Source : Canoe News

It will cost $153 million US for the Olympic Games to change channels in Canada.

A consortium of Bell Globemedia and Rogers Communications agreed Monday to pay a record amount for the Canadian television rights for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Included in the deal is a promise for unparalleled television coverage of the Games plus a pledge of financial support for Canadian athletes. To wrestle the Olympics away from the CBC, Globemedia and Rogers teamed up to pay $90 million US for the Vancouver Games and another $63 million US for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

"Vancouver 2010 will be the biggest event of the decade in Canada," Ivan Fecan, president and CEO of Bell Globemedia, told a news conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"It's wonderful to be right in the middle of it."

Jacques Rogge, president of the Intentional Olympic Committee, said the consortium's bid was attractive on several levels. He didn't deny the money - an increase of 110 per cent on the $73 million spent for the 2006 and 2008 Games - contributed to the decision.

"It was a combination of the enhancement of the Olympic brand in Canada, promotion for the Games, the support to sports federations and athletes in Canada, and also the finances," Rogge said.

Combined, the two companies transverse the television spectrum. 
 

Bell Globemedia owns CTV, whose subsidiaries includes TSN, the Outdoor Life Network plus the French-language services of TQS and RDS.

Bell Canada also paid $200 million Cdn for the telecommunications rights for the 2010 Games.

Adding a buttress will be Rogers Communications holdings which include Rogers Sportsnet, the Omni channels and radio stations.

All together, the networks say they can offer over 4,000 hours of coverage of the 2010 Games, much of it in prime time.

"The kinds of hours we're talking about and the way the various platforms are conceived is really quite extraordinary," said Fecan.

"It is through these kind of hours we feel that the bid is a strategic but responsible bid."

The plan is for CTV to carry the opening and closing ceremonies, plus the major sports events on its free, over-the-air channels.

Sportsnet's four regional cable channels plus TSN will have the ability to show entire events, from start to finish.

"The tastes are changing in sports," said CTV president Rick Brace.

"People want to be able to watch the events they want to see and they want to be able to watch them in their entirety and they want to be able to watch them live."

The Vancouver Games are considered a huge prize. A Winter Olympics at home, with a Canadian team striving to top the medal standings, would draw huge audiences.

A Games in Canada also means reduced productions costs.

Losing the Olympics is another blow to the prestige of the CBC, which has broadcast every Olympics since 1996, recently sharing coverage with TSN.

"We're very disappointed, no question," said Nancy Lee, head of CBC Sports.

"We think we put in a great bid. We worked long on it. It was a good bid. We couldn't have worked harder on it and we were just clearly outbid on it."

CBC Sports is already suffering financially from the NHL lockout. There's fears losing the Olympics could affect the corporation's coverage of Canadian amateur sports events.

Lee wouldn't give specifics of the CBC bid except to say it was 40 per cent more than what the Corporation paid for its package of the 2006 Turin Winter Games and 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

One source told The Canadian Press that CBC went into the bidding knowing they didn't have enough cash to win.

"They knew their bid was not going to be enough," said the source.

"What the strategy was, if it was close, people would look at the fact CBC does a good job of broadcasting the Games and is pretty dedicated to amateur sports in the country."

Richard Carrion, the IOC finance commission chairman, acknowledged CBC's past efforts.

"They've been an excellent partner," he said. "This was obviously a very good result for the IOC. It was a very hotly contested negotiation."

Carrion also said the $90 million US for the Winter Games was a record.

"This is the first time that the amount for the (Winter) Games exceeds the Summers Games," he said.

Dave Cobb, vice-president of revenue and marketing for the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) said the Bell Globemedia-Rogers partnership offers more advertising platforms than CBC, with just two channels.

"From a coverage standpoint, as a sports fan, they certainly have very good properties to put it on," Cobb said, referring to TSN and Sportsnet. "They've got a good lineup of stations."

He is looking to get VANOC on all of them as soon as the colours are filled in on the 2010 logo.

"We want to be in front of the country right from now to our Games," said Cobb. "The broadcaster of the games is a very important partner, and not just during the two weeks of the games but right through the eight years we have rights for."

The IOC will share a percentage of television revenues with VANOC.

CBC paid a Canadian record $45 million US for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, part of a $165-million US package deal for five Olympics back in 1998.

In contrast, CTV paid $4.3 million US in 1988 for rights to the Calgary Games.

CTV broadcast the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, the '92 Summer Games in Barcelona and the '94 Winter Games in Lillehammer.

NBC has already paid $2.201 billion US for the American television rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. That deal included $820 million US for the 2010 Games.

Monday's decision came after each network made a two-hour presentation and then handed over a sealed bid.

Spokesman for Bell Globemedia and Rogers said included in their bid is financial support for Canadian sports federations and athletes.

They didn't give specific figures.

Fecan hinted the Bell Globemedia-Rogers partnership could continue for future Olympics.

"We also are very much looking forward to 2012 and beyond," he said.

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