VANOC’s Olympic size PR gaffe
February 5, 2010 · 25 Comments
I wasn’t planning to do a second piece on the CTV-Rogers/VANOC torch relay fiasco, but reader interest in the previous blog deserves a follow-up.
Let’s begin by saying the omission of Olympic gold medal winner Kerrin Lee-Gartner from the relay isn’t the only dumb move made by the CTV-Rogers Olympic consortium and VANOC. Consider Debbi Wilkes, whom sources say was surprised and disappointed when she was overlooked.
And why wouldn’t she be? Wilkes has been involved in figure skating most of her life. She won a silver medal for Canada at the 1964 Winter Games. She’s been a coach and is employed by Skate Canada as director of marketing and sponsorship. And, for years she was a skating analyst for CTV, the company that handed out torch relay spots to TV personalities such as Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim of CTV-owned eTalk.
I won’t go to any length in reiterating my disagreement with broadcasters and journalists carrying the torch, except to say it is a conflict of interest — not so much for the Barbies and Kens like Kim and Mulroney, but for people who are real journalists such as Stephen Brunt of The Globe and Mail and Brian Williams, CTV’s prime time Olympic host.
My point is this: How can you participate in a marketing campaign for the Olympics , which is what the torch relay is, and then be perceived as someone who will give you an objective and independent assessment of the Olympics?
The answer is you can’t. This has become a public relations disaster for VANCOC and CTV-Rogers. And it easily could have been averted as soon as the bad press started in October. The mistake could have been admitted and a selection system implemented for worthy torch bearers, beginning with former medal winning Canadian Olympians. (There hasn’t been that many.)
But, typical of big media companies and bureaucracies, they arrogantly ignored the criticism and went ahead with their ridiculous marketing strategy of getting their own people out before the public, torch in hand.
How many extra readers to you think will buy the Globe during the Olympics because Brunt, as well as columnists Gary Mason and Roy MacGregor participated in the relay? And how many additional viewers do you think CTV’s Olympic coverage will receive because Williams, Michael Landsberg of CTV-owned TSN and others ran with the torch? To both questions, the answer is zero or close to it. And how much ill will has this controversy produced? A huge amount.
Pot luck for Olympic singer
Beginning next week, you will hear the CTV Vancouver Olympic theme song, I Believe, a lot.
The network will use it to introduce its pre-opening ceremony telecast next Friday. And for the next two weeks it will be heard daily on the broadcasts. Written by Alan Frew and sung by Montreal’s Nikki Yanofsky, it’s been getting raves.
But, Yanofsky, a 15 year old jazz/pop phenom, almost didn’t get the gig, despite Frew writing the song specifically for her. Instead, CTV wanted to use a big name, Celine Dion or Alanis Morissette.
It’s not clear what happened to Dion, but Morissette was clearly in the picture, despite Keith Pelley, the head of the CTV-Rogers Olympic production, and Frew pushing hard for Yanofsky.
But then came November and the minor problem of Morissette deciding to tell the world that she enjoys smoking marijuana. And that she feels it improves her creativity. Oops. CTV dropped her like a pot, er, hot potato. The job went to Yanofsky.
Here is the song:
Winning gold for Canada
Sports Illustrated’s Olympic edition in Canada has Sidney Crosby on the cover dressed in his Canadian hockey gear.
SI predicts Canada will finish second to the Germans in the overall medal count, winning gold in men’s and women’s hockey.
Germany, 35 medals (11 gold, 11 silver, 13 bronze; Canada, 30 medals (10 gold, 11 silver, nine bronze); United States, 27 medals (seven gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze).
The magazine has Canada also winning gold medals in women’s curling (the men get a silver); moguls (Jennifer Heil); men’s parallel giant slalom (Jasey-Jay Anderson); snowboard cross (Maeli Ricker); women’s long track speed skating, 1,000 meters (Christine Nesbitt); team pursuit; men’s short track, 500 meters, (Charles Hamelin).
NBC still tape delaying
It has always amazed me that an American network broadcasting to the largest English language market in the world would deny its viewers live coverage of some of the biggest sporting events in the world.
