UFC Signs Television Deal With Canada's TQS

by Luke Thomas on Mar 23, 2009 3:53 PM EDT in MMA News

From a press release:

Montreal, Quebec, Canada, March 23, 2009 – TQS and Ultimate Fighting Championship® today announced a television deal to air UFC® events and programming, marking the first time in North American history that live UFC fights will be seen on terrestrial television. TQS has reached an agreement with UFC to present fights traditionally only aired via cable television networks.

We are pleased to have this deal in place, and look forward to bringing the most exciting live event in the world to TQS viewers," said Dana White, UFC President. "UFC is huge in Canada, we have incredible fighters from there, and now fans in Quebec can experience UFC for free on TQS."

Starting Friday, March 27, at 9 P.M. ET, TQS will broadcast over 52 hours of UFC fights in Canadian French language including four live events featuring the greatest athletes in the sport, as well as episodes of UFC® WiRED™ and UFC® Unleashed™. The series is produced by UFC as well as IDI, the production company headed by Anne-Marie Losique and Marc Trudeau.

My understanding is that this will have limited application given its fairly narrow reach, so I'll let the Canadian BE'rs tell me how significant this is. Most insightful comment gets fronted.

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Comments

Fightlinker’s going to shit a brick.

by Derek Suboticki on Mar 23, 2009 4:05 PM EDT reply actions

TQS is pretty much non-existent here in Nova Scotia, and presumably the rest of English speaking Canada.

In a nutshell, this means Quebecois UFC viewers will now enjoy the same live shows on terrestrial TV that the rest of Canada receives on cable from Rogers Sportsnet.

by smoogy on Mar 23, 2009 4:12 PM EDT reply actions

wow, this is great! TQS is free for everyone in Quebec. It’s complete trash, but i’ll watch UFC shows any day. TQS is trying to become more like Spike. They were showing TKO fights on friday nights before. Hopefully, the commentating won’t suck as much as it did for the TKO show.

by NinjaCodah on Mar 23, 2009 4:14 PM EDT reply actions

Given that anyone with basic or next to basic cable or satellite packages in Canada already gets TSN, Sportsnet and SPIKE (not to mention The Score for almost all non-Zuffa product – i.e. Strikeforce, boDOG and HCF re-runs) this is pretty limited. My assumption is that within Quebec and other limited areas you can get this channel on rabbit ears in addition to cable coverage.

As smoogy offers, this is a nice inroads for Quebecers, northern Ontarians, as well as some eastern provinces but it’s really not much in the grand scheme of things.

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Mar 23, 2009 4:17 PM EDT reply actions

For the Maritime provinces...

I don’t understand some peoples definition of non-existent. I lived in NS like Smoogy and live in NB currently. It’s part of basic cable for both Rogers and Eastlink in the two provinces and always has been as long as I can remember. I assume Smoogy’s not a French speaker, as anyone who does and grew up learning the language would be quite familiar with TQS and several other French channel offerings.

At any rate, I don’t know that it will have a big effect anywhere outside of Quebec. For someone like me, who knows French but doesn’t watch a lick of French programming, I can see myself tuning in to check it out depending what else is on. It will likely be stuff that I’ve seen before.

I highly doubt any English only speaking people are going to tune in to TQS for MMA and become fans of it. That’s what Spike and other sports channels are for!

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 4:42 PM EDT reply actions

So you mean you don’t understand smoogy’s definition of non-existent? :)

I am the bastard love child of Junie Browning and Diamond Dave Kaplan.

by The_Gaijin on Mar 23, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Hmm, I have Eastlink and I don’t see TQS listed.

by smoogy on Mar 23, 2009 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Not being a pita or anything, but it’s channel 68 in Dartmouth and in Halifax. It could just be listed as the station call sign in the guide. It’s part of Eastlink’s basic cable package.

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting, I don’t get channels 63-69. I think TQS might be part of some kind of premium French language package here.

by smoogy on Mar 23, 2009 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions

shrug It’s listed as part of the basic cable package on Eastlink’s website. CALL AND DEMAND YOUR FRENCH CHANNELS NOW.

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 10:31 PM EDT up reply actions

ooooh, I made something bold without trying!

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I live in New Brunswick and I have never even heard of TQS. As you said this wont really effect anybody who isn’t french.

by Brad Ackerson on Mar 23, 2009 6:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Geez, you must be in SJ or something, NB’s great bastion of English speakers. :P

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 8:48 PM EDT up reply actions

lol close enough, I’m in Fredericton

www.mma-elite.com

by Brad Ackerson on Mar 23, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Nice, I’m in Grand Bay, not too far from F’town.

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions

One time I went to a volleyball tournament in Edmunston. Everyone there spoke french.

by smoogy on Mar 23, 2009 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Ya, it’s pretty bad anywhere north in NB. They outright refuse talking english to you most of the time. Pretty lame.

by LiuLang on Mar 23, 2009 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions

for Quebec only

Yeah, I think it will mainly affect Quebec’s viewers like me. I watch UFC on Spike all the time while I’m travelling, but I don’t know anyone in Quebec that has Spike (which pisses me off).
TQS is on regular TV and is one of the three channel my TV can get.

by DrTopo on Mar 23, 2009 4:49 PM EDT reply actions

I’m a bi-lingual western Canadian, and I’ll watch MMA in any language. I don’t get TQS, but if I did, and I didn’t speak French, I’d still watch it. Hell, I don’t speak a lick’s worth of Japanese and I watch Japan MMA faithfully.

by bubbafat on Mar 23, 2009 5:08 PM EDT reply actions

Well, it is more about having an impact on french speakers that won’t seek out MMA in english. You are clearly seeking MMA in other languages, but some people won’t.

by szucconi on Mar 23, 2009 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Never heard of the channel, but I’m from Ontario. Could mean something in Quebec, I guess. The rest of us watch UFC on Spike; maybe TQS is Quebec’s version of that.

by gavingavinkindgavin on Mar 23, 2009 6:37 PM EDT reply actions