Leafs Off HNIC/CBC for first time since 1972 and ACC attendance

[AustonMitchWilly]

Great! We dont deserve to be there until we can field a team worth watching

 

[Jack Bauer]

No, the Leafs created HNIC, as it started on the Canadian National Railway radio network in 1931. The Canadiens did their own thing in Quebec which started a few years later.

Point is, through all the lows before this season, the Leafs were still the Leafs on HNIC. And now that's all going to change.

No it's not. The Leafs will always be a part of HNIC. Saturdays game was still a HNIC broadcast. Strombo was the host. Don Cherry 1st intermission. Bob Cole announcing.

Channel location was just different. Really no different then any Saturday over the last few decades from my recollection.

Bigger changes would have to happen before there's proof of real change. This is grasping for straws if this is what change is.

The Leafs have been bumped out of the #1 spot on HNIC lots of times in the last decade, especially late in the year when they've been out of the race. The only thing new about this is the fact that HNIC is not solely a CBC production any more.

 

[Mess]

This is the kind of thing that rings loud and clear and resonates throughout the MLSE ivory tower for Leafs Ownership.

Sponsors and advertising paying top dollar for HNIC adds are now being pushed off the main CBC HNIC page and on to other networks due to a failing rating and poor on ice product.

Lets hope every effort is made this offseason in an attempt to get the Leafs back where they should be as Canada's flagship team and highest TV ratings.

This topic is likely a heated one in MLSE boardrooms these days.

 

[Deuce Awesome]

Enjoyed Bob Cole. I don't sub to cable/sat but I caught a good stream on my android box.

Not hearing Hughson and Simpson more than made up for the quality difference.

Hope this continues.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

This is the kind of thing that rings loud and clear and resonates throughout the MLSE ivory tower for Leafs Ownership.

Sponsors and advertising paying top dollar for HNIC adds are now being pushed off the main CBC HNIC page and on to other networks due to a failing rating and poor on ice product.

Lets hope every effort is made this offseason in an attempt to get the Leafs back where they should be as Canada's flagship team and highest TV ratings.

This topic is likely a heated one in MLSE boardrooms these days.

I suspect this is why expecting a rebuild is impossible, they won't go into next season trying to tank because no one will watch.

 

[BLONG7]

Apathy is the only thing that will force change...short term pain...for long term gain, but it's not gonna be pretty...or should I say, it hasn't been pretty.
2-3K empty seats in the ACC would also send a message...no matter what station covers them...

 

[BlueBaron]

I suspect this is why expecting a rebuild is impossible, they won't go into next season trying to tank because no one will watch.

I share your concern. It was always assumed we would happily tolerate a rebuild and fan interest was not a concern. Though this could just be a blip due to our freak show season it will make some at MLSE nervous and perhaps the rebuild idea dies after this draft. I hope not but .....

 

[Longshot]

Enjoyed Bob Cole. I don't sub to cable/sat but I caught a good stream on my android box.

Not hearing Hughson and Simpson more than made up for the quality difference.

Hope this continues.

I can't remember the last time Hughson was on a Leafs Saturday night broadcast.

It's like when the season went down the drain he de-camped to more competitive teams.

 

[Moncherry]

Karmic retribution. I just wish Burke was still here so that it would be blowing up in his face.

 

[Jack Bauer]

This is the kind of thing that rings loud and clear and resonates throughout the MLSE ivory tower for Leafs Ownership.

Sponsors and advertising paying top dollar for HNIC adds are now being pushed off the main CBC HNIC page and on to other networks due to a failing rating and poor on ice product.

Lets hope every effort is made this offseason in an attempt to get the Leafs back where they should be as Canada's flagship team and highest TV ratings.

This topic is likely a heated one in MLSE boardrooms these days.

Just putting 20 people on the ice with a Leaf on their chest will have them #1 again come October so be careful with that wish.

The unsold seats for tonight will have them talking more then being bumped off of the #1 HNIC slot this late in the year.

Being bumped from HNIC's #1 spot has happened before. But has there ever been so many unsold tickets to a game on the day of the game?

 

[Bluelines]

I had a thought last week that this group has done something no other Leaf team has done in the last 40 years, diminish the brand value but I had no way of quantifying this. But this move gives some value to my theory.

Rogers/CBC would only move the Leafs off the HNIC broadcast if advertisers were balking at paying the going rate for commercials. Would it make sense to leave advertising dollars on the table by putting 2 teams on the HNIC broadcast that don't demand top end ad revenue? No.

I can tell you that my experience is not much different than other Leaf fans. I watch the first 10 minutes of the first period become disillusioned by a bunch of soft millionaires trying not to put in an effort that might get them injured, who wants to miss golf season after all, .. I then turn the channel.

I have no doubt Kessel and the Maple Softs have diminished brand value.

 

[hockeyes]

I share your concern. It was always assumed we would happily tolerate a rebuild and fan interest was not a concern. Though this could just be a blip due to our freak show season it will make some at MLSE nervous and perhaps the rebuild idea dies after this draft. I hope not but .....

