TSN and CBC currently share the broadcast rights for the Canadian Curling Association’s Season of Champions events, which are enjoying growth over last year’s audience numbers leading up to April’s championships. TSN essentially airs curling weekdays, while CBC runs semi-finals and finals on the weekend. But in November 2008, TSN’s six-year multiplatform deal takes effect, giving it exclusive rights to all Season of Champions events leading up to the Olympics.

The CCA’s future with TSN includes the following events: the Tim Hortons Brier, Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Ford World Championships (men’s and women’s), the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, the Continental Cup of Curling, and the Strauss Canada Cup of curling. Tim Hortons also has its name on the Canadian Curling Trials, the elite 2009 competition that will decide what curlers represent Canada at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. TSN’s deal includes broadband, mobile, VOD, interactive TV, podcasts and radio.

CBC, in a bid to continue its coverage beyond this time next year, is phasing in its coverage of the World Curling Tour, for which it’s got an eight-year deal with Toronto-based Insight Sports.

Insight is building sponsors into its curling properties by integrating clients with TV coverage, web and venue-based promotions such as rink boards and in-ice branding. This week, the company announced that Tylenol would become the title sponsor for its Players’ Championship in Calgary. CBC Sports will air the Tylenol Players’ Championship women’s and men’s finals on Sunday, April 15.

Newly installed CBC Sports executive director Scott Moore says that despite the coming schedule changes, it ‘doesn’t mean we’re out of the curling business by any stretch of the imagination. We’re open for business.’ Moore says the pubcaster will do a minimum of four to five major events per year, working in conjunction with Insight to create integrated sponsorship packages for marketers, rather than simply selling on-air spots.

‘There’s a myth with curling that it just attracts an older audience,’ says Moore. ‘There’s a younger audience that’s interested in curling and it’s a very passionate audience. It’s a hidden opportunity for marketers, seeing past that myth to a wide variety of demographics.’

Last month’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts (women’s national championship) delivered a national average of 320,000 viewers to TSN, an increase of about 1% over last year. On CBC, the Scotties finals averaged 873,000 viewers, down 4% from 2006’s average. This month, the channel’s Tim Hortons Brier (men’s national championship) aired to 443,000, up 2% from last year.

On CBC, the Tim Hortons Brier finals averaged 1.2 million viewers, up 19% from 2006, landing on BBM Nielsen’s Top 30 for the week for a timeslot stretching from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. And last weekend, the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling women’s finals on CBC averaged 435,000 viewers — 34% higher than last year’s.

Next up, CBC Sports will air the World Women’s Curling Championship semi-final and finals on Saturday and Sunday. TSN will pick up the Ford World Men’s Curling Championship from March 31 to April 6.

From Media in Canada