Hockey Night IN Canada Theme Talks Sour

Saturday, June 07, 2008 10:04 AM

Prince George, B.C. – The search is on for a new theme for Hockey Night in Canada.

The last minute talks aimed at retaining the current theme have fallen through. Who called off the talks is not immediately clear as the CBC says it was prepared to pay the price and had offered a 6 figure amount to buy the rights to the song.

The composer’s rep tells a different story.

(hockey night in canada logo courtesy the CBC)

Here is the release issued late Friday from John Ciccone, acting on behalf of the composer, Dolores Claman:

This afternoon John Ciccone communicated with Scott Moore of CBC and requested a meeting on Monday to further discuss the issues surrounding the Hockey Theme.

At 4:59 PM (one minute before CBC's deadline) Mr. Moore advised that CBC intended to proceed with an announcement of a National contest unless he had the basis for an agreement.

Ms. Claman is saddened and disappointed that CBC is not prepared to negotiate further. A further statement will be made on Monday, June 9th at 5:00 PM.

The CBC’s new contract was virtually the same as the old, with the CBC paying $500 per play in the first two years the change came in year 3 when that rate would have increased by 15% and a further 15% in year 4.

The CBC plans to move ahead and launch its search for a new theme song. It expects to receive hundreds of entries, and the winner will get a prize of $100 thousand dollars. The proceeds from royalties of the new theme will go towards minor hockey across Canada.

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Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008 10:04 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: jonnypg on June 7 2008 10:14 AM

Why mess with a good thing!

Posted by: Chester on June 7 2008 10:27 AM

No pay increase for two years and then two increases in year 3 & 4? I suppose one should know in real dollars what Ms. Claman earns per year from this agreement to put things in perspective. One can only comment on whether they like the song to stay or not, rather than on the dollars offered. Chester

Posted by: lunarbase on June 7 2008 4:23 PM

So basically the terms of the agreement are the same, except now increase in years 3 and 4 as per standard industry policy.

To sum up, the CBC wants to waste more of your money now doing a big hunt for a new song, ruin Canadian Heritage ( the true mandate of CBC as of lately ) by denying us using the present song and in general has once again lost even more audience.

Please can be just scrap CBC and save millions !

Posted by: acrider54 on June 7 2008 5:36 PM

Save millions? The government will just take the millions and hide it away somewhere else. Most likely in some of their pockets.

Posted by: tinyapplecork on June 8 2008 12:42 PM

Actually the new proposal by CBC will save them money but fans will be disappointed. I am not a much of a hockey fan to begin with but like the song! lol It truly has become more Canadian than our national anthem imo.
Ah the deeds of business. Question: What does "The proceeds from royalties of the new theme song will go to minor hockey across Canada" mean? What royalties? If the winner receives $100,000 and no rights or contract to royalty, what royalty is being paid? Or is CBC buying the new song? If so, then how can CBC claim the proceeds of the royalty will go to minor hockey? Odd.

Posted by: MrPG on June 8 2008 1:42 PM

I cannot believe how far this thing has gone. I knew as soon as the media got involved the thing was doomed.

This is gone from a simple renegotiation to a battle of egos and who 'won' and 'lost'. It should have been handled out of the spotlight.

Ridiculous.