CHEK's revival good news for Island athletes

CHEK TV's rise from the grave spells good news for Vancouver Island athletes.
The television station barely avoided death last week after CHEK employees and an unidentified group of local investors bought the station from financially-troubled media giant Canwest for a nominal $2 purchase price and obligations to cover costs while Ottawa approves the transaction.
CHEK's planned closure would have spelled numerous job losses, another hit to Canadian culture, and lost advertising opportunities for many businesses during a recession.
Another less obvious, but no less important, impact would have been a reduction in exposure for Island athletes, most of whom are amateurs who compete for a rare chance at Olympic glory and the pure love of sport. CHEK's demise would have meant the local market would not have heard about the next Simon Whitfield or Silken Laumann, while up and coming junior A hockey players and other competitors in sports ranging from rowing to soccer would have been neglected.
Now, these athletes will have a chance to flash their sponsors' products -- a key issue when it comes to getting funding -- during TV interviews that would not have occurred otherwise. They will also get to raise their profiles, which is also vital to sponsorsphip, while the sports themselves with get attention, motivating Island kids to take them up and become active.
While many will not become Olympians, they will better their lives and society in general while also adopting healthy lifestyles.
Meanwhile, CHEK's revival offers a chance for a dinosaur -- the local late-night sports show -- to come back to life. Think a Victoria version of the old Sports Page show that used to grace CKVU and Global stations, or the old Sports at 11 or Sports at 11:30 show in Calgary, which once featured a young Mike Toth.
The nightly sports shows on TSN and Sportsnet merely regurgitate the same highlights hour after hour while offering the occasional feature here and there. Island athletes rarely crack the TSN or Sportsnet lineups.
CHEK now has a chance to run in-depth profiles on a regular basis, and a local sports show can be done on the cheap, helping to curb costs. Synicated American sitcoms would definitely put a dent in the balance sheet. The show could be expanded to include Vancouver and other Lower Mainland athletes and teams, since recent CHEK news reports suggest the station, whose reach stretches to B.C.'s largest city, is expanding its coverage.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for such a show to air. But I also had doubts that CHEK would continue to broadcast.