Citing declining sales, the CBC has pulled out as a carrier of Toronto Blue Jays telecasts, the Globe and Mail reports.
Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said Wednesday a drop in revenue, coupled with the cost of TV rights, knocked the Jays out of the box. Another factor is the CBC's inability, as a broadcaster, to supplement ad revenue with revenue from cable companies.
Cable channels, such as TSN and Rogers Sportsnet, are paid by cable distributors for carrying their channels. Broadcasters are not.
"We weren't able to make a deal that made financial sense in these economic times," Moore said. "We have no games, nor do we have plans to do any games this year".
The CBC's two-year contract with the club expired at the end of the 2008 season.
The Jays were demanding the same fee, about $150,000 a game, from all networks. Combined with production costs of about $50,000, the total expenditure approaches $200,000.
"I love the property and I was really proud of the quality of our telecasts," Moore said. "But we're not in a position where we can lose significant amounts of dollars on it".
