Killin’ Them Softly

The Score

What sports channel do you subscribe to?

For me, the days of TSN morning highlights are gone. I never watch Rogers Sportsnet unless it’s baseball season. I may have watched Hockey Night in Canada on a dare once.

So where does that leave us? And how did we get here?

I have been devoted to The Score since my first cable box.

The initial excitement of getting upwards of 70 channels was great, but The Score’s coverage of professional and college sports from the U.S. (as well as Canadian Interuniversity Sport broadcasts) was something to behold.

In Toronto, a city whose identity culminates largely in culture and sport, broadcasts from horse carriage racing to English Premier League is smart programming. Also, The Score leaves it to others to broadcast NHL games, but still devotes time to league highlights, reports and discussion.

I like the way The Score thinks outside the rink, something that its Canadian competitors dare not do.

Score Mobile

How do you make a BlackBerry or iPhone app one of the most downloaded ever? Considering mobile communication is now a part of the broadcast industry, ensuring your television audience can “stay tuned” to your channel via 3G or wifi is crucial.

In many ways, Score Mobile operates just like the ticker at the bottom of your tv screen, and that may be the  reason for its heavy popularity. But beyond being a utility, and beyond the undeniable potential for brand extension, Score Mobile represents the boundless direction that fresh thinking (re: their programming) and digital innovation (re: their app) can take.

“Most Canadian media companies are used to working within their borders,” says Dale Fallon, mobile director, Score Media, “But thanks to mobile, The Score is looking to go outside of the country.”

There is a definite contrast with other specialized channels adhering to CRTC standards, such as MuchMusic. With a 95% Canadian TV audience, it’s safe to say that those viewers are the same online visitors at muchmusic.ca.

(Note: Music channels and their programming is another post in itself, and I’m not sure that it’s a debate made any less frustrating by its stagnance. The same arguments made against MTV’s Singled Out 15 years ago are made against shows like The Hills. It seems audiences like pretty people actin’ a fool more than ever.)

So, in putting The Score’s newsfeed in a mobile device, Score Media has developed and adopted new media forms. The live blogging trend in sports coverage is gaining momentum, and I don’t think that it’s a bad thing. The absence of personality inherent in simply displaying data is filled by freelance and staff writers lucky enough to be assigned to a Raptors or Leafs game.

I like to think of the live blogger as a sports diary keeper.

I also like to think that they don’t mind me living out my dreams (of sitting courtside and writing about it) through them.