TomJH Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I know this issue has been discussed before among frustrated Canadian TCM viewers but I still continue to be mystified at times by the seeming arbitrainess of those features that do not get broadcast in Canada. Yes, I know that broadcast rights issues are involved but, sometimes, I wonder if that really is the case. For example, last night TCM in the U.S. showed some Max Ophuls directed films. In Canada, however, two of them, Caught and Letter from an Unknown Woman, had Bogart films substituted for them. This, in spite of the fact that in TCM's last broadcasts of those same two films they were shown in Canada. In fact, I recorded Caught just a couple of months ago off TCM Canada. Now, though, it's a no show. Likewise, last year TCM in the United States broadcast The Crystal Ball, a minor comedy with Paulette Goddard, twice. The first time it did not make it into Canada but the second time, about four months later, it did. What, broadcast rights were secured in those few months. But what about Caught then? Those same broadcast rights were lost? At the same time such Warners stalwarts as Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Sea Hawk have been shown countless times by TCM in Canada. Yet there has also been at least one broadcast of those same two films in the U.S. in which other films were substituted in Canada. Afterwards both films were again shown in both countries. It doesn't make much sense to me. This month I was disappointed that Diary of a Chambermaid, with Paulette Goddard (again), didn't make it for Canadian viewers to see. Based on the experience with Crystal Ball, however, I have no idea if TCM Canada will show the film the next time around should the channel decide to re-broadcast it again. Does anyone understand why a film is shown in Canada on one occasion and not shown on another? Or are the TCM programming gremlins just trying to drive Canadians crazy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID re-airs in late April...you will have to let us know if it makes on to the Canadian schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Ya know Tom, I think this could all be explained thusly: In 1947, both Max Ophuls and Paulette Goddard while attending a movie premiere in Windsor Ontario were overheard making extremely derogatory remarks about the sport of Hockey! (...and word is, to this very day, there are some Canucks who still hold a grudge about it...and who knows, maybe the folks who decide what you folks up there see on TCM might be some of 'em!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 It seems odd that every time we discuss U.S.-Canada programming differences on TCM, it's a lot of guesswork regarding the reasons. Isn't there someone to contact at TCM or TCM Canada (where is that located?) who could offer specific explanations. I don't know why it should be such a big secret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 It's an old message from 2005 from TCMProgrammr in a thread about this very issue but he has also acknowledged the Canadian rights issues problems at both TCM Film Festivals recently during the *Meet the Staff* panel discussions: "Yes, there are a few substitute films being scheduled in Canada. On some films (currently about 10% of the schedule) we don't have Canadian rights - rather than just black-out the programming for that block of time we are putting in replacement programming. We expect that 10% to eventually come down to below 5%." He's also acknowledged that sometimes trying to find the legal Canadian rights holder is difficult to next impossible for some films. They must still be working on getting the percentage lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 But if it's a right issue, would anyone know why the same films sometimes get blocked while at other times are broadcast? Caught, as I stated, was blocked this week after being shown in Canada just a few months ago. I really hope to see Diary of a Chambermaid make it here in April. And, no, Dargo, I hadn't heard the Paulette Goddard-knocked-hockey theory before. Perhaps her crystal ball told her that that film would eventually make it into our country anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveFilmNoir Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 > {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}It seems odd that every time we discuss U.S.-Canada programming differences on TCM, it's a lot of guesswork regarding the reasons. Isn't there someone to contact at TCM or TCM Canada (where is that located?) who could offer specific explanations. I don't know why it should be such a big secret. Finance, there are so many topics that have been discussed here that we have settled on guesswork for the final answer. I wish there was a way we could get specific answers on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 That's good to know. I recorded it to watch later and when I did, the ending was cut off! (doubt it was more than a minute or so.......) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 > But if it's a right issue, would anyone know why the same films sometimes get blocked while at other times are broadcast? Caught, as I stated, was blocked this week after being shown in Canada just a few months ago It depends upon the terms of the rental/lease contracts. The terms can vary from one distributor to another. Some examples: Short rental/lease contract of only a couple of months x number of screenings/airings Long-term (multi-month or year) rental/lease contract We've seen example of all of the above on TCM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Tom, all I can say is Aaaargh ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 For your information, Paulette Goddard and Maurice (Rocket) Richard had a short, passionate fling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 LOL! Yeah, I've heard too, finance. Word was she thought Rocket reminded her of Chaplin. (...but then again, word ALSO was she thought Gordie Howe always reminded her of Franklin Pangborn, so go figure, huh?!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thanks for the explanation, Izcutter, but, as Misswonderly said, Aaaargh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 No, it was Maurice's smaller brother, Andre (Pocket Rocket) Richard, who reminded her of Chaplin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libradoll Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 AAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!! is right. I'm still waiting for 'South Pacific' to come up on TCM Canada, For a movie made in 1958 what can the big deal be? Nobody can find out who has the rights???? Odd!