Peak Communicators
January 21, 2014

Media Coverage of Meltdown

You can’t beat the drama and emotion in sports. The media coverage surrounding the drama makes it even more entertaining.

Since the Vancouver Canucks’ coach John Tortorella lost it going after Calgary Flames’ coach Bob Hartley on Hockey Night in Canada last weekend, it has been a field day for sports commentators and the water cooler topic for hockey fans.

Some say that as the bench boss and leader of team, the coach demonstrated intense passion. He had his players’ backs. Others feel it was a big sideshow that has no place in professional sports. The debate continues.

The league showed it was an activity they did not approve of. The coach is banished from working for the next 15 days which includes six hockey games.

Kudos to Vancouver’s local CBC-TV newsroom for its story, which I felt had the most refreshing observation about Tortorella. To quote commentator, Alistair Moes:

“It was like the end of the world. It would make sense for a three-year-old, but not so much for a 55-year-old. Look what happens when you have a temper tantrum. When you lose it, no one listens to what you have to say to them. They just ridicule you and make fun of you.”

Mr. Moes is a Vancouver-based anger management expert.

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December 7, 2012

Once in a Lifetime Catch: Great River Fishing Adventures

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In July 2012, Peak was approached by Great River Fishing Adventures to promote a 12-foot long, 1000-pound sturgeon caught by one of their customers on the Fraser River. They hoped for some media coverage.

Within a week, Peak packaged a media kit which involved a news release, a fact sheet and a video of the giant fish being caught and then released. We organized a meeting with all TV stations under the Mission Bridge where reporters could interview the British couple who caught the sturgeon, shoot video of the Great River Fishing Adventures charter boat on the water and speak with the company’s president and guide.

The “once in a lifetime catch” got wide international coverage in print, online, on radio, including visual stories on the newscasts for Global-TV, CBC and CTV. Great River Fishing Adventures had never experienced anything like this. After seeing the footage their phones were ringing off the hooks. Their boats were booked up for months.

In mid-September 2012, less than two months later, it happened again. Another 1000-pound sturgeon, this one 11 feet eight inches long, caught by a team of 30 from a Kamloops accounting firm.

Peak saw no problem with getting all the media to do the story again. We played on the uniqueness of this event: “It was supposed to happen once in a generation…but just two months later it happened again!”.

We reprised the file footage from the July catch, we added new images and Peak reeled in another 50 media hits, including stories on the newscasts for Global-TV, CBC and CTV. Both CTV National News and Global National News picked up the story for their million-plus viewers.

Great River Fishing Adventures said they were hoping to develop more corporate “team-building” clientele. Like magic – it happened after this story ran throughout Canada.

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