Will CTV bail on London?
October 28, 2009 · 13 Comments
This rumour has been circulating for months and, with the Vancouver Olympics getting closer, it’s picking up steam.
First, it is fair to say that CTV, Canada’s TV rights holder for the 2010 and 2012 Games, is thrilled to be broadcasting the Vancouver Olympics, despite the small problem of Canada’s economy going south and companies cutting back on TV advertising generally.
It’s also fair to suggest that, as far as the 2012 London Olympics are concerned, the thrill may be gone for CTV.
The network is cash strapped. Over the past year, CTV Inc. has sold off its 15.2 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for an amount believed to be about $180-million. It also divested itself of two cable channels. They went to Corus Entertainment for $40-million.
Keep it mind, also, that for CTV, Vancouver was the prize and London a throw-in when it outbid the CBC for domestic Olympic TV rights to 2010 and 2012, paying the International Olympic Committee a record $90-million (U.S.) for Vancouver and $63-million (U.S.) for London.
In addition to the steep rights fee – the previous high paid by a Canadian network for a Summer Games was the CBC’s $45-million for Beijing – London presents a problem for a Canadian broadcaster. There will be no live content in prime time.
Therefore, the rumour has it that CTV wants out and will sell off the London TV rights to the CBC, which is keen to return as Canada’s Olympic network.
There’s even talk that people working for the CTV-Rogers Olympic consortium are sending out resumes for work post-Vancouver.
But here’s the real story: It’s not true.
Keith Pelley, the head of the CTV-Rogers Olympic consortium, says there is “zero” chance of CTV dumping the London Games. In an email message, he said, “We are already selling and planning production (for London).”
What’s more, a source close to the IOC says the Committee has heard nothing about CTV seeking to divest London. And the IOC would have heard by now because of the significant timeline involved in a network planning production and selling advertising for an Olympic Games. CTV could not unilaterally sell off London. Any deal would need to go through the IOC.
However, here’s what is worth watching. Three months after the conclusion of the Vancouver Olympics, the IOC will hold an auction for the TV rights to the 20014 Sochi Winter Games (Russia) and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Sochi is in a bad time zone for North American TV, but it is a Winter Games, and Canadian viewers will tune in. Rio has value because it’s an exotic location and only two hours ahead of the Eastern Time zone. That means the big events will be aired live in prime time.
The CBC is expected to bid aggressively for Sochi and Rio. CTV’s interest remains to be seen.
What the Globe should do
Rumours, unconfirmed, say The Globe and Mail was planning to run an Olympic torch relay insert this weekend, one that would list the employees taking part in the torch carrying procession across Canada. But, the insert has been cancelled because of the negative press.
I couldn’t confirm this, and one source said the insert will run as planned, but the torch carrying issue has become an embarrassment and public relations nightmare for the Globe and also CTV, which will have 26 of its broadcasters participating in the carrying of the Olympic flame.
In addition to the issue of journalistic ethics – promoting an event while also covering it – the notion of journalists and broadcasters qualifying to carry the Olympic torch solely because they are employed by a company that happens to be a rights holder smacks of media elitism and jumping the queue, not to mention cozying up to persons and organizations of power.
This is typical of the sort of email I’ve received on the subject: “I applied to run in my hometown of Georgetown [Ontario]. Thought it would be a great experience to have my kids at my side as I carried the torch. Too bad I didn’t have enough money to buy a spot. I thought the Olympics were not about money. That’s why they have amateur athletes competing. CTV should have either auctioned off the spots with money going to charities, or given the spots to kids who in the eyes of coaches or teachers have excelled, whether in sport or studies! The Olympic ideal I had now feels dirty.”
Journalism as it pertains to TV is tenuous and sometimes difficult to define. It’s worth noting the CBC and Global Television, non-rights holders, also were given torch carrying spots by VANOC, albeit a small number.
But, the Globe and Mail is something different. It’s a serious and respected newspaper, and as such it should do a mea culpa immediately by finding a fair way of distributing the relay assignments to perhaps more deserving people. The public likes admissions of mistakes. It shows that you’re humble and honest as opposed to arrogant and stubborn (see Globe columnist Stephen Brunt’s defense of his carrying the torch, in my column yesterday.)
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Don’t forget how the “Support Local TV ” smokescreen is really driven to defray Olympic revenue losses…….
Isn’t it time people stopped equating the Olympics with amateur athletes? That horse has long left the barn.
The fact someone who “thought the Olympics were not about money” has reproduced shows me we’re doomed as a race. The Olympics are a giant corporate billboard, how could this waterhead not notice? What other brilliant bits of cognitive dissonance has this person filled her/his little cracker cipher spawn’s heads with?
It’s always been about money … in the early days, the Olympics were the province of the idle rich who were above the rabble who had to work for a living … you had to be independently wealthy or have a “patron” in order to go the Games. Later it became an expression of the nation-state’s strength. That’s still there, along with corporatism run amok.
I don’t have a problem with VANOC being criticized for selling spots in the torch relay and CTV having to do damage control … but lay off Brunt, I’m sure he will walk the line.
CBC should not be spending any taxpayer money on sporting events period, including hockey. The Olympics are just another corporate waste of money so let other non publicly funded companies waste their own money.
It is beyond ridiculous that media members are carrying the Olympic torch. These peolpe have zero right to do this, and in the true spirit of the games, only amateur athletes and coaches who train and perform for the rest of the world have earned the right to do anything remotely related to Olympic protocol. I could less about all the other people, but I am surprised Brunt has lowered himself to this. Sad really.
we can all agree that the olympics are not a celebration of amateur sport but rather a massive money maker for lots of private businesses. this still leaves unanswered the question of why anyone could think that there is a compatibility between accepting a sprint with the torch as a gift from the the event’s organizers and unbiased reporting on the olympics. if you accept special gifts then your credibility is open to debate. if you don’t then it is not.
of course Brunt and the Globe’s choice is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. it is still the wrong choice.
4×4 Time, so what do you think CBC should be spending their money on? More news coverage? Did you know that the Sports division is the most profitable in the entire company? That the money from HNIC actually supports the news division. Check your facts next time.
Chopolate, relax dude. I could care less how much money the CBC sports divisions make, and I am not stating any “facts”. I am just saying the time is over for taxpayers to fund broadcasting that is available in other forums without taxpayers money.
If the CBC needs sports to fund news and other products as you state, then maybe they need to be more cost competitive like all other news media outlets around the world. Does Canada really need a public broadcaster in these days of immediate information access and numerous competitive outlets?
In spite of the denials, it’s obvious CTV is having trouble finding the dollars to handle the Olympics.
The CBC has been able to do it all these years because they don’t have to worry about the money. After all, they’re using ours.
I am curious to see how much CTV/Rogers will lose for the Vancouver Games alone? I think they paid $93 Million US and according to Chris Z blog at the star awhile ago, he wrote that CTV is struggling to meet its adversting goals.
I am not too happy with the lack of pre-Olympic coverage at this point. I think they dropped the ball on this one.
I really don’t see why the whole torch-bearing thing is an issue. A newspaper columnist has as much right to be a torch-bearer as a Subway restaurant employee. And guess what, these Globe and CTV employees have families too that can run by their sides!
I really don’t see why the whole torch-bearing thing is an issue. A newspaper columnist has as much right to be a torch-bearer as a Subway restaurant employee. And guess what, these Globe and CTV employees have families too that can run by their sides!
P.S. – Sorry, forgot to tell you great post!
This doesn’t make sense, because they have families why does that entitle them to skip the line and carry the torch as journalists also covering the games? This was a bad idea, let’s just all agree on that.