ESPN Canadian Television

Here in the Great White North we often talk of our relationship with the United States as being akin to a mouse having an elephant for a bedfellow.

But if ctv is a Canadian broadcaster of elephantine proportions, it just got into bed with a very feisty little Mouse.

espn and its parent company Walt Disney Co. chose ctv as a business partner because ‘ctv and espn share a common business approach and vision for the future which would afford a productive working relationship,’ says Willy Burkhardt, senior vp of espn.

That common approach and vision apparently includes changing the name of NetStar’s specialty crown jewel The Sports Network to ESPN Canada. tsn has been an acronym synonymous with Canadian viewers seeking sports programming in Canada for over 15 years. But espn, on the other hand, argues ctv, is an even stronger brand name to attract more viewers. espn, you see, is an acronym synonymous with viewers seeking sports programming around the world.

Although Burkhardt says Disney isn’t involved in this particular transaction, if branding is king and the American partner gets to dictate, why stop at tsn?

Why not change the name of Sportsnet (if the Competition Bureau and the crtc allow ctv to keep an interest in it) to ESPN 2 because of its strong brand recognition? Why not Outdoor Life to ESPN Outdoor Life?

Why not change Talk tv to The ABC News Current Affairs Channel? ABC News has a stronger brand recognition with Canadians than Talk tv.

Taking a lead from ‘common business approach’ partner espn, why not demand that as a minority shareholder in History Television, that the name be changed to A&E Canada?

While we’re at it, why not take a much-needed boost of capital investment from our new-found partner. A significant Disney investment in ctv would allow the two to enjoy their ‘shared vision of the future’ together through a nifty strategic alliance. Disney would be given access to a large amount of Canadian programming shelf space in which to place its seemingly infinite hours of product, while ctv could slice its nasty debt load.

With Disney’s minority shareholder approval, let’s change the name of ctv to ABC Canada, or better yet, The Great Canadian Disney Channel. After all, Disney sure is a strong brand name.

And before we forget, let’s pressure the producer of Power Play to change the name of the hockey team from the Hamilton Steelheads to The Mighty Ducks.

After all, Disney isn’t the kind of company that tries to have despotic control over anything it owns a piece of. It isn’t the kind of company that acquires the copyright to that most Canadian of images – the Mountie – and then profits from any use of that image while having strict control over any context in which that symbol appears.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. – Mickey Mouse

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Incarnated to zoom in on a key sector of the film and television production industry, a new Cinematography section takes to the paper this issue.

Over the next 12 months, a variety of writers will wade into any and all aspects of cinema photography, from new lenses, film and video cameras, to lighting, software, navigating new digital technology, spotlights on shoots, dop profiles, union issues and the latest toys, bells and whistles that belie the pictures on screen.