TSN2 and Rogers: You Knew This Was Coming

Published May 16, 2009 @ 17:18 in Television, Toronto Blue Jays

TVJust last night I was checking in on the Blue Jays television coverage when I saw next week's Boston Red Sox games were to be broadcast on TSN2, a station not currently carried by Rogers Cable. That prompted me to write this tweet:

Speaking of not watching the Jays on TV, I'll bet the farm we Rogers customers suddenly get TSN2 next Tuesday.

There was no way the Rogers-owned Toronto Blue Jays would have key divisional games broadcast on TSN2, a station Rogers customers don't get. Last October I wrote about the 25 Toronto Raptors games we Rogers customers were going to miss. Missing Jays games would have been absolutely humiliating for Rogers, so you knew an agreement between TSN and Rogers was imminent.

This from Fadoo.ca:

A person familiar with the discussions told fadoo that an announcement of the agreement should be expected this weekend, likely on Sunday. No specifics of the deal were revealed, however it is believed that, as a result of the agreement, Rogers Cable customers with the VIP package will begin receiving TSN2 almost immediately and automatically.

Rogers has shown some keen business sense here, allowing their own customers to view their own baseball team. Now that's synergy.

13 Responses to "TSN2 and Rogers: You Knew This Was Coming"

Anonymous
May 16, 2009 / 19:14

Oh that's just frigging great. Now the rest of us who don't give a shit are going to have to subsidize the rest of you with higher cable bills!

Ryan
May 16, 2009 / 21:04

That is the best news i have read in so long. Mike knows that I am a sports fanatic and I have constantly had to miss games i wanted to see. I pay extra for the Rogers Sports Pack and have had to miss NBA Playoff games and other games that I desperately wanted to watch.

If and when the announcement comes, it's about TIME!!!!!

Fredericton Steve
May 16, 2009 / 23:29

Dear anonymous,

Please present me with a list of the channels you do give a shit about. I'm sure I can find 4-5 channels that could be replaced for TSN2.

Ryan
May 17, 2009 / 10:45

Hey Mike, please leave a comment if you get a leak on this before i hear about it... I'll be checking all day....

C'mon Announcement!!!!!!!

Toronto Mike
May 17, 2009 / 11:21

We don't trust the Bobcat?

Patience Rogers peeps... this is happening.

Toronto Mike
May 17, 2009 / 11:27

Ryan, why is an employee of the Bell empire subscribing to Rogers cable?

Ryan
May 17, 2009 / 14:03

The reason i go with on the record is that i live in an apartment that doesn't allow satellite dishes.

However, I could go on. I won't. But i could.

Toronto Mike
May 17, 2009 / 14:05

This is the place to go on!

You're practically anonymous. Only I know you're my brother. Spill the Bell beans!!!

Toronto Mike
May 17, 2009 / 17:22

Horonymous just tipped me the news is now official: http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/635674

Chris Zelkovich
Sports Reporter

The long battle between Rogers Cable and TSN is over, meaning all Rogers subscribers will be able to watch this week's Blue Jays-Red Sox series.

The two sides came to an agreement this afternoon after nine months of negotiations over TSN2, the digital sports channel that launched last August.

The three-game series, which starts Tuesday, will be available to Rogers analog subscribers on channel 59 and to digital subscribers on channel 98.

Fans of the first-place Blue Jays had been panicking since the team announced earlier this month that the crucial series against Boston and two other games not scheduled for regular television coverage had been sold to TSN2. Had that deal not been made, those with digital boxes could have seen the Boston-produced game broadcasts on the Rogers preview channel.

But since no deal to carry TSN2 was in place, only those with the Rogers sports package would have been able to see those games.

The two sides had been at loggerheads since TSN2 launched, depriving Rogers subscribers of watching 24 Toronto Raptors games, several auto races and tennis tournaments. Most other cable companies and both satellite services in the country have been carrying TSN2 for months.

Ryan
May 17, 2009 / 17:34

Beautiful!!!!

By the Way, Mike, in the article you posted it says only those with the Sports Pack would have been able to watch it. In the past any game that was on TSN2, hockey or basketball, was not carried on the Sports Pack channels as TSN2 got the rights to it in Canada.

I wonder if they had plans all along to have this game available to Sports Package holders if a deal was not reached. My guess is NO and that is a misprint.

Celebrate good times come on!!


Toronto Mike
May 17, 2009 / 17:39

I say those Rogers customers with the sports package would have been able to see the Jays vs. BoSox next week, even without TSN2.

I just went to channel 98 to mark it as a favourite and I don't get it yet. I'll just visit it every 10 minutes until it's available.

Ryan
May 17, 2009 / 17:57

I checked too!!!

It's very possible that they had planned to keep it on the baseball channels from 468 to 481, even if they didn't get the deal done.

Anyhow, finally you were good for some news i needed to hear.... unlike how bad it was to be a kid in the 80s with the music (so-called music) that we had to listen to!!

Toronto Mike
May 17, 2009 / 17:58

We were very blessed to have lived through the reign of Dexy's Midnight Runners.

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