Habsfan Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Good Article from today's Gazette! http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...68-f10fd39a30a0 Neglecting Canadiens proves costly for CBC Irked anglophones turn to RDS telecasts The Gazette RDS has cornered the market on televised hockey in Quebec. Regardless of your first language, chances are - especially with the CBC's neglect of the Habs in recent years - you're probably watching them. They know it. And they're appreciative. "If you watch the Canadiens, you watch us by default, or you watch NHL Centre Ice and watch the visitors feed. But the phenomenon last year during the playoffs ... it really blew us away," longtime play-by-play commentator Pierre Houde said of the nearly 2 million fans who tuned in - many of them anglophone. "I think it's fun because, in the end, it's our community. People have told me it's like having a French lesson." If you can handle the time delay, of course, you can always mute the television and turn on the radio, which many do. And the phenomenon works both ways. When RDS decided to broadcast the Canadiens-Sabres game from Roberval on Sept. 23, they had to drop a planned game against the Detroit Red Wings last week at the Bell Centre. That game aired on TSN; the English-language sports network averaged about 600,000 viewers, peaking at almost 800,000. "That is more than a regular-season game for them. And 40 per cent were from Quebec," RDS producer Dominic Cobello said. "I was floored. I couldn't believe it. In English." Don't think CBC hasn't noticed. It's hardly a coincidence that the network has added 10 Habs games to the 15 it had planned. But on too many Saturday nights during the last few years, Montreal fans were out of luck on the CBC. And when they were on, the CBC broadcasters weren't as locked in to the team's fortunes as those on RDS and their Toronto bias sometimes pierced the cloak of objectivity. So the fans turned to RDS. Cobello doesn't anticipate the move by the CBC will affect the RDS ratings much. "There's the niche we've created where allophone and anglophone fans come to us," he said. The Gazette (Montreal) 2008 Too little too late CBC!! You ######ed us over too many times! I know I am not going back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Speaking of RDS, I just got HD hooked up via SaskTel here... and there's no RDS HD, even though they carry RDS regular on the basic sports package. That sucks.... I'm going to have to start lobbying for RDS HD out here. I know it's on ExpressVu and StarChoice, so I can definitely give a threat to switch, although the convenience of one server for phone, internet, and digital/HD cable is quite great... Yesterday, the Detroit CBC HD feed was terrible. The audio wasn't working, and there was something wrong with the main camera as well. The Vancouver feed was excellent, though. I want 82 Habs HD games per year, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Speaking of RDS, I just got HD hooked up via SaskTel here... and there's no RDS HD, even though they carry RDS regular on the basic sports package. That sucks.... I'm going to have to start lobbying for RDS HD out here. I know it's on ExpressVu and StarChoice, so I can definitely give a threat to switch, although the convenience of one server for phone, internet, and digital/HD cable is quite great... Yesterday, the Detroit CBC HD feed was terrible. The audio wasn't working, and there was something wrong with the main camera as well. The Vancouver feed was excellent, though. I want 82 Habs HD games per year, though! Rogers Ontario has no RDS HD either. I tried ordering it last week and they said it is not available yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Rogers Ontario has no RDS HD either. I tried ordering it last week and they said it is not available yet Rogers has said two things to me about RDS HD. First is that Bell owns the rights to the channel and they haven't reached an agreement. The second is that they can't handle anymore HD signals at this time. Their "pipes" are full to the max and until they perfect some new technology it won't be coming anytime soon. I don't know what the real issue is but I want my RDS in HD! The regular RDS doesn't even look digital, I think it is analog. It is too bad because NHL on HD (TSN or CBC) looks amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wamsley01 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Rogers has said two things to me about RDS HD. First is that Bell owns the rights to the channel and they haven't reached an agreement. The second is that they can't handle anymore HD signals at this time. Their "pipes" are full to the max and until they perfect some new technology it won't be coming anytime soon. I don't know what the real issue is but I want my RDS in HD! The regular RDS doesn't even look digital, I think it is analog. It is too bad because NHL on HD (TSN or CBC) looks amazing. The only time I get to watch the Habs in HD is on CBC. The centre Hice package never has their games in HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMPL Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Starchoice is good for HD. I'd consider the switch if I were you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brobin Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Screw the CBC.. they have been pandering to Toronto and attempting to market them as "Canada's team" for so long, I hope their ratings suck all season. What really