2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts - Television Coverage

Television Coverage

Quite a bit of controversy arose during the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, as it was the first major tournament where the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had full rights to televise the games. Previously, The Sports Network showed all the draws except the semi-final and the final, which was covered by the CBC. However, in a decision made in 2004, the Canadian Curling Association awarded the new contract to CBC, which had a higher bid than TSN. This would mean only the afternoon draws would be covered on the main network while evening draws were shown on the Digital Cable Channel, CBC Country Canada which only reached half a million Canadian homes. Morning draws, which TSN did not want to renew anyway were not shown at all. Many Canadian fans were outraged come Tournament time, as they were disappointed with what many considered inferior coverage on the CBC as well as the scheduling problems. Some games were moved to The Score and some games on CBC Country Canada were cut short because of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations that restricted the channel to only 12.4 hours of sports per week. This angered fans, and the CCA as well as many event sponsors were sent many angry letters and phone calls, some people even threatening to boycott the sponsors.