A Retraction Of Sorts
Oh, CBC, how you disappoint me.
Not long ago in this space, I was heaping praise upon you, the Mother Corp., and the wonderful job you do of broadcasting hockey across this country from coast to coast to coast. I hinted that Parliament should pass a motion to declare that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation be designated the official broadcaster of hockey to the world. No TSNs, I said, and definitely no Fox or NBCs. Hockey belonged to the CBC.
And then you blew it.
You didn’t just blow it, you blew it straight out of the water. You blasphemed. You took a national treasure and devalued it quicker than Nortel stocks. You started to mutter about dropping the Hockey Night in Canada theme.
The signature tune had been in place for forty years, costing you a mere $500 per broadcast. Never one to nurture long-lasting relationships, you buggered it up a few years back by allowing the tune to be used as a downloadable ringtone for cell phones. This was deemed copyright infringement, and the composer took you to court.
You didn’t take that very well.
Fast forward to 2008, and the rights to the tune come up for renewal. With the sports department in tatters, Brian Williams working for The Other Side (aka TSN) and the failure to win the host broadcaster honours for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, you decide to pour salt on the already-festering wounds by screwing around with a Saturday night staple. This wasn’t the first time you’d toyed with Canadians’ favourite Saturday night broadcast. In past years, you threatened to ditch Don Cherry, and Ron McLean nearly didn’t make it back when you attempted to penny-pinch his contract. Thankfully, after a viewer revolt, they both returned.
With a lawsuit pending, you obviously didn’t want to make nice with the composer of HNIC’s opening music. Your marketing jackasses scrambled to come up with alternative ideas. I mean, HEY! It’s a piece of music. Everything in life can be replaced, right? Particularly when it’s 40 years old.
Wrong.
Your attempts to nickel and dime the negotiations officially blew up in your face today, when CTV bought the rights in perpetuity. Way to go, pinheads.
Good luck with your contest in the fall to solicit free music and lifelong rights to it for a mere 100-thousand dollar prize. May you be flooded with Canadian Idol-like amateur entries from those who can’t even spell copyright, let alone enforce it.
You should be ashamed, CBC. This is just about the worst PR you’ve come up with in recent years. Your actions have made it clear to Canadians that Hockey Night in Canada is just another show, and your talking heads are simply entries on the payroll. I hope they all jump to CTV, and take the broadcast with them.
Tsk.
