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| TMC... |
 Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:12 pm |
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http://www.truthandrumours.net/2009/10/28/will-ctv-bail-on-london/
October 28, 2009 · 9 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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