Source: The Toronto Sun
By TIM BAINES
Some wrestling fans may not be thrilled with a change in timeslot for Monday’s RAW as it moves over to The Score from TSN, but there really was little choice.
RAW will debut on The Score on Aug. 7, in its new 10 p.m.-midnight timeslot.
But it could have been much worse … TSN has commitments to hockey, curling … and now Monday Night Football that would consistently have pushed RAW out of its 9 p.m. timeslot. The NFL games alone would have knocked RAW out of Monday nights for 18 weeks.
The problem with 9 p.m. for The Score was conditions of their CRTC licence which allows only 15% of the network’s programming to be live.
“It would have put us over our count, so we had to delay it one hour,” said The Score’s senior VP and GM David Errington.
Errington says The Score has the same broadcast standards to adhere to as TSN, so we shouldn’t expect to see a big difference in the editing process. TSN always was quick to skip past simulated acts of violence against women … and The Score likely will do the same.
Errington, who sits at home and watches wrestling with his 10-year-old son, is thrilled to add RAW to the network’s roster.
“We’ve had Smackdown! for six years … we’ve had a partnership with WWE,” he said. “They were looking to move the program … we talked to them for three to four months.
The Score, which has so successfully become “The Home for the Hardcore” will not chase the hardcore ECW show … look for WWE to make an announcement on the ECW TV show’s Canadian home in the near future.
The Score also will bump Smackdown! from Thursday to Friday night — in the 8-10 p.m. timeslot (beginning on Aug. 11) … and it will air the Aug. 16 diva search finals.