I don't believe that personally. There's a difference between watching a young team grow together and having to sit through watching 20+ minutes of Bozak/Kessel/Dion/Lupul repeat the same performances just to get a glimpse of the younger guys playing way less minutes who you actually want to see.

There's just nothing left to care about with the current core but they are still the headliners in the show.

 

[Bluelines]

Apathy is the only thing that will force change...short term pain...for long term gain, but it's not gonna be pretty...or should I say, it hasn't been pretty.
2-3K empty seats in the ACC would also send a message...no matter what station covers them...

Incompetence not apathy is the problem. They aren't all of a sudden going to figure it out because fan support is diminishing.

 

[Northern Dancer]

This is the kind of thing that rings loud and clear and resonates throughout the MLSE ivory tower for Leafs Ownership.

Sponsors and advertising paying top dollar for HNIC adds are now being pushed off the main CBC HNIC page and on to other networks due to a failing rating and poor on ice product.

Lets hope every effort is made this offseason in an attempt to get the Leafs back where they should be as Canada's flagship team and highest TV ratings.

This topic is likely a heated one in MLSE boardrooms these days.

Mess as a champion of the "proper rebuild" model and the resultant 5 years or so of lingering at the bottom of the heap how exactly do rationalize the bolded statement above. Are you now switching horses to the "win now" mode and the signing of UFA's?

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

I don't believe that personally. There's a difference between watching a young team grow together and having to sit through watching 20+ minutes of Bozak/Kessel/Dion/Lupul repeat the same performances just to get a glimpse of the younger guys playing way less minutes who you actually want to see.

There's just nothing left to care about with the current core but they are still the headliners in the show.

Why would anyone turn into watch them lose? You are drastically overestimating the amount of people that want to go see a team try hard and lose.

These ratings will do exactly what everyone claims they don't want to have happen and rush the rebuild. Rogers/Bell and the MLSE aren't going to sit around trying to tank and they definitely won't if it means no ones watching.

 

[34]

Looks good on them!

If Phaneuf is still the Captain next season, I am going to sell every game from my seasons. **** this garbage!




Enough is enough.

 

[MLG Ghost]

Great! We dont deserve to be there until we can field a team worth watching

This is exactly the truth! When the Leafs start winning, and icing a team of players that play like they care, HNIC will be back.

 

[barilko05]

I had a thought last week that this group has done something no other Leaf team has done in the last 40 years, diminish the brand value but I had no way of quantifying this. But this move gives some value to my theory.

I have no doubt Kessel and the Maple Softs have diminished brand value.

I've mentioned this before but I feel it needs repeating. The Leafs as the number one "brand" in TO is a relatively new phenomenon. From the tail end of the Ballard era to just before the creation of MLSE and "Leaf Nation" the buds were not the biggest game in town. The rise of the Jays in the 80s, combined with those lousy Leaf teams of that era made them a distant second in the market. Some might even say third when you remember that the Argos, with the Bruce McNall/John Candy ownership, plus Pinball, Rocket Ismael, and later Doug Flutie, were still hugely popular.

 

[Snow Dog]

Relegated to SN,how embarrassing.Back to Leaf's TV next year.

 

[hfman]

it's a mess.

as predicted, this year has gone up in smoke in every way possible, from the worst Leaf team of all time to the destroyed hockey coverage that we've been accustomed to for decades

I'll be brutally honest - they've lost me this year. I haven't seen a full game since it started in October. I've seen full periods, a half-game here or a highlight there - but not a full game. My interest has vanished. I couldn't even tell you the Leafs record these past 3 or 4 weeks - I literally haven't seen a minute of any of the games, and have no idea when they play their next one. I don't know who they've played, when they played, or the results of any of those games. This is proibably the longest stretch of no hockey in decades for me. I'll keep it that way, it's actually nicer this way!!

 

[BlueBaron]

Mess as a champion of the "proper rebuild" model and the resultant 5 years or so of lingering at the bottom of the heap how exactly do rationalize the bolded statement above. Are you now switching horses to the "win now" mode and the signing of UFA's?

I suspect he means putting a proper foundation of youth in place, not trade the future for vets and hit max cap with big FA signings.

 

[Northern Dancer]

I suspect he means putting a proper foundation of youth in place, not trade the future for vets and hit max cap with big FA signings.

And you think paying fans will I accept this. I don't.

 

[Erdinger]

This is what happens when you're absolutely pathetic as an organization for a decade. No kid wants to cheer for a loser. A lot of us on here grew up during the height of the Sundin days, or even the Gilmour days. Some even older.

Make that 5 decades

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

And you think paying fans will I accept this. I don't.

They won't, that why all the talk about how we'll support a rebuild makes me laugh, we aren't even done year 1 and it's clear that the fans would rather we try and barely make it in or just miss it as opposed to tank.

The people who are here a very small segment of the leafs fanbase and MLSE cater to the fanbase not a very small and very vocal minority.

 

[Erdinger]

And you think paying fans will I accept this. I don't.

Why would corporations even care? Plus no individual season ticket holder will cancel their subscription.