Milbury slags Russians; CTV gambled millions on Canada
February 25, 2010 · 25 Comments
CTV had a lot riding on the Canada-Russia quarterfinal – several million dollars in fact.
With Canada defeating Russia 7-3 in the Wednesday quarterfinal, the cost of a 30-second commercial in the semi-final game involving Canada will skyrocket.
Should Canada defeat Slovakia in the Friday semi-final and advance to the gold medal game on Sunday, the fee will go through the roof, more than tripling.
The price of a 30-second spot for Canada-Slovakia is $215,000, more than twice the cost of a spot in the Canada-Russia quarterfinal, which was selling for the standard $90,000.
As I reported in my Yahoo Canada! column yesterday, if Canada advances to the gold medal game Sunday afternoon, the fee escalates to $365,000, a record for a 30-second spot airing on a Canadian sporting event.
Had Canada lost to the Russia and been eliminated, the standard fee for the semi-finals and final would have remained — $90,000 for a 30 second spot. That’s a significant ask from advertisers, just a bit under the $100,000 for a Super Bowl spot earlier this month, but nowhere near the $215,000 for the Canada semi-final and $365,000 for a final.
The $90,000 fee for Canada-Russia was a good buy for advertisers. When the audience figures are released later on Thursday, viewership for that game will be in the eight to 10 million range. CTV drew 6 million for Super Bowl, charging the slightly higher ad rate of about $100,000.
The gold medal game of the women’s hockey tournament on Thursday, Canada-United States, was also a good deal. A 30 second spot fetched the standard $90,000. That game should draw in the eight to 10 million range.
The only downside in the hockey schedule for CTV right now is the start of the Canada-Slovakia game – 9:30 p.m. ET is a little late for viewers in the East, but preferable to the 3 p.m. ET start, on a workday, for the United States-Finland game.
Mike Milbury denounced the Russians for playing a “Eurotrash” game against Canada. The NBC (and Hockey Night In Canada) commentator said after the telecast he was disgusted by the weak, dirty effort by the Russians. Reminds me of the CBC’s Don Cherry calling the Russians liars and cheats at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games. You can read the full Milbury story by Yahoo here.
Former Toronto Blue Jays general manager joins ESPN: From ESPN’s release: J.P. Ricciardi, a 30-year professional baseball veteran – including roles as a Major League Baseball front office executive, scout, and Minor League Baseball manager and player – has joined ESPN as a Baseball Tonight analyst. Ricciardi will debut in March.
“I’m really excited about joining the ESPN Baseball Tonight family,” said Ricciardi. “I look forward to sharing my perspective of the game, which has many layers and has been built over the years through my various roles.”
Comment: Given the leaks to ESPN out of the Jays front office, he’s been a source of information to the network for years.
ESPN says it would air Olympic events live, unlike NBC. From The New York Times: With 25.2 million viewers watching the Winter Olympics in prime time, NBC Universal feels vindicated by a strategy that features tape delay of some events and shows nothing live in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
”A tremendous amount of time and experience goes into how we plan the Olympics,” Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics, said Wednesday from Vancouver. “Quite frankly, we’re pleased with the results.”
But fans who crave the chance to see everything live, as many Canadians do, may find an ally in ESPN, which plans to bid for the 2014 Winter Games and 2016 Summer Games. It would discontinue the tape-delay template.
”I don’t think nonlive is sports fan-friendly,” said John Skipper, ESPN’s executive vice president for content.
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Also, meant to mention that Milbury should never criticize anybody relating to hockey. Ever.
To paraphrase J.P. …."I have many layers of knowledge, therefore, I am God"!!! No, actually you're a Dick!
Already said – thank God I can't get ESPN. I'd hate to stumble upon J.P. giving me the benefit of his wisdom.
As an ex-pat living in the Deep South, I howled with laughter about the irony of the announcement that J.P. Ricciardi will be providing analysis for ESPN.
As Bill so correctly put it: Is that actually a new job for The Wise One? Really?
Thank the Lord we don't get ESPN up here in the land of universal health care. You had to know he'd end up in the media 'cus his days of being a front office executive are over. Plus he can now quench his insatiable hunger for face time.
Did Canada play poorly in the first couple of games? Yes, they did. Contrary to myth, they did NOT play poorly against the Americans. When you outshoot a team 43-22, as Canada did against the U.S., you will probably win most of the time.
What everyone forgets, though, is that the preliminary round is just that – the preliminary round. Those games are meaningless once the playoff round begins. Essentially, Canada had three warm up games, four if you want to count Germany, in order to play (hopefully) three straight Game 7s. You don't the players knew that the medals weren't on the line last week? They are now, though, and Canada is flying. I know that understatement doesn't sell many papers, but it would have been useful for the media to put the loss to the U.S., and the whole prelim round in general, in proper context.
Hey William, since you are have been so critical of Team Canada lets review your previous post from awhile back:
"But don’t kid yourself. The top ranked team in the tournament won’t represent the host country. It should be, Russia.
