Source : Toronto Star

CRTC move should also help The Score

The good people charged with keeping Canada's television business in line did something this week that they're supposed to do: They looked out for us.

In rejecting bids for huge cable rate increases by Rogers Sportsnet and The Score, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) saved us all a lot of money. Reaching into our pockets to help their bottom lines isn't what this is supposed to be about.

But there's another issue here: Did the CRTC do sports fans any favours other than saving them a few bucks?

In the case of Sportsnet, the outright rejection of a 37 per cent hike probably won't affect the product. Although Sportsnet's application said the denial of an increase could result in "a much-diminished channel," odds are we won't see much change.

Sportsnet president Doug Beeforth says it's too early to say what will happen. That will have to wait for talks with cable companies on increasing rates on the various tiers - the CRTC regulates the basic service only - but the cable folks seem more inclined to cut fees these days than grant raises.

"It's like a James Bond movie," Beeforth says, referring to Sportsnet's previous challenges. "The car in front of us has just thrown out another oil slick."

With the might of Rogers behind them and a growing subscriber base, a crash is unlikely.

The Score is another matter.

Many believe the struggling channel got a four-cent increase because the CRTC feared that without an increase The Score might join WTSN in the TV graveyard.

An estimated $57 million in losses over six years tends to have a lot of people looking for undertakers in the Yellow Pages.

But with ad revenues and subscribers on the rise and parent company Headline Media now freed from the millstone called the Pride channel, things are looking up.

But they would have looked a lot more rosy had the CRTC given The Score the 36-cent increase it was seeking.

The four cents comes with strings, too, as the CRTC ordered The Score to spend the extra millions it will collect on its news operation, not live sports.

Though the CRTC has never been too diligent about policing its orders, that might be a good thing.

While The Score has managed some good ratings with its generally low-rent lineup of NBA basketball, lacrosse and CIS football, all those games have caused it to lose its identity.

A lot of viewers who used to tune in for the latest scores and news are frustrated by finding games or, horrors, pro wrestling, instead. And many who tune in to watch games get more than a little frustrated by the constant break-ins for updates (even if there aren't any) and that omnipresent ticker.

Pumping resources into a good news operation may be just what The Score needs.

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© The Toronto Star