Disclaimer: This content is extremely Canadian

Sportsnet, the longtime Canadian carrier of the Grand Slam of Curling series, is pushing this week’s coverage of selected afternoon and evening curling even later into the night.

Part of the reason is the success of the Toronto Blue Jays, who are battling the Seattle Mariners for American League baseball playoff supremacy.

Both the Jays and Sportsnet are owned by Rogers Communications. Sportsnet previously owned the Grand Slam of Curling series, but sold the property to The Curling Group in the spring of 2024.

Today’s draw 10 of the CO-OP Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alta. was shown on Sportsnet as normal, but with tonight’s late Jays game in Seattle (Game 4 of the ALCS) the following Slam draws (11 and 12) will hit the airwaves many hours after they’re both completed at the Silent Ice Center.

The two draws will be pushed by, in order:

• Blair & Barker – a 90-minute baseball talk show

• The FAN Pregame – an hour long all-sports talk show

• Blue Jays Central Postseason – an hour long Jays pregame show

• The Blue Jays game itself (a three-hour block).

Following the game, some Sportnet channels start their highlight show loop (Sportsnet Central) while others play other loop shows, from the 30-minute Jays show Blue Jays in 30 to others like Misplays of the Month and Gotta See It.

Of course, NHL hockey has just started its season, and Sportsnet recently renewed their coverage agreement in a whopping $11 billion deal.

That only adds to the continued pushing and shoving of curling.

One channel features the Edmonton Oilers as they battle in New York against the Islanders tonight, with that game starting an hour before the baseball game.

The net result? Today’s afternoon curling game will air at 1:00 a.m. ET (technically tomorrow) and the evening game will air right after at 3:30 a.m. ET.

That means curling fans in Newfoundland & Labrador will be facing a 5:00 a.m. start time if they hope to catch a glimpse of Brad Gushue and Co.

The pattern repeats itself on Friday, with Sportsnet giving second priority to the National League baseball playoff (Dodgers versus Brewers) as well as the NHL’s Canucks versus Blackhawks. Once again the afternoon and evening curling games air at 1:00 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.

Despite no Blue Jays game scheduled for Saturday, that night features the return of Saturday night’s huge NHL hockey audience – which, this year makes curling’s delays even worse.

Following the women’s curling quarterfinal at 2:00 p.m. ET, there are no less than four different hockey games on air, plus the loop shows.

The result, as of now, sees the men’s Saturday Slam quarterfinal airing on Sunday morning, at 6:00 a.m. ET and the semifinal on air starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The latter time will be 10:00 a.m. in Newfoundland!

UPDATE: Late on Oct. 17, Sportsnet changed their programming schedule for Saturday curling coverage

There’s no upheaval in the current schedule for the Tour Challenge’s championship finals, however. The women’s and men’s finals will air live on Sunday at 12 noon and 4:30 p.m. ET.