The Russians will be led by arguably the two best players in the world in Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, as well as two more major offensive stars, Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk. The goaltending of Evgeni Nabokov, Ilya Brzygalov and Semyon Varlamov should be solid and so, too, the defense, anchored by Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar.
As for goaltending, you could argue the Russians are in better shape than Canada which will likely start Martin Brodeur, who didn’t play well in Turin four years ago, with Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury as backups.
For that reason, as well as his offensive skills, defenseman Drew Doughty should be on the team.
Canada’s 12th forward may be superior to Russia’s 12th, but I’ll take Russia’s core ahead of Canada’s. We’ll see."
Good Job William, the only thing you got right was Doughty. Stick to bashing the media Bill.
Everyone got this game wrong, though. I dare you to link to someone who predicted Canada would be up by 5 in the second period and go on to win easily.
He's right about the Canadian goaltending as well, Brodeur was chased from the net and Luongo has been o.k. but not great, while Fleury was relegated to watch from the press box. Perhaps Mr. Houston was wrong about the Russians being the favourite but this tournament still isn't over if Canada still has to beat Slovakia who have been giant killers and then faces a tough gold medal game against the finns or states. Many comments here think that spanking the Russians means this is over. Canada played fantastic but one win(or loss) does not a tournament make.
Ad rates are based on anticipated reach. Fewer eyeballs than promised, get a discount – more eyeballs, pay a premium.
Wish they paid on-air "talent" the same way. Campbell et al would have to dip into their jeans!
I dont't understand how this is a 'gamble' for CTV. I mean, it's not like they passed up offers for, say, $150,000 per spot regardless of who would be in the final. Of course it would have huge financial implications for the network if Canada beats Slovakia, but not because of any calculated risk taken by Keith Pelley or anybody. Your argument is the equivalent of saying Fox is making a big gamble every year in hopes of a Yankees-Cubs World Series.
The only way the 9:30 start is reasonable is because it's Friday night. I imagine all bars coast-to-coast are now seeing dollar signs. It's perfect for them. They probably could raise their drink prices tomorrow night too. Hey, just like CTV! tomorrow night can be known as "Gouger Night in Canada"
William,
I have no idea how media buys work, but I am curious on something about the rates going higher.
Did advertisers have the opportunity to buy ad space in advance for ALL games at a certain price, let's say $90,000 for 30 seconds? And now that Canada will advance, does that mean CTV has the right to charge advertisers a higher fee than they had originally agreed to?
No, the price for Canada in the gold medal game was always $365,000 I believe. Without Canada, the price would have been $90,000.
"It’s a big team, not overly physical. It has okay speed, but not great speed, not really quick. The players can’t finish. It certainly does seem to have all the characteristics of a Canadian hockey team. And, we know this is the best men’s team Canada can put on the ice, because the hockey media told us. And the media were virtually unanimous in picking them to win the gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics.
Based on what the team has shown over two games, that isn’t going to happen. Unless it gets miraculous goaltending and Sidney Crosby carries it on his shoulders, this team won’t make it to the gold medal game, never mind win it."
I guess an admission of being completely and utterly wrong was too much to hope for.
Yes….I noticed that too. Bill, you're very quick to slag the team but very slow to give it some credit. The talk today? All about ad costs. Is it too difficult to praise a team that rose to the occasion and proved you wrong on just about every point you made?
Keep up the cheerleading LMV, and you too Jarome. My assessment was based on Canada's performance in first two Olympic games which was poor. Canada had a terrific game against Russia, and showed more speed than in its previous efforts.
I'm not disagreeing with the way they played at the beginning of the tournament, but rather the tone of your comments – quick to talk about their shortcomings but short on compliments. I suspect if they'd played poorly last night, that would have been the focus of your comments today. That's all.
Not sure how you were qualified to opine on Canada's chances to begin with. You're not a hockey reporter (anymore – thankfully) so stick to your MO of criticizing your peers . . . which I kind of enjoy actually.
What are any columnist's or reporter's qualifications, though? It's not like Stephen Brunt or Bruce Arthur did their university degrees in hockey and have some special insights into the game that everyone else in the country lacks.
Ok – they've probably watched more hockey in person than most Canadians, but how exactly does that qualify them to opine on anyone's chances?
Presumably, they all have journalism degrees. What they're good at – one assumes – is expressing opinions about the game in entertaining ways. If hockey reporters had some sort of magical knowledge about the sport, presumably Red Fisher and Damien Cox would be watching the games from behind the bench, not from the press box.
Bill was right on the money in his assessment of Team Canada. They did played poorly – couldn’t score when needed and the D and goalie were both shaky.
Yes, its great they beat the Russians – thanks partly to a shaky Nabakov. If they pummel the Slovaks, then fine rip Houston all you want.
Keep in mind though, Canada’s appearance in the gold medal game is still not guaranteed.
..oops..90 THOUSAND Bill… not 90 million
Hey, thanks Dodger. I do need an editor. ,