What you missed: Football fans north of the border miss out on a slew of new Super Bowl advertising thanks to CRTC broadcast regulations

Source: Globe and Mail

The U.S. Census Bureau? Had we known we were talking about Super Bowl ads for the American head count we might not have tried so hard to find the U.S. feed of yesterday's Indianapolis-New Orleans showdown. Maybe Florida quarterback Tim Tebow can combine the pro-life message in his two ads yesterday with the census dudes in an effort to improve the count next time. Certainly it was no contest in the commercial contest. CTV's cast recycled plenty of old inventory while CBS was brimming with new, funny ads. By now, yesterday's best are all over the Internet. Faves from Usual Suspects: a 50-year-old Brett Favre, still undecided, as the 2020 NFL MVP (Hyundai), Chevy Chase and Canada's Beverly D'Angelo reprising National Lampoon's Summer Vacation in the Napoleon suite (Homeaway.com), race driver Danica Patrick doing Flashdance (GoDaddy.com), Audi's Green Police eco-advertisement, Doritos' aging taserman with his walker and Bridgestone's three-men-and-a-killer-whale. Plus, almost all of Bud Light's five minutes worth of commercials. The biggest winner might be a GoDaddy.com commercial, with a flamboyantly gay former football player named Lola, banned by CBS. Under the forbidden-pleasure theory, this has driven armies to see the ad on the Internet – all without paying the $3-million hit to CBS for running it.

Ad It Up

There was still the dilemma of Canadian viewers denied, by CRTC fiat, yesterday's U.S. commercial fest. When it's a U.S. show such as House, American Idol or Two And A Half Men, no one much cares if CTV or Global keeps the ad space – and the revenues. Frankly, commercials are often an imposition on such shows dealt with via PVR.

But the U.S. commercials are synonymous with the Super Bowl. The public demands them (66 per cent of viewers remember their favourite ad from the 2009 game versus 39 per cent remembering the winner). CTV rightly points out that it's entitled to the low-hanging advertising fruit provided by the Super Bowl on its own channels. (“It's a business.”) The public understands this. The issue for cable and satellite customers is when the U.S. game telecast they purchased is replaced by the Canadian commercials on Super Sunday. How to protect CTV's investment? Perhaps the U.S. telecast of the Super Bowl could be sold as a pay-per-view with CTV receiving the benefits? Here is where the CRTC must provide leadership. Industry insiders know the 1980s model currently being employed has been broken by grey-market dishes and Internet sites. Employing the blunt weapon of blacking out U.S. content won't work for a new generation of tech-savvy consumers.

Canadian Content

The core of the CRTC's protectionist policy is a tacit admission that, given a choice between Canadian or U.S. content, Canadians will always choose the U.S. product. Perhaps that was true a generation ago. But CTV now has produced its own successful shows such as Flashpoint, Degrassi: The Next Generation, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Cold Squad and the now-ended Corner Gas. Likewise, CBC has Dragon's Den, Rick Mercer Report, Being Erica and This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Maybe the time has come to give Canadian content a little more respect. And to allow Canadian networks to compete without the automatic fallback of relaying U.S. content. So far, the CRTC seems to be putting off making any such decision as the networks and cable/satellite carriers squabble over local programming. But with water coming over the gunwales, it may not be the CRTC's decision to steer the boat much longer.

Delay Switch

Embattled NBC brass face a similar dilemma with its Olympic coverage. As is its custom, NBC will re-package its key Vancouver coverage in prime time to maximize viewership. This means showing an hours-old hockey game or figure-skating competition at the same local time across the United States. (The CTV/Rogers consortium will be live in everything they do – something U.S. border cities love.) Alternatives for the mass audience to get around this policy aren't here – yet. But by London in 2012 the cyber-world may go right around NBC's walls. Then what?

Golden Recipe

At last, the secret to Canada winning the men's hockey gold medal in Vancouver: Have Team Canada's executive director launch a petulant, self-pitying rant about referees, cowardly Euros and undeserving Canadian appeasers at a stressful moment. That was the recipe proposed by (shock!?) Coach's Corner on Saturday.

Don Cherry played Wayne Gretzky's paranoid news-conference performance about referees and traitors following a 3-3 tie with the Czech Republic at the 2002 Olympic tournament. Complained Gretzky, “It sickens my stomach to turn the TV on. It makes me ill to hear what's being said. … I know the whole world wants us to lose, except for Canada and Canada fans and our loyal fans. … If a Canadian player had done that, he'd have been suspended,” he continued. “But, if a Czech player does it, it's not a big deal.”

Us against the world. The oldest card in the coaching deck. (Which explains why Cherry loves it.) Gretzky's patriotic complaint has taken on iconic status since Canada's eventual gold-medal win. In fact, it was the determination of Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux and others – not Gretzky's whining – that truly turned the day. Here's hoping that if Canada gets the gold in Vancouver it will be credited to something greater than theatre of the absurd

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