But, that’s what NBC has been doing for years with its Olympic coverage – holding back telecasts of the big competitions until they could be aired, tape delayed, in prime time. There will be less of that in Vancouver because many of the gold medal events are scheduled for the evenings and that means prime time in North America.
Still, consider Saturday, Feb. 13, Day 2 of the Games. The men’s downhill goes in the afternoon. CTV will show it live, but NBC will not. American viewers will need to wait until the evening telecast to see the race.
NBC does this to maximize revenue. It can promise advertisers, who pay a premium for prime time spots, a larger audience if an event isn’t available until prime time. Still, the network is putting revenue ahead of coverage.
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The classic American television prime time deception was last Olympics at Turin during the gold medal ladies hockey game between Canada and USA. CBC played it beginning as I recall around 500 or 530 am. For those sleepyheads like me, I "cheated " and got up around 600 to catch the second and third periods. NBC as I recall, did not even show the game until the late evening(prime time), and despite the game being over by 800 am or so refused to show any parts of the highlights on it's morning show. Quick flip of channels back on same morning after gold medal game over was ditto for other morning shows on American television.
BTW, your former G&M hit the nail on the head last Saturday, noting that the Chinese Olympic team will likely take away a surprising number of medals, hinting that they will beat others in aerials and halfpipe using non Olympic Canadian and American coaching. A major coupe on the predictions and as Canada may have some surprises on the difficulty in acquiring medals despite the Own the Podium program, the difference could me made up by groups like the Chinese.
Bob; you must mean the gold medal game in either Nagano or Utah. Canada faced Sweden in Torino for gold. This after a seemingly huge upset of the Americans by Sweden. Of course it was just a coincidence the women’s hockey was likely to be dropped before Vancouver if USA played Canada for gold in three consecutive Olympics. Does that sound cynical? The IOC has such an excellent reputation of integrity.
As far as the torch run being run as a dictatorship like propaganda exercise, remember its roots. It was Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, who created the torch run farce for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. What could possibly go wrong following that plan?
Are you sure they dropped Morissette for enjoying a little reefer?
It more likely comes from the fact Morissette has regular part on the excellent program Weeds, starring a smoking Mary Louise Parker. Global owned Showcase airs this program and would likely exploit the scenes of Morissette in their promotion of the show. I BELIEVE they smoke pot and have a lot of sex on that particular show. It’s great
By the way you'll never meet a nicer genuine person than Debbi Wilkes, CTV can't be associated with these types it would spoil their image of fake plastic stereotypes.
As long as BW tells all of Canada what time it is in their respective time zone they’ll be ecstatic. Clearly it’s why we watch
Heh, and I used to know Seamus O'Reagan's hash dealer. There's lots of pot use at CTV and TSN. Trust me.
Wow wow wow… It never ceases to amaze me how Canadian Broadcasters "Eat their young" when CTV is involved.
Pre Olympic affiliations such as Kerrin Lee. with CBC, and the Grand Dame of Figure Skating, Debbi Wilkes ex CTV, who are not involved with Ivan's Empire are shunned because of non Network affiliations Wow. A Gold Medal in Downhill means Jack to these clowns.. My word…This CTV axe grinding with the likes of ex CBC'ers like Rick Chisholm, Rick Brace et al are doing a huge injustice to Canadian Broadcasting as well as the Olympic Athletes. "You won a Gold Medal but commentate for CBC", Sorry, you don't exist. That is a horrific message to any amateur athlete. As ex "also rans" of CBC, whatever axe TSN/CTV Brass has to grind embarrasses the Broadcast Industry of this Country. Of the Olympics I have been involved with, it has ALWAYS been about CANADA, not the logo on the mic flash you see on air.
All Canadian Broadcasts have previously come together and worked together pooling the best talent this country has to offer and it has not been about what logo you wear.
I look back at Turino, and what a family that Italy's Broadcast personnel became as they were proud to pool their resources to show the World what their talent could bring.
