For once??  Please RA take off the blinders.  Every weekend Canadian NFL fans have an advantage over their American counterparts with a superior choice of NFL games on CTV and TSN.  Same with the NHL coverage with Rogers and CBC.  With time shifting even more.  And we are seeing homegrown networks running sports occasionally that need to be purchased south of the border, but free here. 

During the Olympics it is a given that the coverage north of the border is more varied, and much more extensive than what is offered to the south. Same with World Cup Coverage.

And you could argue that CTV and Global both have superior prime time programming than the US networks any given night.

Since they are not NBC ,CBS ,Fox or ABC affiliates they can purchase and run programming from various networks and are not tied down to whatever one network is showing.
 
All US networks have had their weak seasons with few hit shows.  If you are affiliated with the network, you are stuck with poor programming in prime time.  The Canadian networks can move on and run the better shows from other networks, even sometimes from streamers. 

paterson1 wrote:

For once??  Please RA take off the blinders.  Every weekend Canadian NFL fans have an advantage over their American counterparts with a superior choice of NFL games on CTV and TSN.  Same with the NHL coverage with Rogers and CBC.  With time shifting even more.  And we are seeing homegrown networks running sports occasionally that need to be purchased south of the border, but free here. 

During the Olympics it is a given that the coverage north of the border is more varied, and much more extensive than what is offered to the south. Same with World Cup Coverage.

Well as far as the sports are concerned, I'll cede that to you. I simply don't pay enough attention to it to know if this is a one-off or the way things work. Maybe Canadians are better off in this area, although they still have to pay a cable bill to see a lot of it. 

paterson1 wrote:

And you could argue that CTV and Global both have superior prime time programming than the US networks any given night.

Since they are not NBC ,CBS ,Fox or ABC affiliates they can purchase and run programming from various networks and are not tied down to whatever one network is showing.
 
All US networks have had their weak seasons with few hit shows.  If you are affiliated with the network, you are stuck with poor programming in prime time.  The Canadian networks can move on and run the better shows from other networks, even sometimes from streamers. 

And here's where you lose me. When it comes to regular OTA programming, I couldn't disagree more. Are there any shows Canadian networks don't purchase in their annual buying spree down south known as the "upfronts?" They may be spread amongst different networks, but with rare exceptions not only do they buy almost everything on sale down south, but thanks to simulcasting, they show them all at the exact same time on the exact same night.

I.E. City TV's Chicago Wednesdays and Law & Order Thursdays - the exact same line-up as NBC. And that's not the only time it happens in any given week. Global simulcasts every FBI show with CBS on Tuesday nights. And on and on it goes. 

How is that any improvement to what's available down south? It's essentially the exact same programming, only on different channels. I happen to prefer U.S. shows, but to argue we're somehow better because of it doesn't make any sense to me. Check the schedule. They're almost all the same. Not better. Exactly the same. 

I constantly have to explain to my friends that when Amazon or Peacock get the rights to US sports in the US it doesn’t affect us up here. Other than two or three Jays games a season most of our sports programming remains on sports channels.
For regular programming, the best of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW are on three networks, not five.
Other than the sim sub we make out pretty well.

Last edited by Tomas Barlow (January 12, 2024 2:42 pm)

paterson1 wrote:

Prime schedules have had much less simsub over the past three years, largely because of COVID and the strike.  Even this week I have been surprised that other than some blocks, there hasn't been as much simbsub as normal, especially on CTV.  I am sure it will ramp up into February. 

 Affiliated US stations are married to one network and especially in prime time carry what the network has, good bad or in between. Canadian networks don't have that issue as much and can bounce between US networks.  This is an advantage.

Ah, but that assumes the stations have choices. In fact, most of the schedules on the main Canadian networks are almost majority simsub. That means they don't control when they air, just that they bought them. It's easy to just discount that, but in fact when an American network or in many cases networks control when you put on the shows you bought in the U.S., it severally limits your options. 

I'm sure you remember the good old days before cable when Canadian stations would use the 7-8 PM hour to show multiple pre-released American shows and then could program other down south programs whenever they wanted. Now they're slaves to NBC, CBS, ABC and to a lesser extent, Fox's timetables. 

That clearly doesn't give them an advantage because they're forced into a schedule that they may otherwise choose not to follow. 

