CBC Television is likely to televise sporting events without audio if a strike or lockout shuts down its broadcast operation.
Société Radio-Canada used that system in 2002 during a strike and it didn't work all that well. The head of SRC sports said at the time most viewers were tuning in to radio broadcasts to get the play by play.
No-audio telecasts on the CBC would not cause much of a ripple, at least in the beginning. But the tipping point would come in early October when the National Hockey League season begins.
With the much-hyped NHL returning after a one-season hiatus, fans will be eager to get the real stuff from Hockey Night in Canada -- new features, graphics, commentary from Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, and play by play from Bob Cole and Harry Neale.
A stripped-down, silent show would not be acceptable to the viewers, the NHL or CBC. The start of the NHL season could force management to make concessions.
CBC spokesman Jason MacDonald confirmed that a no-audio broadcast for football and hockey is an option the CBC is considering, but he said there could be other options. He said the CBC has decided that a work stoppage will not stop the CBC from broadcasting NHL and Canadian Football League games.
In the past, announcers such as Cole were able to provide play by play during CBC labour stoppages because they were not part of the union.
However, the consolidated Canadian Media Guild now includes virtually all on- and off-air employees, personalities such as football announcer Mark Lee and anchors Brian Williams and MacLean.
If there is a labour stoppage next week, the first silent broadcast could be the football game on Saturday, Aug. 20, with the Toronto Argonauts at the Edmonton Eskimos.
On the same weekend, the CBC will carry the semi-finals and final of the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament. However, tournament director Stacey Allaster said the telecasts would be moved to another network, probably TSN, if CBC employees are not working.
The CBC could promote the no-audio telecasts as a novelty feature. In the past, other networks have experimented with "sounds of the game" broadcasts.
What are the chances of a work stoppage?
The two sides will be in a strike or lockout position by Sunday at midnight, although the guild's national president, Lise Lareau, indicated that her membership will not strike, at least not immediately. The CBC is required to give the union 72 hours notice of a lockout, which it did last night.
"It's not in our interest to [strike]" Lareau said. "There's too much work to be done. If anything happens, it would probably be the result of the CBC locking us out."
Terry Walker, the CMG's president for the CBC in Toronto, said there has been virtually no progress in negotiations.
The biggest obstacle, the union says, is CBC management's demand to increase the number of contracted employees.
Track stars ignored
American athletes have been cleaning up at the world athletics championships at Helsinki, but don't blame U.S. viewers if they missed it. Mainstream television coverage isn't available in the United States.
Sources say rights-holder NBC walked away from the event because of a dispute with the sport's world governing body over which NBC affiliated outlet would carry the telecasts.
Instead, IAAF world championship coverage is being carried on the Pax TV Network, a small over-the-air service in which NBC has a 32-per-cent stake. A call to NBC was not returned.
In Canada, the CBC is providing a nightly package.