Sad times indeed, CBC always would approach the Agincourt Mafia for talent to augment their coverage.
This is not sour grapes as an ex CBC'er, but all in the Global Broadcast Community remember the World Class debacle of CTV totally crapping the bed as Host Broadcaster of the Barcelona Games.
It is hard to move forward and ignore this shameless self promotion of Fecan's Folly.
This should be about our Olympic Athletes and their dedication, past Canadian glory, not about CTV/TSN sucking their own self flagellance. (sic)
I Believe?
I Bereave.
"Wow wow wow… It never ceases to amaze me how Canadian Broadcasters "Eat their young" when CTV is involved. "
CTV/Rogers did not pick all the torch bearers. VANOC did. They are the ones guilty of the snub. VANOC did free up "x" number of spots for journalists, and CTV/Rogers in turn filled those spots. But the broadcast consortium did not weed through an entire list of the thousands of people who carried the torch and vetoed them. Do you really think CTV/Rogers cares if Debbie Wilkes carries the torch for five minutes in Hick-Stick, Manitoba? Of course not. We're over-analyzing here.
First off, enjoy the blog. Great insight into the Canadian sports media world, which is a hell of a lot better than most of the junk written about the sports media here in the US … there are some exceptions, like New York's hard-to-find Neil Best of Newsday [now behind a pay wall, but you can read his "Watchdog" blog] Anyhow, with your sentence:
" Still, consider Saturday, Feb. 13, Day 2 of the Games. The men’s downhill goes in the afternoon. CTV will show it live, but NBC will not. American viewers will need to wait until the evening telecast to see the race.
NBC does this to maximize revenue. It can promise advertisers, who pay a premium for prime time spots, a larger audience if an event isn’t available until prime time. Still, the network is putting revenue ahead of coverage."
An American sports television operation will always put revenue ahead of coverage.It's been done since the late Roone Arledge of ABC pioneered modern Olympic broadcasting more than 40 years ago, with his trusty research assistant Dick Ebersol at his side in Mexico City. Now Ebersol runs the NBC Sports machine.
But if one wants, they can see events live, online here in the US by various legal and other methods, just by having a fast computer and stellar internet connection
Hey Bill, why is it that the Globe and Mail has a special website for their Olympic coverage and this site doesn't appear to have a place for readers' comments in the articles which appear on it?
Mr. Houston I agree with your comment that sports or any broadcasters should not have participated in the torch relay wether attending the games or not. No matter how you spin it, it is a conflict and hypocrisy at its finest especially when more deserving people should have participated.
However the same should hold true for those that criticize yet live in glass houses. Mr. Houston when your own website has a link on Bob McCown website fadoo.ca who hosts Prime Time Sports how can we take your comments seriously. Correct me if I"m wrong, but you are a sports media journalist whose job is to comment on other sports media. I know, you've crticized PTS in the past (nudge,nudge, wink, wink), but can we believe it with conviction or any future comments you have for PTS or Mr. McCown.
That sword you wield is double-edged so don't throw stones.
Mississauga. Please explain where the conflict is… Bill has ripped openly PTS in the past when working for the G&M (in particular Bob McCown), and continues to "call it as he sees it" here on his own site – and yes that means calling out PTS. If you have a problem with that, then well, you have problems, or an axe to grind that you are not telling us about.
HugoMonster. Read above again, I think you're missing my point. I have no axe to grind and can honestly say I go to this site on a daily basis and enjoy it. I can't say I agree with everything but I do find it entertaining.
What concerns me is that those who are critical should look in the mirror. Mr. Houston has been critical of fellow journalists who have participated in the Torch Relay and then are to report on the Olympics, I agree. As I've stated, just because he calls out PTS, can we take it seriuosly when the person he flogs, sponsors his site?
Let me get this straight: A Bollywood actor who has never been to Canada and who nobody outside the large Indian-Canadian population has heard of, carries the torch down the densest part of Yonge St. An Olympic medal winner Debbi Wilkes, meanwhile, is not chosen as a torch bearer.