I'm not talking about daytime or afternoons. My point was strictly about primetime, And as the chart below shows, there's a lot of same old same old going on between countries. (The math is solely an estimate, but it does serve to demonstrate how similar the two are. And once the regular season returns next month, this list will really change to prove my point. But for now, here's the coming week. I left out Saturday, because everyone has pretty well given up programming anything new on that night.)

 Sunday:
 
NBC: NFL Football
CTV: NFL Football
Simulcast: 100%
 
CBS: 3 Hours of Yellowstone
Global: 3 Hours of Yellowstone
Simulcast: 100%
 
ABC: Funniest Videos/Lion King
Simulcast: 0
 
Fox: We Are Family, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy
City TV: Hudson & Rex, Bob’s Burgers, Family Feud, Hudson & Rex
Simulcast: 10%
 
Monday:
 
NBC: America’s Got Talent, The Irrational
City TV: Hudson & Rex (2 Episodes), The Irrational
Simulcast: 10%
 
CBS: NCIS X3
Global: NCIS X3
Simulcast: 100%
 
ABC: NFL Football
CTV: NFL Football
Simulcast: 100%
 
Fox: Emmy Awards
CTV 2: Emmy Awards
Simulcast: 100%
 
Tuesday:
 
NBC: Night Court, Extended Family, La Brea, Found
CTV2: La Brea
City TV: Found
Simulcast: 20%
 
CBS: NCIS: Sydney, FBI, FBI International
Fox: Name That Tune, The Floor
Global: NCIS Sydney, The Floor, FBI International
Simulcast: 100%
 
ABC: Celebrity Jeopardy, Only Murders In The Building
CTV: Celebrity Jeopardy, Only Murders In The Building
Simulcast: 100%
 
Wednesday:
 
NBC: Chicago Med, Fire, PD
City TV: Chicago Med, Fire, PD
Simulcast: 100%
 
CBS: Price Is Right, Raid The Cage, FBI True
Fox: I Can See Your Voice, We Are Family
Global: I Can See Your Voice, We Are Family, Raid The Cage
Simulcast: 70%
 
ABC: NBA Basketball
 
CTV: America’s Got Talent, Magnum P.I.
 
Thursday
 
NBC: Law & Order X3
CityTV : Law & OrderX3
Simulcast: 100%
 
CBS: Young Sheldon, Ghosts, Seal Team X2
Fox: Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip
CTV: Young Sheldon, Gordon Ramsay’s Road Trip, Big Bang Theory X2
Simulcast: 50%
Global: Goldbergs, Ghosts, Seal Team X2
Simulcast: 80%
 
ABC: Press Your Luck, Primary Debate Special
 
Friday
 
NBC: Transplant, Dateline NBC (2 hours)
CityTV: Hudson & Rex, Dateline NBC (2 Hours)
Simulcast:  70%
 
CBS: SWAT, Fire Country, Blue Bloods
Global: SWAT, Fire Country, Crime Beat
Simulcast: 70%
 
ABC: Shark Tank, 20/20 (2 hours)
CTV: Shark Tank, Transplant (Series Finale), Little Bird
(CHCH: 20/20)
Simulcast: 20%

Other than event programming like sports and the Emmy Awards there actually wasn't that much simsub.  

Friday and Saturday normally have little simsub and Sunday none of ABC's programming and very little FOX was simulcast or shown here.  Already this is 3 days out of 7 with not a lot of simulcasting other than NFL football.

Even on Tuesday only 20% of NBC's 8-11pm schedule was simulcast.  On Wednesday only 50% of CTV's 8 to 11pm schedule was lined up with US network programming.  Prime time certainly should be beyond only 8-11pm and more like 6pm-11:30 pm.  When you include those high rated hours then the percent of simulcasting plummets further. 

And if you consider that City tv is limited, CHCH has very little simsub anytime and CBC has none at all there isn't as much simulcasting as years ago.  I do agree it will increase come mid February when the brief new season begins.  However it will dip again during the summer. 

I do also agree that simulcasting does have some limitations but the benefits outweigh the negatives for advertisers and the Canadian networks who have paid for the programming.  Still maintain that OTA networks here have an advantage during the day and prime time since they can mix programming between all four US OTA networks and their best homegrown shows either from the network or sister specialty channels. 

The game is over but the fallout continues.

NFL fans blast NBC for touting Peacock streaming viewership numbers from Chiefs-Dolphins game

They can complain all they want, but the fact that it set a record for streaming viewership only means it's going to keep happening. 

Peacock’s wild-card broadcast drew 23 million viewers, becoming most-streamed NFL game ever