Here's an interesting reaction to a discussion Chip and I had on the radio the other day:
"I heard your podcast with Chip Franklin where you were talking about football broadcasting without announcers. You suggested that it would be interesting. Well, it happened in Canada in 2005. The CBC was going through a strike, but the bosses wanted to carry on with Canadian Football League broadcasts. Management manned the cameras, etc. but there was no commentary, just the natural crowd noise and the field announcer.
"The broadcasts were almost universally panned. This situation resulted in worsening relations between the CFL and CBC, and the entire TV contract was given to TSN (our ESPN equivalent) for 2008. As I write this, the CFL championship game, the Grey Cup, is on TV right now. For the first time ever, it's not on broadcast TV after being on CBC for the last half century or so. The Grey Cup is the biggest single TV watching event in Canada each year, and this year it's on basic cable. It would be like the Super Bowl being on ESPN.
"Keep up the good work."
Jason Kmet Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I would like the US to give it a try w/o announcers.
Posted by: G. Ford | December 13, 2008 at 03:03 PM
NBC tried a game without announcers in 1983. I know one of the teams was the Jets, and I believe the other was the Dolphins. It was panned and never tried again.
Posted by: Cal | December 14, 2008 at 10:57 PM