Hockey's been very, very good to TSN

The verdict is still out on what CBC got for its increased payments to the National Hockey League, but there's no doubt TSN's new deal got good results.

TSN reports that ratings were up in every round this spring and 35 per cent overall. While the big increase (42 per cent) in the first round was a foregone conclusion considering TSN had a Canadian series for the first time in its 24-year history,  the subsequent two rounds did well, too. Even the third round held up, 17 per cent ahead of last year.

Meanwhile, CBC saw its second-round numbers drop by 1 per cent, and things aren't looking great on Round 3. The main reason for that is CBC stayed out of the first two games and by the time it got in, both series were looking decidely one-sided. That's more bad luck than anything else.