TSN, Canada’s Sports Leader, continues to set the Canadian sports broadcasting standard for 2003-04 with comprehensive and award-winning coverage of the NHL, World Juniors, CFL and PGA TOUR, as well as the top-rated SportsCentre.
The ratings speak volumes on TSN. The Canada vs. Russia gold medal game from the 2003 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship drew the largest audience in TSN history with 3,446,000 viewers. TSN’s coverage of the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs increased 68 per cent from 1998. CFL audience levels have increased 117 per cent in the last five years on TSN. And SportsCentre, TSN’s flagship news program, was voted the number 1 source for sports news.*
*Spring/Summer Roper Reports Canada study; fieldwork conducted between July 26-September 6, 2002. The remaining audience figures courtesy Nielsen Media Research.
TSN’s exciting lineup for 2003-04 includes the following:
SportsCentre
SportsCentre continues to lead the way in 2003 as Canada’s most-watched sports news program, bringing fans the most comprehensive news, highlights, scores and exclusive interviews – all from a state-of-the-art broadcast and production facility.
TSN’s Rod Smith sets up the evening’s action on SportsCentre at 6:30 p.m. ET. At 10 p.m. ET, Darren Dutchyshen and Blake Price take to the air with complete highlights and scores from the big leagues. And at 2 a.m. ET, Jennifer Hedger and Jay Onrait give viewers a complete summary of the day’s events, including highlights and post-game reports from the West coast. This edition gets repeated on a loop from 6 a.m. – 12 noon ET every weekday morning and from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. ET on weekends.
Hockey
In 2003-04, TSN will continue to offer fans the most comprehensive national NHL package ever assembled by a specialty network with approximately 100 NHL games, including 73 regular season games and the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup® Playoffs. Every Wednesday night during the NHL season, TSN will have exclusive Canadian coverage of NHL games. TSN will also televise a minimum of 30 regional Toronto Maple Leafs games during the 2003-04 season, as well as the NHL Entry Draft for the next four years.
Hockey expert Pierre McGuire returns as colour commentator, bringing intensity, knowledge, credibility and a deep passion for the game. A former NHL head coach, McGuire will be joined in the broadcast booth once again by play-by-play announcer Gord Miller. NHL on TSN host James Duthie will work alongside TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie and veteran hockey commentator Dave Hodge during the first and second intermissions. Dave Randorf and Gary Green team up as the second broadcast crew for the NHL while Gino Reda returns as host of Molson That’s Hockey.
IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship
As one of the most popular TSN holiday traditions, the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship returns to TSN in late December. TSN’s complete coverage of the 2004 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship from Helsinki, Finland continues until early January. TSN has televised the World Juniors since 1991, and the tournament’s appeal as a viewer’s favourite is evident as the top three highest rated programs of all-time on TSN are all World Junior broadcasts.
IIHF Men’s and Women’s World Hockey Championships
At the beginning of April 2004, TSN will have coverage of the 2004 Women’s World Hockey Championships from Halifax, N.S., followed by coverage of the 2004 Men’s World Hockey Championships from the Czech Republic, which runs from late April to early May. TSN’s coverage of the 2003 gold medal game from the Men’s World Hockey Championship was the second highest rated World Hockey Championship game ever on TSN, attracting a national audience of 1,048,000 total viewers (2+) for the live and encore broadcast combined.
Football
In February 2003, TSN signed a new five-year broadcast deal with the Canadian Football League (2003-2007) and will televise a total of 250 regular season CFL games over the next five years, beginning with 50 in 2003. TSN‘s 2003 broadcast schedule includes Wendy’s Friday Night Football every Friday throughout the season, Wendy’s CFL Live games during the week, 18 pre-game shows and seven doubleheaders. TSN veteran John Wells has all the play-by-play action and is joined in the broadcast booth by analyst Glen Suitor. Host Dave Randorf and studio analysts Chris Schultz, Matt Dunigan and Jock Climie handle the pre-game and halftime shows.
TSN will also televise 25 NFL regular season games this year from September to December. TSN’s NFL coverage kicks off in August with two pre-season match-ups, including the American Bowl in Tokyo, Japan with the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the New York Jets. Every week during the NFL season, TSN will televise ESPN’s popular NFL Countdown – a two-hour preview of the week’s action airing Sundays at 11 a.m. ET, and NFL Primetime – a one-hour highlight show airing Sundays at 7:30 p.m. ET, just prior to TSN’s game coverage. The 2003-04 NFL season wraps up on TSN on February 8, 2004 with coverage of the Pro Bowl from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.
TSN has more pigskin action in November with three major CIS Football games, starting with the Mitchell Bowl and the Churchill Bowl on November 15, followed by the Vanier Cup – CIS Football’s biggest event – on November 22. TSN hits the gridiron again in December for extensive NCAA college football Bowl game coverage, including the 70th annual Nokia Sugar Bowl – the national championship game – on January 4, 2004.