This is VERY wrong. This is SO wrong, I don't even know where to start. Here's how you prioritize:
–All living winter Olympian medallists are contacted first. (No applications—they should have been asked/approached).
–Then all summer Olympic medallists.
–Then all living winter Olympians.
–Then all living summer Olympians.
–Then significant Canadians.
–Then you go to the general applications
–ONLY THEN do you fill in your spots with celebrities/international stars.
A Bollywood actor carries the torch while a Canadian Winter Olympic medallist is turned down. An outrageous JOKE.
William, in the past two days both Brunt and Mason have written columns defending the Games in response to the Guardian article. Thanks to you, I was unable to see these articles except through the prism of the conflict of interest you've cited.
Thanks for shining a light.
If you want to make a comment on Brunt's article on the Globe and Mail's Olympic website where his column appears, you can't. Is this a further attempt at censorship from the consortium?
The media are businesses first. It amazes me that even journalists don't understand this.
It really is time to put to bed the debate about journalists carrying the torch. Sure it's not right, but just as you put the number of added readers of the G&M generated by their inclusion at zero or close to it, I think the same can be said about the number of readers they'll lose because of it.
This story is a cause for debate among pundits, not average Candians who are interested in the Olympics. We'll watch the Games and listen to the commentary, we'll pick up the paper and read the articles, and we'll do both without caring one iota about whether the commentator or columnist carried the torch.
We're intersted in the Olympic Games and the outcome of the competitions themsleves – not the politics behind them.
I can understand NBC wanting to tape-delay certain events but in the age of social media, wouldn't it hurt their audience numbers?
By the time the event is over, wouldn't people have watched hilites online or heard about it already?
Kevin it may not matter time 2014 and 2016 comes around if ABC/ESPN/Disney is awarded the US TV rights everything will be live. I still don't understand NBC's logic for Tape Delay coverage for viwers in the Mountain and Pacific Time Zone. Ebersol said it is to maximize revenue, but with the era of social media, NBC is going to lose money in Vancouver.
Your comments, sir, about NBC tape-delaying everything are right on. NBC's tape delaying of coverage at the Games has been a sore spot with many in the Seattle area, where I live, for years, so much so CBC, available on the local cable systerm down here, actually got good ratings compared to NBC for the Olympics coverage. I myself actually was among those viewers. And now with CTV having taken over this year, it has infuriated those same folks, since CTV is not available locally. The local daily down here even did a full article on that recently, here's a link:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/olympics/20...
It will be interesting to see what happens once all the revenue is counted up whether they do lose any money. My guess is they will as well.
CTV does have an OTA HD channel in Vancouver. With a good antenna you might be able to get it in Seattle.
And if that doesn't work, CTVOlympics.ca has all events streaming live in what they say will be HD. You might need a proxy to get around the geography restrictions though.
NBC's strategy for showing the games is simply archaic. Reminds me of the music industry's initial response to Napster a decade ago. You're just not going to be able to block people from viewing events live when they happen. I wouldn't be surprised if this stunt costs them tens of millions more than what they already project.
Mr. Houston, you are correct again with your assessment. This consortium marketing has been brutal. Let's schedule the same bland promo 50 times in one hour during the Super Bowl- great job!
In regards to the song, CTV’s Suzanne Boyce and Alan Frew have been friends for years, so it’s almost shocking that he didn’t SING the bloody song. Anyone who worked at CTV when they actually gave their employees a Christmas party (oh wait, they’re broke THEY say), had to endure his singing. It’s so predictable, it’s disgusting.
Why overlook Debbi Wilkes so someone like Rogers Sportsnet’s Doug Beeforth can pat himself on the back to carry the torch? It could be that she did do a story that exposed the rigging in Figure Skating voting in the late nineties. However, she has done more for the sport of figure skating then Mr Beeforth has done for sports television.
Nothing says “athletic spirit” then having Ben Mulroney and staff of the broadcaster bearing the torch.
"I Believe" is a mediocre song and composition. The child singing it obvious has a nice young voice, but she offers nothing interesting to the piece. But I blame the unoriginal and simplistic music and lyrics.