the name of a former television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on the CTV Television Network.

<i>CFL on TSN</i> Telecasts of the Canadian Football League

The CFL on TSN is TSN's presentation of the Canadian Football League. The Sports Network (TSN) has broadcast CFL games since the 1987 season and has been the exclusive broadcaster of all CFL games since 2008. While the CFL on TSN shows all CFL games, a more entertainment-focused Thursday Night Football telecast was added in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Cuthbert</span> Canadian play-by-play sportscaster

Chris Cuthbert is a Canadian sportscaster. He currently serves as the lead play-by-play commentator with CBC Sports/Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada, and calls most national and regional games for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the network. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of roles. He and Glen Suitor were the lead broadcast team for the CFL on TSN from 2008 to 2019 before Cuthbert gave that lead play-by-play role to Rod Smith.

NHL on Global was the de facto name of a television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on the Global Television Network. The program aired during the 1987 and 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs under the titles Stanley Cup '87 and Stanley Cup '88 respectively.

The following is a list of commentators to be featured in CBC Television's Olympic Games coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium</span> Consortium of broadcasters that aired 2010 and 2012 Olympic coverage

Established in 2007, Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium was a joint venture set up by Canadian media companies Bell Media and Rogers Media to produce the Canadian broadcasts of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, as well as the two corresponding Paralympic Games. Bell owned 80% of the joint venture, and Rogers owned 20%.

CFL on NBC is a de facto branding for the Canadian Football League (CFL) games that have been carried on American broadcaster NBC or its sports network, NBCSN.

During the 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons, four more Canadian teams, the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames, joined the NHL. The Oilers and Flames were featured frequently as the two teams were contenders the 1980s; in contrast, as the Nordiques were owned by Carling-O'Keefe, a rival to the show's sponsor Molson and whose English-speaking fanbase was very small, the Nords were rarely broadcast, and never from Quebec City during the regular-season.

The following is a list of labor-management disputes that caused disruptions in television coverage in sports events. This doesn't include work stoppages of the sports themselves but coverage disruptions which caused interruption/cancellation of the telecast itself or substitute on-air talent. This can be on a network level or local level.

References

  1. 1 2 "Star-Studded New Series, Returning Hits, and Live Events to Anchor CTV's 2024/25 Schedule". bellmedia.ca. Bell Media . Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  2. ↑ "Loss of television rights disappoints CBC officials". The Leader-Post. February 22, 1961. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "CBC Without Big Four League, Playoff Coverage". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. April 15, 1961. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  4. ↑ Hanright, Don (April 22, 1961). "Private TV Network Gets Approval". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  5. ↑ Braithwaite, Dennis (October 2, 1961). "Filmed Accolades Put Private TV Network on the Air". The Globe and Mail . p. 4.
  6. ↑ "Channel Hopping". The Windsor Star. December 26, 1970. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "CTV Purchases Rights To Grey Cup Telecast". The Montreal Gazette. May 31, 1962. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "Grey Cup TV for all proposed". The Leader-Post. August 20, 1962. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  9. ↑ Lynch, Charles (November 8, 1962). "CBC Loses Battle". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  10. ↑ "Rival Networks In Agreement On Football Broadcast Plans". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. March 15, 1963. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "CBC will telecast CFL games". The Calgary Herald. December 1, 1972. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  12. ↑ "...Sports...And More Sports". The Montreal Gazette. September 8, 1973. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  13. ↑ Powers, Ned (October 24, 1980). "Will brewery provide fair coverage?". The Phoenix. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "CFL signs sweet deal". The Calgary Herald. October 15, 1983. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  15. ↑ "CFL, CTV to part company". The Phoenix. March 2, 1987. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  16. 1 2 "Kinsella's Corner: For Want Of $15,000, Horse Escaped Barn". Ottawa Citizen. February 20, 1961. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Walker, Hal (June 17, 1974). "World of Spot". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Channel hopping". The Montreal Gazette. June 26, 1971. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  19. 1 2 "Football Stars Join Network". The Calgary Herald. July 17, 1970. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Sports in Brief: Hunsperger sent to jail". Edmonton Journal. March 29, 1975. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  21. 1 2 Wood, Larry (April 26, 1982). "Sports". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  22. 1 2 3 Hunter, Gorde (November 6, 1962). "One Man's Opinion". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "Gridirons and Two-Irons". The Leader-Post. June 23, 1967. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  24. 1 2 Hunter, Gorde (July 20, 1963). "No title". The Calgary Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Powers, Ned (July 21, 1972). "$750,000 tab on Russia-Canada series". The Phoenix. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  26. 1 2 "No title". The Windsor Star. June 24, 1971. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  27. 1 2 "Speculation on Grey Cup Confrontation Running High". The Val d'Or Star. September 15, 1976. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  28. 1 2 "Sunday focus on Belafonte". The Phoenix. February 3, 1978. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  29. ↑ Powers, Ned (July 4, 1980). "Heavy sports week upcoming". The Phoenix. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  30. ↑ "Gotta reported hired to coach Saskatchewan". The Saturday Windsor Star. December 13, 1984. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.