makes me mad is that so many young Canadians across this country were force fed the leafs night after night and never given an opportunity to see the Habs unless they were playing the Leafs. Kids today outside of Quebec never got the opportunity I had in the 70s, to CHOOSE my favourite team and become a Habs fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 I can't believe you guys don't get RDS HD outside Québec. That really sucks for you! I feel for you guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 I can't believe you guys don't get RDS HD outside Québec. That really sucks for you! I feel for you guys! You can on satellite. Just not on cable, it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Tony Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 You can on satellite. Just not on cable, it seems. Yep, just watched the game tonight on RDS-HD on Expressvu in Ontario...kinda weird hearing the hockey night in Canada theme on RDS. RDS has everything now, The Habs, HD, The HNIC song and best of all, NO BOB COLE! I barely understand French, but it's RDS for me, even when CBC carries the game, and my French is improving because of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCHabnut Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 I can't believe you guys don't get RDS HD outside Québec. That really sucks for you! I feel for you guys! I get RDS HD in Alberta. Shaw cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habsfan Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 I barely understand French, but it's RDS for me, even when CBC carries the game, and my French is improving because of it. It's almost like getting free French lessons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mont Royale Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 It's almost like getting free French lessons! With all their new English viewers, I wonder if they'd speak a little slower, and maybe occasionally mention the English equivalent of certain words. Y'know, just for awhile until we're fully assimilated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 With all their new English viewers, I wonder if they'd speak a little slower, and maybe occasionally mention the English equivalent of certain words. Y'know, just for awhile until we're fully assimilated. Pierre Puck or Rollie Rondelle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saskhab Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I get RDS HD in Alberta. Shaw cable It's on Shaw now? That's surprising... Shaw was REALLY late in offering RDS. That's a huge reason why I went with SaskTel 3 years ago... it was part of the basic Sports package along with TSN, The Score, OLN, etc. Didn't need to waste an entire bundle package just to get RDS, it came with stuff I wanted regardless. Definitely should be giving SaskTel a call and use Shaw's HD package as leverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbhatt Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I'm on Cogeco digital cable in Brockville, Ontario. No RDS HD available here either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Habitforming Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 (edited) Rogers Ontario has no RDS HD either. I tried ordering it last week and they said it is not available yet http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/canadiensfansunite/ Sign away...send it to all your friends I'll announce when I am going to send it to my local cable company, and at that time feel free to PM me with your local cable company email and I will send it to them as well. *** I have been told that when you sign the petition there is something that comes up about donating money to somewhere. DO NOT DONATE ANYTHING!!. Once you see the donation screen, your signature has already been added to the petition. Edited October 15, 2008 by Habitforming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 But on too many Saturday nights during the last few years, Montreal fans were out of luck on the CBC. And when they were on, the CBC broadcasters weren't as locked in to the team's fortunes as those on RDS and their Toronto bias sometimes pierced the cloak of objectivity. So the fans turned to RDS. Too little too late CBC!! You ######ed us over too many times! I know I am not going back! Although to be fair, it made sense for CBC to overlook the Canadiens since the large majority of Canadiens fans had access to every single regular-season and playoff game with the exception of some fans outside of Quebec who don't have access to RDS, and people who feel they can't afford cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CerebusClone Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 With all their new English viewers, I wonder if they'd speak a little slower, and maybe occasionally mention the English equivalent of certain words. Y'know, just for awhile until we're fully assimilated. Maybe they'll be forced to offer translate everything they say, just like Habs management during press conferences (huge waste of time in my opinion, but I'm sure many appreciate it) Actually maybe the next step after HD for sports channels is offering multi-lingual broadcasts through parallel audio channels, sort of like a DVD. RDS could probably capitalize on something like this while sports channels in the US could perhaps increase their share of Spanish-speaking viewers for other sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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