What's a good tune worth on TV these days?
This week CTV bought the rights to the song composer Dolores Claman wrote that for 40 years had become the iconic theme for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.
The stunning business deal gives CTV perpetual rights to Ms. Claman's song and marks the end of a bitter backroom feud between the composer and the CBC, which has used the tune on its Hockey Night in Canada broadcast since 1968.
Neither side is saying how much CTV paid for the tune, but estimates put it in the millions of dollars.
The Globe's Andrew Ryan takes your questions on television tunes and Hockey Night in Canada at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday. (The Globe and Mail)
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Obviously, if you are going to pay that much for something, it must be worth it, right?
While fighting a competitor for a song used on a show you don't actually own the rights to is a bit unusual, picking a perfect piece of music for a series' theme song is not -- think of Sopranos, Friends, CSI Miami, even Beverly Hillbillies.
What does a good theme song mean to a series? Are there any that flopped over the years? What about those shows with a great song on a show that never delivered? And just how much more can we read about the fight over the Hockey Night in Canada tune?
We're pleased to have Globe television writer Andrew Ryan online now to talk about TV tunes. Send your questions now and return then to read his answers. Queries and replies will be posted at the bottom of this page.
Andrew Ryan is the former editor of TV GUIDE Canada. He came to The Globe and Mail in the summer of 2000 and currently writes about television for the Globe's Review section. He regularly fills in for John Doyle as the TV columnist for the Globe's Review section.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Christine Diemert, globeandmail.com: Hello Andrew and thanks for joining us today. Since we've heard all this chatter about the theme song to Hockey Night in Canada over the past week, it got me thinking about other famous television theme songs. Before I get too far into that, what do you make of all this business over that song?
Andrew Ryan: Thanks, Christine. Remember that old TV commercial that ended with, "Only in Canada, you say?" That expression sums up the events of the past week regarding the Hockey Night in Canada theme. I honestly can't imagine this much hysteria surfacing over a TV show's theme song in any other country. I suppose it speaks to our obsession with hockey and so forth, but it's been amazing to watch how the story has grown on the ground level. Everywhere I've gone the last few days, people are talking about the song. And now that everything has been resolved, more or less, the result seems to be CTV came out on top by paying off the song's composer. We should all probably just be grateful the story is out of the news — for now.
J K GALBRAITH from Canada writes: Has there ever been an example where a competitor bought a well-established jingle from a well-established almost iconic show and then decided to use it on their own show? Would Labatt's have ever thought of buying 'Joe Canadian' from Molson's, Wendy's buying 'You Deserve a Break Today' from McDonald's? Does the jingle not lose its value when separated from the product that it is associated with or does it have such iconic value that it really won't matter? Would using the Mary Tyler Moore show theme song work on the Ellen Degeneres show?
