Toronto Maple Leafs Game Pulled From CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada
Since 1972, CBC has broadcast Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night during the hockey season, and every Saturday game that the Toronto Maple Leafs have played was shown on CBC, until last Saturday. The team’s poor performance in the later half of the season has lead to many fan reactions such as throwing jerseys onto the ice, and just not watching the games at all. It has finally got to the point where the team and fans have both given up hope on this season and this has resulted in a noticeable decline in TV ratings. With this came the decision to pull the Toronto Maple Leafs’ game from the main Saturday night hockey network (CBC) and place it on a secondary channel. In previous years, team ownership would not allow for this to happen, however the Leafs are now co-owned by Rogers and Bell Media.
It is said that the decision could be based on trying to get people interested in watching the Montreal Canadians who have a good chance at running deep in the playoffs this season, or it could be the owners sending a message to the team that they have to step it up. What do you think?
