[cferneyh]

But who set the $600,000 price? If no one is willing to pay $600K for the house, it isn't a $600K house, is it?

The seller always sets the price. That's how the world works.

It is possible to set a price on all rights to a creative work. And in every single instance I've ever been aware of, the buyer always balks. Not because the price isn't fair, but because the reason they want all rights is that they don't want to pay a fair price.

Hence, negotiation.

Cherry pays for himself and/or makes money for the show. Does the theme do that? I think not.

So you think branding is of no importance?

CBC treats the theme music as an important element of the brand. They play up the history of HNIC at the opening of every broadcast, and the theme music is the most recognizable element of that history. (Saving the Bob Cole jokes for now.)

Yes, branding is very important, obviously. But here's the thing - branding changes. It evolves (something Cherry will never be accused of). So at some point you have to measure the cost/benefit of the components of your brand, and make the decision in what components are important, and what can be left behind, or changed. Sorry, I just have a hard time accepting people would ever stop watching HNIC if the theme song was different. And without all this media-generated hub-bub, there would likely be a large segment of viewers who didn't even notice a change.