Out with the red chairs, in with the blue lines.
George Stroumboulopoulos will switch gears this fall from talk show host to being the new host of "Hockey Night in Canada."
On the same day that he officially gets his new gig, CBC announces that "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" will end after 10 years.
At least we won't have to worry about Strombo overextending himself.
Stroumboulopoulos will host Hockey Night in Canada, and will also serve as the studio anchor for the Sunday night Hometown Hockey broadcasts on City.
Strombo has worked as a sports reporter for 590 The FAN in Toronto and is a huge Habs fan.
Ron MacLean will still host Coach's Corner, which got a 2-year extension, with Don Cherry. MacLean will also host Hometown Hockey Community Celebration on Sunday nights on City and will continue to host Hockey Day in Canada. But MacLean, as the face of Hockey Night, will be in a much more diminished role.
Rogers Sportsnet's Daren Millard will host the Wednesday Night Hockey broadcasts.
Jeff Marek, former CBC host and currently with Rogers Sportsnet, will host Thursday Night Hockey on Sportsnet 360 and the weekend afternoon NHL pre-game shows on Sportsnet.
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The CNN show, though similar to his CBC show, might have been the sign of restlessness for Strombo, trying a new challenge. After all, Stroumboulopoulos has been a Much Music VJ, sports reporter, and talk show host. It's possible that Stroumboulopoulos needs this more than Rogers does.
Storytelling will be on the rise; critical analysis will be on the way down for everything we have read into these decisions.
Elliotte Friedman was projected on some people's scorecards as having a shot at the host. Friedman will best be served as an expert than host. Substitute hosts are often needed, and Friedman showed his considerable versatility filling in for MacLean and Scott Oake.
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From what we've read, James Duthie of TSN was Rogers' first choice. Given the direction the telecasts are going, those at TSN who chose to stay are not regretting their decisions in the slightest. If anything, a sharp critical eye toward the NHL will generate viewers that won't find what they want on Rogers.
Duthie is talented but wouldn't be able to pull off what Stroumboulopoulos can do. Duthie and his fellow compatriots are better off at TSN.
Rogers announced its Dream Team on Monday. But most of those on its authentic Dream Team are still at TSN.
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We were told in the news conference that this is the first line of hosts. There will be future announcements concerning studio people and then play by play/colour analysts/reporters likely in their own separate announcement.
Look for periodical announcements such as this to go for the next 2 months as Rogers unveils its lineup for the NHL this fall.
If the same pattern for the hosts holds for the rest of the on-air staff, more on-air people will be employed, but have lighter workloads. Then again, you'll likely see Jim Hughson do 2 games a week.
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Scott Oake and "After Hours" fall somewhere beyond the first line of hockey hosts. The questions about "After Hours" range from what outlet will carry the show to whether the show will continue. The beauty of "After Hours" is that the program feels like what people do after the adults have gone to bed. Interestingly, "After Hours" is a lot about the people behind the hockey, lending itself to the storytelling angle.
This press conference was about what happens before 10 pm Eastern.
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We were worried about the impact of the loss of revenue on CBC from the Rogers/NHL deal. Now we have to worry about lost streams of CBC programming outside the NHL. Losing "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" means not only the 30 minutes of the program but also the 30 minutes of the late-night rebroadcast.
The CBC is struggling to fill its lineup and now has to look into 5 hours from its weekday lineup starting this fall.
Stroumboulopoulos did say he would talk with the CBC about another talk show. Presumably, that will take up less room than the 5 hours in the current CBC schedule.
This might be a golden opportunity for Jian Ghomeshi or someone else in the CBC family.
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photo credit: Evan Mitsui/CBC
"Storytelling will be on the rise; critical analysis will be on the way down"...could not have said it better myself. I am not looking forward to this new look for Canada's most watched program. The jury is out until I see the new format on the air. Don't want storytelling, prefer hard factual opinionated analysis. Big shoes to fill.
Posted by: RLF | March 11, 2014 at 09:30 AM
Canadians will still have TSN. Even though TSN will have Habs and Sens and Jets (and Leafs in 2015), there is a huge opening for analysis. The CBC folks will fall in line with Rogers, though Glenn Healy and Elliotte Friedman should be exceptions.
Posted by: Chad | March 11, 2014 at 09:34 AM