Ticat game radio broadcasts in limbo

TSN 1150, which carried live Tiger-Cat game broadcasts for a time, is now BNN Bloomberg

If you tune in to 1150 AM radio today, the trading you’ll hear about is happening in the stock swaps of Bay and Wall Streets not the jock exchange of the NHL.

The station formerly known as TSN 1150, owned by Bell Media, will now carry the BNN Bloomberg Business News feed.

Bell Media announced Tuesday that it is flipping several radio stations, including the Hamilton one which had, before the pandemic hit, been carrying live broadcasts of Hamilton Tiger-Cat football and Hamilton Bulldog hockey games, among other sports programming and coverage.

TSN 1150 had been struggling with poor overall ratings but it did, back when it began in 2015, manage to capture the contract to carry the Ticat live games from CHML. That six-year contract was about to expire.

The move by Bell Media comes amid sweeping cost cuts in recent weeks and leaves the fate of future live radio broadcasts of Ticat and Bulldog games in limbo.

Jeff Storey, program director for CHML, says he obviously can’t comment on the gyrations at Bell Media and more specifically TSN 1150 as he is not privy to the workings of CHML’s competitors. “But I can say two things. My heart goes out to anyone impacted (negatively) by this. It is a difficult time in the industry as a whole.

“Second, CHML loves Hamilton. We love the community we’re connected to and we love the teams, the Tiger-Cats and the Bulldogs, and we would be open to listening to any opportunity to get back the contract to broadcast the live games.”

“We are proud to broaden the scope of BNN Bloomberg Radio with this new station, and to deliver comprehensive business news coverage across an expanded slate of platforms, both locally in Hamilton and across the GTA, and nationally via iHeartRadio,” said Richard Gray, Regional General Manager, Eastern Region, Bell Media.

Said Matt Afinec, Hamilton Tiger-Cats president and COO:

“The media world has changed drastically since our original agreement began and we are well underway working on innovative ways to reimagine how our hundreds and thousands of fans around the world engage with our brand and consume our audio rights.”

He also extended to affected radio station staff the Ticat organization’s best wishes.