April 8, 2008

TSN.ca Unveils Bold New Design, Today

-- Website redesign coincides with start of highly anticipated NHL Playoffs --

Toronto, ON (April 8, 2008) – TSN today reveals a new look to its industry-leading sports website, TSN.ca, featuring five brand-new applications, a cleaner design, bolder images and easier navigation, as it continues to provide Canadian sports fans with a highly interactive and enhanced online sports experience.

This marks the fourth major redesign and the eighth re-launch since TSN.ca debuted in 1995, as the website continues to push the envelope in online sports content and web design, establishing itself as Canada’s No. 1 stand-alone sports website.**

Today, TSN.ca attracts an average of 4.9 million unique visitors and 90 million page views per month.* This is more than double the monthly traffic of other English Canadian sports broadcasters’ websites.**

“TSN.ca has revolutionized Canada’s online sports landscape and continues its forward-thinking with innovative technological advancements that result in an enriched user experience,” said Mike Day, Executive Producer, TSN.ca. “TSN.ca remains top-of-mind with sports fans looking for the latest news, results and stats.”

TSN.ca’s re-launch, which coincides with the start of the NHL Playoffs, includes five new applications, enhancing the website’s comprehensive sports coverage consisting of breaking news stories, highlights on-demand, updated scores and statistics, in-depth features, expert analysis, and articles and blogs by TSN.ca’s personalities. The new features include:

1) Interactive Video in Your Call section – TSN.ca’s popular Your Call section now includes more user generated content in the form of video commentary. These videos can be easily uploaded from any video device – webcam, video phone or video camera. Users are also able to vote for the best video submissions and share video comments on social networking websites. Your Call was the first interactive feature on TSN.ca, allowing viewers to post written comments on hot-button sports issues. Last month, Your Call recorded 2.4 million page views.*

2) Live Scoreboard – Features up-to-the-minute scoring updates, box scores and in-game statistics as games are in progress.

3) In-Game Tracker – Complementing the new Live Scoreboard, the In-Game Tracker allows fans to follow the action of the game as it happens through a graphical representation of the play-by-play. The In-Game tracker will debut at the start of the NHL Playoffs.

4) Embedded Video Player – Gives users instant access to video direct from the TSN.ca homepage. Similar Embedded Video Players can also be found in each of the sports hubs on TSN.ca.

5) Flash Video Player – Users are able to access more than 275 hours of video through the Flash Video Player, which offers greater compatibility and synchronicity with various computer platforms. Users are also able to search for favourite clips on the Flash Video Player’s extensive video library and create their own customized playlists of highlights and features.

TSN.ca’s Evolution
In 1995 when TSN.ca launched, the website consisted of a ‘cyber stadium’ with six individual gateways: 1) Scoreboard – scores, standings and schedules from seven different sports; 2) Broadcast Booth – primary news hub with links to stories from 13 different sports, SportsDesk and other TSN shows; 3) Locker Room – online forums; 4) Playing Field – visitors could play NTN interactive and trivia games; 5) Ticket Booth – a partnership with Ticketmaster that gave TSN.ca users a chance to buy game/event tickets online; and 6) Souvenir Stand – users could buy TSN merchandise.

TSN.ca has evolved into one of the largest sports news and information sites, and today is the most-visited stand-alone Canadian sports website.** With 250,000 pages of content, 1,500 minutes of video clips each month, scores/updates/standings/stats from 35 different sports, daily fan forums and fantasy pools, and the most insightful and provocative analysis from Canada’s most respected sports writers and reporters, TSN.ca has become Canada’s No. 1 sports news destination website.

Then and Now*
• Average number of page views per month: 2002 - 26 million; 2008 - 90 million
• Average number of unique visitors per month: 2002 - 900,000; 2008 - 4.9 million
• Number of pages of content: 1995 - 150; 2008 - 250,000
• Number of sports featured: 1995 - 13; 2008 - 35
• Average number of audio/video clips played per month: 1996 - 5,000; 2008 - 2 million
• Contributing columnists: 1995 - Dave Hodge and Bob McKenzie; 2008 - Dave Hodge and Bob McKenzie, as well as James Duthie, Pierre McGuire, Darren Dreger, Jay Onrait, Chris Schultz, Matt Dunigan, Duane Forde, Jesse Palmer, Dan Pollard, Russ Anber, Tim Chisholm, Scott Cullen and Alex J. Walling
there was no official measurement system in 1995; 2002 was the earliest date for accurate measurements

TSN.ca Firsts• First Canadian sports website to launch a fully programmed all-sports broadband channel, TSN Broadband
• First Canadian sports website to stream audio and video using RealAudio and VivoActive (1996). Included SportsDesk 60-Second Update, TSN SportsRadio Update, Hockey Talk, Dave Hodge Commentary, The Numbers, Plays of the Week, Highlight of the Night, and Plays of the Year
• First Canadian sports website to feature daily podcasts
• First Canadian sports website to debut NTN interactive games (Football, Hockey and Baseball) and NTN Trivia games
• First Canadian sports website to feature daily on-line chats
• First Canadian sports website to have daily interactive polls
• First Canadian sports website to have a ‘host’, which helped guide users to new content on the site. The host, nicknamed ‘George’, also interacted with users via chats and emails, giving users a personal experience on TSN.ca
• First Canadian sports website to sell merchandise online

By The Numbers*• 14.26 million page views represents the record for most page views in a single day (February 26, 2008 – NHL Trade Deadline Day)
• 1.9 million streams represents the record for most video streams served in a single day (January 5, 2007 – IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game featuring Team Canada vs. Team Russia)
• 400,000 users are registered on TSN.ca
• 125,000 is the average number of user comments submitted to the ‘Your Call’ section each month
• 70,000 users receive TSN.ca’s morning email blast

Top 5 Days in TSN.ca History*
1. 14.26 million page views; Feb. 26, 2008 (NHL Trade Deadline Day)
2. 13.92 million page views; March 9, 2006 (NHL Trade Deadline Day)
3. 10.95 million page views; Feb. 22, 2006 (Canada vs. Russia hockey, Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games)
4. 8.73 million page views; Feb. 27, 2007 (NHL Trade Deadline Day)
5. 7.68 million page views; Feb. 21, 2006 (Canada vs. Czech Republic hockey, Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games)

TSN, a division of CTVglobemedia, is Canada's Sports Leader. Setting the Canadian sports broadcasting standard, TSN was voted the No. 1 source for sports coverage and news by sports fans across the country.*** TSN's comprehensive broadcast schedule features SportsCentre, the NHL and first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs; International Hockey including the IIHF World Junior Championship; the Olympic Games through 2012; CFL including Friday Night Football; NFL including Sunday and Monday Night Football; PGA TOUR and all four golf Majors; Blue Jays baseball; Raptors basketball and the NBA Finals; Season of Champions Curling; Auto Racing including NASCAR, Formula One and IRL; Tennis and all four Grand Slam events; EURO 2008 and UEFA Champions League Soccer; and HBO World Championship boxing. TSN HD offers more sports coverage, more hours and more events in High Definition than any other network in Canada. TSN is available in 9 million households. TSN's programming and news content is also available online at TSN.ca.
*Source: Omniture/HBX
**Source: ComScore
***2007/2008 Roper Reports Canada-END-

For More Information:
Andrea Goldstein, (w)416.332.7575, (c)647.224.8800, agoldstein@tsn.ca
Chobi Liang, (w)416.332.7584, (c)416.859.4738, cliang@tsn.ca
Simon Bassett, (w)416.332.7599, sbassett@tsn.ca

> Print friendly version