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 > For a movie made in 1958 what can the big deal be? Nobody can find out who has the rights???? Another network may have the broadcast rights for *South Pacific* in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimpole Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Next week is particularly disappointing for me. Four movies that I wanted to see: Hangmen also Die, Foreign Correspondent, The Long Voyage Home, and One Potato Two Potato are being replaced on the Canadian schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalnovelty Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 As we have learned over the years, TCM can not show Hal Roach films in Canada. But the 1939 Roach movie CAPTAIN FURY is listed on the Canadian schedule. It's showing right now on TCM-USA. Is it really also being shown in Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hey, skimpole ! I didn't know you were Canadian ( well, not everyone here advertises it in the most un-Canadian way that I do.) I believe you can purchase the dvd of Foreign Correspondent. At least, I did, but come to think of it, that was a few years ago, things may have changed. If the DVD of a film can be purchased in Canada, it does seem very odd that that same film cannot be aired in Canada on account of these mysterious "rights" issues. (musicalnovelty, I just checked the Canadian TCM schedule, and *Captain Fury* is on it. Go figure...) Edited by: misswonderly on Feb 24, 2012 10:35 AM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb23 Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 When TCM was first added to my cable company's channel listings, I recall that "To Catch a Thief" was on the schedule. It had been many years since I'd seen that movie and I was really looking forward to it. But as it turned out, another movie was substituted for it - "Butterfield 8", I believe. So disappointed was I that I sent an email to TCM to ask about it. I received a very courteous response explaining that although the goal was to make the US and Canadian schedules identical, sometimes they were not able to obtain the rights to air certain movies in Canada. Eventually TCM did air "To Catch a Thief" here in Canada, so I guess they were able to obtain the rights. I agree that it does seem kind of hit-and-miss sometimes, though. Certain movies aren't shown in Canada, then they are, then they aren't again. I know that Charlie Chaplin's movies were not aired on TCM for several years at least - every time they were on the US schedule, Canadian viewers saw different movies. But just recently a couple of Chaplin movies aired on a Saturday night, and they were shown in Canada as well. I have found that if you see something interesting on the US schedule, it's best to check the Canadian schedule to make sure it will be on here. Perhaps my biggest disappointment with regards to the difference in US/Canadian schedules was the time several years ago when TCM devoted an evening to animated features - I cannot remember the name of the guest who they were honouring, but one of the cartoons listed was "One Froggy Night" , which I just love. And the Canadian and US schedules were identical, so I was really looking forward to that evening. But as the date approached .... the Canadian schedule was changed. Instead of the cartoons, we got "Little Women." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalnovelty Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 > {quote:title=misswonderly wrote:}{quote} > > (musicalnovelty, I just checked the Canadian TCM schedule, and *Captain Fury* is on it. Go figure...) > So......was it really shown? Were any of our Canadian viewers watching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlcrg Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 These blackouts seem to be every other night and not mentioned in the online schedules (rogers or otherwise). Too often you tunein only to find the screen black. On Sunday Jan 27, 2013 the movie Sunday in New York appeared in the TCM Canadian schedule but it was blacked out (on Rogers anyway). To add insult to injury even the short films that follow the blacked out movie were not available. Ironically the short following the sunday in new york film was about Canada in 1949. Quebec in 1949 was not available. I sort of wonder if Rogers is somehow to blame for all these blackouts. TCM is not the favorite channel it once was in our house as a result! > {quote:title=TomJH wrote:}{quote}I know this issue has been discussed before among frustrated Canadian TCM viewers but I still continue to be mystified at times by the seeming arbitrainess of those features that do not get broadcast in Canada. > Yes, I know that broadcast rights issues are involved but, sometimes, I wonder if that really is the case. > > For example, last night TCM in the U.S. showed some Max Ophuls directed films. In Canada, however, two of them, Caught and Letter from an Unknown Woman, had Bogart films substituted for them. This, in spite of the fact that in TCM's last broadcasts of those same two films they were shown in Canada. In fact, I recorded Caught just a couple of months ago off TCM Canada. Now, though, it's a no show. > > Likewise, last year TCM in the United States broadcast The Crystal Ball, a minor comedy with Paulette Goddard, twice. The first time it did not make it into Canada but the second time, about four months later, it did. What, broadcast rights were secured in those few months. But what about Caught then? Those same broadcast rights were lost? > > At the same time such Warners stalwarts as Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Sea Hawk have been shown countless times by TCM in Canada. Yet there has also been at least one broadcast of those same two films in the U.S. in which other films were substituted in Canada. Afterwards both films were again shown in both countries. It doesn't make much sense to me. > > This month I was disappointed that Diary of a Chambermaid, with Paulette Goddard (again), didn't make it for Canadian viewers to see. Based on the experience with Crystal Ball, however, I have no idea if TCM Canada will show the film the next time around should the channel decide to re-broadcast it again. > > Does anyone understand why a film is shown in Canada on one occasion and not shown on another? Or are the TCM programming gremlins just trying to drive Canadians crazy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 This may, or may not, have anything to do with your problem, but here in the US, with Comcast Cable, some DVRs and firmware combinations sometimes produce the dreaded "black screen" problem. Changing the channel, then changing back to TCM would probably clear this up, if it is the problem. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure the problem is resulting from your cable provider, possibly from your local head-end. If the problem was more widespread, probably there would be other Rogers customers complaining here. I don't believe that TCM does blackouts, they just substitute different films on the Canadian schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 Is this what the song "Canadian Sunset" was all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 "People, stay away from the brown acid..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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