[HNIC] Fur still flying over CBC's loss of hockey song

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Fur still flying over CBC's loss of hockey song

WILLIAM HOUSTON

June 16, 2008 at 7:34 PM EDT

The Hockey Night in Canada theme song filled the air with more controversy yesterday.

Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, charged that CTV deliberately interfered with the CBC's negotiations for the famous song, suggesting it was a publicity stunt to embarrass the network.

?CTV management characterized their actions as ?saving the song,' ? Moore wrote on a CBC blog. ?But they knew the negotiation hadn't run its course. I firmly believe that if they hadn't inserted themselves into the negotiation, the result would have been different.?

He added: ?Their move capitalized on a lot of publicity, and had the added benefit of making a competitor look bad. I hope it ends up being worth the money for them at the end of the day.?

But CTV president Rick Brace sharply disputed Moore's allegation, calling it ?accusatory.?

Brace said CTV, which reportedly paid in seven figures for the song, did not contact the representative of songwriter Dolores Claman until after the CBC issued a news release on June 6, stating that negotiations had failed and that network would launch a contest for a new Hockey Night song.

?To try to lay this at our feet or suggest we somehow interfered with their negotiation is just ludicrous,? Brace said. ?They made a decision. They announced it to the world. And they walked away.?

Still, Moore expressed anger over the CTV move.

Under a question posted on the blog that asked, ?Are you mad at CTV/TSN?? he wrote, ?Actually, yes I am,? adding, ?I worked there [at CTV and TSN] for many years and have a lot of friends there. But I would never in a million years have expected they would pay so much for a song that is so associated with CBC.

?They do very good production on hockey that is different in many ways than Hockey Night in Canada. I don't know why they would want to make their product less unique and more like the competition.?

Brace said the CBC would have had money to pay for the theme if it hadn't spent on two U.S. acquisitions, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. ?On the whole question of cost and who can afford what, they actually bought the rights to Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune,? Brace said. ?So, they made a decision to do that, which I'm guessing was a heck of a lot more expensive than what the theme would have been.?

The CBC's loss of the hockey theme received widespread coverage, including a lampoon by comedian Stephen Colbert.

Moore admitted to being ?sort of? embarrassed.

?I'm embarrassed that both sides could not come to a deal,? he wrote. ?I firmly believe we should have been able to. But in the end, we couldn't. It takes two sides to make a deal, and it takes two sides to let it fall through.? The blog, Inside the CBC.com, speculated the CBC has commissioned a survey to determine the fallout of the lost theme. Moore said the CBC will announce the details of its theme-song contest on Thursday.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...obeSportsHockey

[Matrix XII]

hahhaha, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune had their funds tied up!!

You snooze you lose CBC!!

[Bubbabyte]

so what's the deal with this.. i'm hearing this all over the place but i have no idea what's actually happening. So CBC doesn't have the HNIC theme song anymore? Is there a HNIC anymore?

I will refuse to watch hockey if there is no Bob Cole or Greg Millen... and absolutely if there is no Coaches Corner.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

so what's the deal with this.. i'm hearing this all over the place but i have no idea what's actually happening. So CBC doesn't have the HNIC theme song anymore? Is there a HNIC anymore?

I will refuse to watch hockey if there is no Bob Cole or Greg Millen... and absolutely if there is no Coaches Corner.

HNIC will continue as before but they are in need of a new theme song for the start of the season.

TSN (which is owned by CTV) will presumably start their mid-week games by playing the HNIC theme even though it won't be HNIC. That will make for a confusing experience. It will take me a long time before I disassociate that song with HNIC.

[Simon Veteran]

I want it back with the CBC :(

I know, it's ridiculous, but it feels right there. Stupid Canadian pride.

[Bubbabyte]

ok ok... i know the theme is of huge importance to HNIC and canadian pride.. but for a second i thought there would be no more HNIC, phew. Cause honestly i cannot stand to watch another broadcast, i need my bob cole fix on saturday nights..lol

To be honest... although i LOVE the HNIC theme song, i used to love when they would play "nickelback - Saturday night's alright for fighting" before the game... i think they did it in the 06 playoffs or something.. it used to get me so pumped for the game... it might be worth considering.

[MikeFu84]

ok ok... i know the theme is of huge importance to HNIC and canadian pride.. but for a second i thought there would be no more HNIC, phew. Cause honestly i cannot stand to watch another broadcast, i need my bob cole fix on saturday nights..lol

To be honest... although i LOVE the HNIC theme song, i used to love when they would play "nickelback - Saturday night's alright for fighting" before the game... i think they did it in the 06 playoffs or something.. it used to get me so pumped for the game... it might be worth considering.

I believe they did all season too. They'd play them one right after the other. Was a perfect way to start the weekly Saturday Double Header.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

ok ok... i know the theme is of huge importance to HNIC and canadian pride.. but for a second i thought there would be no more HNIC, phew. Cause honestly i cannot stand to watch another broadcast, i need my bob cole fix on saturday nights..lol

To be honest... although i LOVE the HNIC theme song, i used to love when they would play "nickelback - Saturday night's alright for fighting" before the game... i think they did it in the 06 playoffs or something.. it used to get me so pumped for the game... it might be worth considering.

Bob Cole is such a homer and that's coming from a TML fan. He's also 75 so I don't think you can expect too many more seasons from him.

I like the guy who does the western games. I also know him from the EA Sports Hockey series. What's his name again?

[Bubbabyte]

Fred i believe you're thinking of Jim Hughson...he used to do TSN, and did the EA games. He's ok.. but for some reason i just can't stomach anything other then bob cole and greg millen. I understand bob cole is getting very old and doesn't have many years left... sounds weird but i've been thinking about that for some time, i really can't imagine listening to anyone else. However, i thought the same thing when it was Bob Cole & Harry Neil.. then Harry got replaced by Greg Millen.. which turned out to be great.

But about the song.. i LOVE the nickelback song played during the intro to the games.. it's a great way to get the night started.

[DreadBoat89]

i personally am also against CTV's acquisition of the theme... i don't think i will ever get used to the HNIC theme on the NHL on TSN... it just doesn't seem right. the theme should have not been picked up by anybody else besides CBC

but what's done is done. CTV and CBC should collaborate and have HNIC on both networks... but TSN would be like HNIC Weekday Edition (or even HNIC on TSN instead of NHL on TSN) and the normal HNIC will stay with CBC.

[R-Flex]

I can't watch Hockey Night in Canada without The Hockey Theme, and I can't watch TSN hockey with it. It's just weird. I'll have to start watching five minutes into the game from now on to avoid the start.