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Olympic broadcasters are meeting in Beijing this week to discuss difficulties with media access and disruptions caused by bureaucratic snafus. Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, says inconsistencies and sudden changes in the rules are playing havoc with the crews.
"You're never sure what the final rules will be, because the rules change," said Moore, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday.
"Last Sunday, the folks who run the Bird's Nest [the Olympic stadium] suddenly decided you needed an extra credential to get in and set up. That's not Olympic protocol, but they said it would take effect immediately. And, by the way, you can't get the credentials for 24 hours.
"That puts everybody back. And some of the construction is last minute, but that's not unusual."
As for Tiananmen Square, television networks will be allowed to shoot live from there for three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, local times.
"For us that works out fine," Moore said. "But it doesn't work out so well for the Europeans."
A 12-hour difference between Beijing and the Eastern time zone in North America will give the CBC and NBC live pictures from Tiananmen in prime time.
Despite the problems, Moore says Beijing organizers seem to be moving toward more accessibility rather than less.
"At least on paper, going in, they're being far more open and accessible than they were going to be even a month ago," he said.
Tennis anyone?
Scheduling conflicts relegated Rafael Nadal's Rogers Cup match to TSN's alternate digital channel last night. More conflicts today, caused by TSN's commitment to the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament and CFL telecasts, will send some quarter-final matches to the digital channel.
There's no obvious answer to these scheduling bottlenecks. Rogers Sportsnet could take the day matches, but it's committed to the Toronto Blue Jays in prime time.
The best answer may be for the CBC, which will air the tennis semi-finals and final on the weekend, to take the weekday package as well. But even the CBC would have had a conflict last night. It televised the Major League Soccer all-star game.
European analysts
Mike Milbury was a good hire by the CBC. In his first year as a hockey analyst, he made an impact on TSN and NBC by hitting hard and cracking wise.
But he was hardly a progressive voice, which means he will fit in perfectly with the crew at Hockey Night in Canada, particularly host Ron MacLean and commentator Don Cherry, his former coach.
It will be more of the same at Hockey Night. MacLean will offer critiques of the referees. Cherry will hype the tough guys. MacLean will nod in agreement. And Milbury will make his own points about the good old game.
A question: When will Hockey Night, or, for that matter, TSN, hire a European to be a hockey analyst?
Europe's influence in the NHL is enormous. Five of the seven top NHL awards went to Europeans in June. Eight of the 12 leading point getters in 2007-08 were European. In terms of pure skill, Europe leads. (The Canadian hockey establishment would disagree.)
European candidates for TV: Former NHL defenceman Ulf Samuelsson is an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes, but would be a first-rate analyst — knowledgeable, with an opinion on everything; and former NHL defenceman Calle Johansson — smart, good on TV. Or how about Igor Larionov, the retired Russian star?
Leafs on TV
TSN and Rogers Sportsnet have increased their Toronto Maple Leafs schedules for 2008-09. Sportsnet will air 28 games regionally, up from 22 last year. TSN will carry 17 national telecasts, up from 12. The CBC's schedule drops (as part of the new CBC and TSN rights deals) to 24 games from 28. Leafs TV will air the remaining 13 regionally.
- The CBC's Jays audiences have jumped 15 per cent from last year, despite the disappointing season. The numbers are up because the network is airing a strong schedule of games, Scott Moore says.
- TSN may be looking at Ray Ferraro, formerly of NBC and Sportsnet, as well as former NHL coach Marc Crawford and retired defenceman Larry Murphy as potential hockey analysts.
- Harlequin, the 1970s and 1980s rock group, and Randy Bachman (Guess Who and BTO) have entries in the Hockey Night theme-song contest. Bachman submitted three.
- TSN's CFL audiences are up 11 per cent from last year.
