RealGM

So just about every Sunday, we get anywhere from one to a dozen e-mails along the lines of: "Do you have to have that annoying ticker all the time?" or "Why do you feel the need to interrupt the game every five minutes?"

The simple answer is we have to have the ticker and the squeezebacks due to CRTC regulations.

When The Score first started, it was given the role of sports news. When the licence was amended for broadcasting live sports, the stipulation remained that 'sports news' must air at least once every 15 minutes.

For any North American sport that is not an issue: they are placed in the commercial breaks, which are always plentiful. But with soccer, there are no commercial breaks, which is where the problem lies.

That is why you see the 'squeezebacks' every 15 minutes on The Score. The CRTC requires that we do. We do our best to minimize the interruption and do it while the ball is out of play. And unless the CRTC relents this rule for soccer, it will remain that way.

The same goes for the ticker, which must run 24/7. CTRC rules...