I’m not the sell-out
It is interesting to see how many Canadians get riled up for American sports. Last weekend was the Super Bowl, arguably the largest sporting event in the U.S.
This was also the first time Canadians were able to watch the American commercials during Super Bowl. It seems like more people watch the game for the commercials than the actual football.
In the past, Canadian TV networks (usually CTV and TSN broadcast the game) have been able to substitute the American feed with their own Canadian ads and promos. This has outraged viewers because of the popularity Super Bowl commercials have nowadays. The CRTC changed the rules and Canadians watching Fox saw all American content. We’re finally free!
At one point in the evening I tweeted that Canadians should tune into Fox and not the Canuck channels so they could see the ads. A few patriots (Canada lovers, not the actual team) harpooned me suggesting I was anti-Canadian because I was using my platform to promote American content.
That’s where I had a bit of a laugh. Do you know how many millions of dollars a Canadian TV network has to pay for the rights to air American sporting events – namely Super Bowl?
Isn’t the argument also being made by these major TV networks that they need government funding because advertising dollars a drying up?
Why aren’t the Canadian networks airing more stuff from, say, our country? It seems a bit greedy for them to spend millions on the rights to major American programming yet whine to the Canadian government they need more money. You might not believe this, but homegrown content is much cheaper than importing from the U.S.
People often say Canadian production isn’t as high quality as American but there have been plenty of Canadian-produced shows that become a hit south of the border.
American networks broadcast American content just fine. Canadian ones should get into that habit if they are so proudly representing the country and its people.
