It’s time to end those NFL simulcasts

Broadcasts cheat football audience

There sure were some important NFL games played yesterday afternoon. And we’re not talking about the kind of “ must games” the talking heads start touting around the second week of the season. These were games that could decide playoff spots and jobs. Too bad we didn’t get to see them.

While the likes of the Cowboys and Giants, Bengals and Steelers, Broncos and Chiefs were battling for division leads, those in southern Ontario who hadn’t invested in specialty TV packages were saddled with a trio of basically meaningless games.

Instead of games that meant something, we got mediocrity ( Bills vs. Dolphins and Redskins vs. Rams) and worse ( the hapless Jets and the faltering Patriots.)

Admittedly, the Bills game had a thrilling finish but its only real value was to set the stage for tomorrow’s whining on the Buffalo talk shows and the inevitable calls for coach Mike Mularkey’s head to be placed on a pike in a public square. The culprit in this is the practice of simulcasting, the governmentinnovation that allows Canadian networks to air American shows and insert their own commercials. They can insert their own billboards and virtual blimps, too, when desired.

Because the profits from simulcasting are so high, Global seldom veers from simply picking up the games CBS and Fox have assigned the Buffalo stations. By not doing so, Global would split the audience and pass up tens of thousands in advertising revenue, which at last report the Asper family was loath to do.

Yes, it would be doing a great public service by ignoring the simulcast profits and always giving viewers a choice.

Imagine how happy NFL fans would have been yesterday if Global had taken the thrilling Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game, which had enough passing yards and turnovers to qualify as a good CFL contest. Bills fans could have watched their team on Buffalo’s WIVB while the rest of took in the Steelers and Bengals, or anything preferable to witnessing another Buffalo collapse. We can be thankful the Buffalo stations weren’t assigned the Arizona- San Francisco game, though I suspect that would have violated local air pollution laws.

But, sadly, Global is not a public network and public service is not what it’s about. Its aim is profit, plain and simple, which explains how those Pizza Pizza signs show up in Miami. The only solution to this is to end simulcasting. Many have argued that although the practice keeps networks like Global and CTV afloat, it has done little to improve the quality of Canadian broadcasting.

It can also be argued that simulcasting has done little to increase sports fans’ choice, though it probably has boosted sales of NFL Sunday Ticket.

Private Canadian networks simulcast for the same reason dogs lick their nether parts: they can.

Until they can’t, the fan will continue to be cheated. CHANNEL SURFING, THE GOOD: Raptors announcer Chuck Swirsky took the right approach to calling a game featuring two teams with abysmal records Friday night in Atlanta. “ We’ll introduce the players and then we’ll introduce the crowd,” he said in reference to the empty arena, which he later called, “ the Atlanta public library.” CHANNEL SURFING, THE BAD: In Friday’s column I erroneously included the Columbus Blue Jackets among the NHL teams with poor ratings. In fact, Columbus’ regional TV ratings are up 60 per cent this season. CHANNEL SURFING, THE UGLY: Technically, he’s not part of a three- man booth because he’s on the sidelines, but NFL talker Tony Siragusa commits all the sins for which trios are maligned. Yesterday, among his many interjections, he told viewers that Green Bay’s Brett Favre was “ not depressed,” by losing, and was “ still licking his fingers.” He also noted that, “ it’s awar,” in the trenches. Such enlightenment is rare. czelkov@thestar.ca