from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star,

One year into its 12-year contract with the National Hockey League, Sportsnet has moved ahead of TSN as Canada’s No. 1 sports broadcaster.

“It’s been very satisfying,” said Scott Moore, the president of Sportsnet and NHL at Rogers Media.

Do you think Rogers and Bell — as co-owners of the Leafs — would interfere with Brendan Shanahan’s rebuilding program, to try to speed it up, for ratings purposes?

I don’t think the right word is interference. There’s pressure. I believe he is doing the right thing. I think he and the team and us all need to look at the messaging. I don’t think saying there’s four or five years of pain is necessarily the messaging we want. It’s: ‘There’s a plan. There’s progress. There’s going to be legitimate stars on this team over the next number of years that you’ll be able to watch as they progress, whether that’s Leo Komarov, (William) Nylander, or Mitch Marner.’

Any regrets about the continued limited roles both Don Cherry and Ron MacLean have on Saturday nights?

We realize Don has a lot to say and he’s getting a little bit more time than he did last year. We’re giving him more flexibility. As for Ron, it’s clear to me, when we launched Sunday night, that type of show, nobody could do it the way Ron does. I don’t think we’d have the ability to do that kind of show without Ron. You can’t do a doubleheader on Saturday night and do Sunday. That property is important to us.”

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