There will be surprises when the television networks announce the on-air talent for the Vancouver Winter Olympics of 2010.
For starters, figure-skating commentator Tracy Wilson will not be working for CTV's broadcast consortium, but instead will rejoin NBC's Olympic team.
The CTV consortium won a tug-of-war with NBC over hockey analyst Pierre McGuire. NBC proposed sharing McGuire, but the CTV group, which includes Rogers Sportsnet and CTV-owned TSN, insisted on exclusivity.
But McGuire will not work with Gord Miller, his regular broadcast partner at TSN.
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In an unexpected move, McGuire will be teamed with Chris Cuthbert to call the big matchups at the Olympic hockey tournament, including the men's gold-medal game.
Cuthbert joined TSN in 2005, principally as the network's CFL voice. But apparently his experience and ability calling hockey, which started with the CBC in the 1980s, gave him the nod over Miller.
Former Olympians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier will play large roles in CTV's Olympic figure-skating coverage.
Brian Williams will be CTV's Olympic prime-time host, but the prime-time jobs at TSN and Sportsnet have not been announced.
Sources say hockey anchor James Duthie has the inside track as the host of TSN's prime-time coverage.
At Sportsnet, Connected anchor Evanka Osmak, despite inexperience, might grab the network's prime-time job.
The broadcasting group involved in producing Olympic content for CTV, TSN and Sportsnet has moved into CTV's studios and offices in Agincourt, Ont. They were vacated by Sportsnet, which has moved to the Rogers facilities in Toronto.
In other news, hockey analyst Glenn Healy's contract with TSN will be up at the end of the NHL season.
CBC Sports has consistently denied interest in Healy, but speculation about his joining Hockey Night in Canada continues.
Cole, Millen in booth
Bob Cole and Greg Millen will call the Detroit Red Wings-Pittsburgh Penguins' Stanley Cup final for Hockey Night in Canada.
This will be the first Cup final for Millen, who has provided game analyst on show's second play-by-play team in the past. And it could be the last Cup final for the veteran Cole, depending on the CBC's plans for him next season and Jim Hughson's role in future NHL championship series.
Cole has made it clear he wishes to continue and he has performed well in this postseason.
As usual, host Ron MacLean and commentator Don Cherry will follow the series on the road. Kelly Hrudey and Craig Simpson will provide additional analysis.
For the U.S. networks, this Cup final is the best matchup in years.
The Red Wings and Penguins represent not huge, but major U.S. markets consisting of a hockey base that watches NHL telecasts in significant numbers.
Sidney Crosby of the Penguins has achieved something approaching a national profile in the United States, thanks to heavy promotion by the NHL and NBC. In terms of appeal, the Penguins rank as the most talented young team to reach the final since the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s.
NBC's overnight ratings (percentage of potential U.S. households tuned in) for its two telecasts last weekend were up from 2007.
The fifth game last Saturday, Dallas Stars-Red Wings, earned a 1.5 rating, up 25 per cent from last year's 1.2 (Ottawa Senators-Buffalo Sabres). The telecast earned a 14.1 in Detroit and a 4.0 in Dallas.
The fifth game of the Philadelphia Flyers-Penguins series on Sunday earned a 1.7, a 6-per-cent increase over a 1.6 for Anaheim Ducks-Red Wings in 2007. The telecast had a 26.1 in Pittsburgh and a 7.6 in Philadelphia.
TSN will air a 60-minute Stanley Cup final preview on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT. Beginning tomorrow, TSN's hockey panel, consisting of Duthie, McGuire, Mike Milbury, Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger, will do spots nightly for SportsCentre and That's Hockey outside the arenas in Detroit and Pittsburgh.
Gold-medal audience
TSN drew an average audience of 947,000 for the men's world hockey championship gold-medal game last Sunday.
Combined with RDS's 450,000, the total Canadian viewing audience was 1.397 million, a good number for an afternoon game, but considering it was Canada-Russia, not great.
Interest in the tournament, played for the first time in Canada, never seemed to gain traction. All the big games were in the afternoon. And the senior tournament doesn't have the cachet of the junior tournament.
Rating the weekend
| EVENT | NETWORK | VIEWERS | SKINNY |
| Friday | |||
| Hockey. Canada-Sweden | TSN | 420,000 | Not bad for world semi-final |
| Hockey. Gatineau-Kitchener | Sportsnet | 179,000 | Good audience for Memorial Cup opener |
| Basketball. Celtics-Cavaliers | TSN | 131,000 | Game 6 draws well |
| Basketball. Lakers-Jazz | TSN | 111,000 | Just fine for a late game |
| Saturday | |||
| Tennis. ATP Masters Series | TSN | 115,000 | Tennis's core audience |
| Hockey. Sweden-Finland | TSN | 114,000 | World bronze-medal game |
| Hockey. Red Wings-Stars | CBC | 494,000 | Low for an NHL conference final game |
| Hockey. Belleville-Spokane | Sportsnet | 136,000 | Down slightly from Friday |
| Auto racing. Sprint All-Star | TSN | 189,000 | The usual for NASCAR |
| Baseball. Jays-Phillies | Sportsnet | 294,000 | Close to season average |
| Lacrosse. Portland-Buffalo | Score | 12,000 | Poor for NLL championship game |
| Sunday | |||
| Baseball. Jays-Phillies | Sportsnet | 87,000 | Rain delay; six-hour game |
| Hockey. Canada-Russia | TSN | 947,000 | Best hockey audience of weekend |
| Hockey. Canada-Russia | RDS | 450,000 | Not bad for French-language channel |
| Tennis. ATP Masters Series | TSN | 189,000 | Audience for Hamburg final jumps |
| Hockey. Flyers-Penguins | CBC | 711,000 | Another afternoon game, better number |
| Hockey. Kitchener-Spokane | Sportsnet | 128,000 | Below earlier audiences |
| Baseball. Mets-Yankees | Sportsnet | 100,000 | New York rivalry produces good number |
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