Golf
TSN’s new four-year deal with the PGA TOUR (2003-2006) secured exclusive broadcast rights to every Thursday and Friday round for all PGA TOUR tournaments. As part of the PGA TOUR deal, TSN and CTV have also secured exclusive rights to the Bell Canadian Open, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, THE PLAYERS Championship, THE TOUR Championship, and all four World Golf Championships. As well, TSN gained exclusive rights to the Target World Challenge and Presidents Cup.
With a comprehensive schedule that includes the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and LPGA Tour, TSN will broadcast more than 600 hours of golf this season, including the TELUS Skins Game and all four Majors – British Open (July 17-20, 2003), PGA Championship (August 14-17, 2003), The Masters (April 8-10, 2004), and U.S. Open (June 17-20, 2004).
Curling
TSN’s curling coverage gets underway on November 27 with the second annual Continental Cup – nicknamed the Ryder Cup of curling – as 12 of the finest men’s and women’s teams from North America and the rest of the world take to the ice for this innovative competition. TSN will televise more than 300 hours of curling action in 2003-04 with coverage of the McCain/TSN Skins Game (December 6-7) and JVC/TSN Skins Game (December 13-14), and live coverage of the Season of Champions featuring the Mixed Championships (January 18, 2004), Canadian Seniors (February 1, 2004), the Scott Tournament of Hearts (February 21-28, 2004), Nokia Brier (March 6-12, 2004), World Junior Curling Championship (March 27-28, 2004), and the Ford World Championship (April 19-25, 2004).
Off The Record
Off The Record kicks off its sixth season on TSN in September, as hard-hitting host Michael Landsberg delves deep into issues from the world of sports, politics and entertainment for 30-minutes each weekday at 6 p.m. ET (encore presentation at 3 a.m. ET and 12 noon ET). Four guests from all walks of life appear on each show to debate the topics that are on everybody’s minds. Musicians and actors appear with athletes and politicians – it’s the ‘Politically Incorrect’ of the sports world.
WWE RAW
WWE’s flagship program RAW, one of TSN’s most popular shows, continues to thrill fans with its unique blend of high-flying athleticism and off-the-wall storylines every Monday at 9 p.m. ET in 2003-04. Wrestling fans will have a lot of entertaining action to look forward to this coming season, as RAW superstars Trish Stratus and Chris Jericho, both Canadian, continue to battle for WWE supremacy in their respective wrestling categories.
Tennis
TSN scores a winner with more than 400 hours of tennis action in 2003-04. TSN’s extensive coverage features all four Grand Slam tournaments: Wimbledon (June 23 to July 4, 2003), U.S. Open (August 25 to September 7, 2003), Australia Open (January 11 to 24, 2004) and French Open (May to June 2004). TSN will also broadcast all 10 Tennis Masters Series events – including the 2003 Tennis Masters Series Canada in Montreal (August 4 to 8), and the women’s 2003 Rogers AT&T Cup in Toronto (August 11 to 15).
Auto Racing
TSN has plenty of fast-paced action from the thrilling world of professional auto racing in 2003-04 with more than 50 races from NASCAR, Champ Car World Series, Formula One and the Indy Racing League. CTV and TSN team up for coverage of the 2003 Formula One Air Canada Grand Prix from the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal. TSN sets the pace with coverage of the qualifying on Saturday, June 14 at 8 p.m. ET, while CTV provides live pre-race and race coverage on Sunday, June 15 beginning at 12 noon ET with TSN’s Vic Rauter and John Watson calling the action.
Toronto Blue Jays Baseball
TSN celebrates its 20th season of Toronto Blue Jays Baseball in 2003 with a 25-game broadcast schedule that includes 15 games from July to September. Rod Black and Pat Tabler team up for the second straight year to anchor TSN’s baseball broadcasts. Black handles the play-by-play while Tabler, a former player with the Jays, returns to the booth for the third consecutive year as colour commentator. TSN’s Blue Jays schedule from July to September includes eight games against American League East opponents including the New York Yankees.
NBA
TSN will televise 15 regular season NBA games (including 12 Toronto Raptor games) plus a minimum of 10 Playoff games for the 2003-04 NBA season, beginning in October.
HBO Boxing
TSN steps between the ropes to bring boxing fans the biggest names and best match-ups in boxing with every major title fight from HBO in 2003-04. TSN will also continue to air the popular weekly series ESPN Friday Night Fights throughout 2003-04.
Figure Skating
Commentators Rod Black, Debbi Wilkes, Tracy Wilson and Dave Randorf bring viewers a new season of all the spins, jumps and triple axels from the world of figure skating with the following events on TSN and CTV:
