BREAKING: CBC wins rights to 2014, 2016 Olympic Games
After the Bell/Rogers consortium parted ways, and the IOC knocked down two separate bids from a Bell/CBC combination, CBC announced moments ago that they alone have won the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
CBC/Radio-Canada has won the Canadian media rights for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“CBC/Radio-Canada has been an unwavering champion of amateur sport and our nation’s best athletes,” said Marcel Aubut, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee Wednesday. “They have unparalleled experience in broadcasting major multi-sport events, most notably the Olympic Games.”
For almost 60 years, and on 19 different occasions, CBC had broadcast the Olympic Games, most recently during the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.
“This is excellent news for Canadians across the country who will once again experience the Olympic tradition with their public broadcaster,” CBC president Hubert Lacroix said in a statement.
“We’ve promised Canadians signature events on all our platforms that create opportunities to connect with each other and the country.”
The deal comes more than a month after CBC and Bell Media announced they would no longer submit joint bids for the Canadian media rights for the games.
The two media organizations, which had formed a partnership last September, had submitted two joint bids for the package, but both were rejected by the International Olympic Committee.
Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, made up of a partnership between Bell Media and Rogers Communications, had the broadcast rights for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and currently have the rights for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Whoa. Please tell me that CBC bold is not the secondary channel…
Vlad
1 August, 2012 at 2:01pm
Most likely. Though it would be hard to believe they won’t try and team up with another network like they did in 2008.
Ticky
1 August, 2012 at 2:09pm
I am not sure how good news this really is do we go from having ton of events on tv to just a limited amount thats my fear.
Jayme
1 August, 2012 at 2:10pm
Same here. I hope they can get a few more channels involved, my prospects aren’t high with CBC with the lack of options available.
longley12
1 August, 2012 at 2:16pm
I could still see them sub-leasing some rights to Sportsnet or TSN. Sportsnet might be interested in a lesser role where they just show early morning/daytime coverage, similar to what TSN had in the past. At the least could be a bargaining chip for the CBC during NHL negotiations.
canadiansportsmedia
1 August, 2012 at 6:07pm
Is the CBC the lone media partner?
Andy N
1 August, 2012 at 2:02pm
For now. But they would be insane not to pawn off coverage to another network or two.
Ticky
1 August, 2012 at 2:11pm
Great news. CBC always covered the Olympics better than anyone. Bruce Dowbiggin from the Globe and Mail says CBC will sublicense events to TSN so more events can be seen.
Chris S
1 August, 2012 at 2:38pm
There going to need more then 2 channels if there is only Cbc and Tsn there will be a ton of events not on tv.
Jayme
1 August, 2012 at 2:41pm
CBC, Bold, and TSN would make three: which is what is currently being used for these Games.
Ticky
1 August, 2012 at 2:43pm
Except nobody gets Bold.
Vlad
1 August, 2012 at 2:49pm
There selling Bold as for these games Ctv/Tsn/Sporsnet/Oln/Omni/Atn are in use.
Jayme
1 August, 2012 at 2:49pm
OMNI and ATN aren’t English broadcasters. CBC/TSN/TSN2 is just about as good as CTV/TSN/Sportsnet. Bold and OLN show much the same events. They don’t really need more than 2 English nets for the Winter Olympics anyway.
canadiansportsmedia
1 August, 2012 at 6:09pm
No but they have had programs they other nets have not now with that said the more and more i think about this i have a feeling Cbc will just focus on Canadian events with Tsn/Tsn 2 airing the bulk of the non Canadian programs so Cbc could have say 200 hours while Tsn/Tsn 2 800 hours.
Jayme
2 August, 2012 at 2:02pm
What the heck! I liked the old CBC days, good memories but CTV, Sportsnet, and TSN doing excellent job the last two olympics love it, CBC is good and will be interesting to see what happens. I’m kinda thinking the broadcasting won’t go as well. But who knows.
Peter
1 August, 2012 at 3:05pm
My immediate reaction was to be happy… but the more I think about it, the more concerned about it I am.
I love CBC’s overall philosophy when showing the games… but they had also been increasingly cheap in many production elements and after 2002 were noticeably scaling back, and it was VERY noticeable in Turin and Beijing. They also don’t have the channel lineup to go it alone and give us anything resembling what Bell/Rogers has.
I imagine they’ll be partnering up to address the latter. They did the joint bid thing with Bell, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they jumped in bed with them. They’ve also worked with TSN on past games, so maybe they still could even if CTV doesn’t want to join in (and if that meant the death of “I Believe” forever, I’m all for it).
It would actually be optimal if they could get both TSN and SportsNet on board. Their willingness to go along I imagine will probably be largely dependent on if the the NHL goes to Sochi… if not, I imagine they’ll tell CBC to get bent, but if the NHL shuts down again, those two will have nothing for those two weeks and I imagine they’ll be very open to partnering up.
Here’s hoping CBC does it right. I gotta give Bell/Rogers credit for stepping up and doing a great job overall… I have a few smaller things that annoy me (I Believe and Larry Cain drive me MENTAL), but they generally do the big things right.
Kevin
1 August, 2012 at 3:15pm
Sorry, I meant to say Barney Williams not Larry Cain. I can’t even have the sound on anymore when watching rowing. That insufferable twit and his unending stream of platitudes and cliches drive me insane. Being a homer is one thing, but give it a rest when they’re clearly getting their ass kicked.
Kevin
2 August, 2012 at 10:16am
Blame CBC for Williams. He made his broadcasting debut on their coverage in Beijing.
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 6:51pm
I’ve actually enjoyed CTV’s coverage of these (and the 2010 Vancouver) games. Between Rogers and TSN, there’s a wealth on on-air talent and there’s actually channels people get to watch the games on.
With the CBC I fear we’ll see a tonne of Ron MacLean, Elliot Friedman and the HNIC crew on the main channel and who knows what on bold and documentary, channels almost nobody gets. At least CBC’s been pretty good about streaming HNIC, so I’d expect their online coverage to be pretty good.
Also I really hope they make While The Men Watch, Olympic Edition
Mark
1 August, 2012 at 3:57pm
CBC and Radio-Canada will be join by RDS and TSN. RDS and TSN will coverage the events that CBC and R-C couldn’t.
lasalle72
1 August, 2012 at 4:21pm
There still going to need more channels.
Jayme
1 August, 2012 at 4:24pm
Why? CBC/TSN/TSN2/Bold essentially = CTV/TSN/Sportsnet/OLN. Same with SRC/RDS and V/RDS. No real need for a lot more channels.
canadiansportsmedia
1 August, 2012 at 6:11pm
Does SRC even have a sports department anymore? I can’t see them being able to go-it alone at the Olympics without bringing RDS or TVA Sports on board as a secondary partner. I forget exactly but I’d imagine most of the on-air talent at the 2006 and 2008 games on SRC likely belonged to RDS anyway.
KGNKH1
1 August, 2012 at 6:26pm
They still show the odd event. World Figure Skating, alpine skiing, Rogers Cup etc.
canadiansportsmedia
1 August, 2012 at 6:28pm
Actually no, all 3 On-Air Hosts that anchored the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Olympics are still employed by SRC.
Viraj
1 August, 2012 at 9:56pm
Depends what happens with Bold its possible its new owners may not want to be part of the games.
Jayme
1 August, 2012 at 6:39pm
What will happen with Brian Williams now?
Ryan
1 August, 2012 at 4:24pm
Yeah? Will he return to the CBC?
Viraj
1 August, 2012 at 4:27pm
Retire? Or go back to CBC. Or stay with Bell and do TSN’s Primetime show if they sub-lease rights.
canadiansportsmedia
1 August, 2012 at 6:12pm
I am curious what this deal means for NHL negotiations. I mean CBC’s budget is getting slashed, and I have a feeling it will make the negotiations more interesting. Will they decide to part with Hockey Night and give CTV/TSN a piece along with Sportsnet or stay with it.
jleimer
1 August, 2012 at 7:46pm
Hockey Night makes money. As long as CBC can find a way to make hockey make money, they will keep bidding.
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 6:53pm
Didn’t he kind of burn his bridges at the CBC when he left back in 2006 I think? He signed a contract with CTV/TSN before his one at the CBC even expired so the CBC fired him the next day. In any case, I think Brian’s in his mid-late 60s now so maybe he’ll just stay where he is and retire. CBC will probably want to give the lead anchor duties to Ron MacLean or someone else already there.
KGNKH1
1 August, 2012 at 6:13pm
I love Williams, but Hanomansing and Russell were great in 2008. I wouldn’t really miss him if CBC used them again.
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 6:54pm
It would be great to hear Steve Armitage cover the games again and never hear the song that shall not be named.
hg
1 August, 2012 at 8:06pm
Dont forget Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson as it could be, depending on the NHL involvement be their first games as top play by play and analyst.
jleimer
1 August, 2012 at 9:18pm
Great to hear that the CBC has won the rights to the 2014 & 2016 Olympic Games. Now here’s hoping that the CBC also retains the rights to Hockey Night In Canada.
nationscapital
1 August, 2012 at 9:43pm
Its going to be very hard for them to hold on to the Nhl rights if Bell had one the rights for the OLympics i would have liked Cbc chances in terms of holding on to the Nhl but now not so much Bell or Rogers could offer a massive amount of money.
Jayme
2 August, 2012 at 7:15am
Alright here we go…
1) CBC/SRC will partner up with someone, as noted by CBC President in his interview on CBC NN that TSN/RDS is a possibility. This makes sense since they had worked from 1998-2008 and CBC seems to be in good books with Bell (2 joint bids afterall) there is a possibility CTV or other CTV channels could pickup some content. Rogers Sportsnet could be a possibility (Scott Moore former CBC Sports VP) but from what I hear at Rogers is they want National Hockey Rights bad.
2) The games will be streamed more and more online. This started with CBC in 2008 and continued with CTV-Rogers. I would not be surprised to see more of the events streamed live on Bell (they are the Olympic partners with COC for another few years) You do not need 5 channels like now. Anyways, there is only 3 main channels now CTV, TSN and Sportsnet. The rest are overflow and/or non-english. If they partner with a non-english/french service it prob will be OMNI but who knows.
3) Brian Williams has said in an interview that if the Olympics end up elsewhere, he would not leave TSN-CTV and continue doing CFL games (how long that stays on TSN who knows)
4) CBC’s Olympic theme music is soooo much better. That I Believe theme will be dead and gone forever.
5) Bell-Rogers OVERBID for the Olympics to steal if from CBC, they have lost MILLIONS of dollars on this deal. Sure it looks great and all, but if you are not making any money was it really worth it? CBC will/does have to live up to that coverage now, but I’d rather have that more focused coverage they did in the past and with online options blowing up everywhere, we will see tons streamed on tv/online. There is also the possibility of Youtube (which is IOC Olympics coverage holder in some regions) to help CBC-SRC stream coverage
Sean
1 August, 2012 at 9:53pm
Cbc has to match what Bell/Rogers has done if not many people will be not happy.
Jayme
2 August, 2012 at 7:17am
If there is one thing I’ve learned, people always won’t be happy.
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 6:59pm
I don’t recall Lacroix saying that they would partner with TSN/RDS, just that they can sub-license rights to another broadcaster.
I think Rogers is a possibility. Especially if the CBC just gives away the rights in return for some help with production and a few commentators (like Rob Faulds or Gerry Dobson).
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 6:58pm
While I have been always a fan of CBC’s coverage of the Olympics, I have really like what the CTV Rogers brought to overall coverage for 2010 and 2012. Now that CBC has regained the rights for 2014 & 2016, CBC will need to reach out. Yes I know that games will be streamed on mobile and online, but I really hope CBC will reachout to TSN, Sportsnet or the Score as a secondary carrier. I would to love to CBC as main over the air broadcaster with TSN and Sportsnet as carriers under the current broadcast arrangement.
As for CBC, Who will host the games? I can’t Brian Williams coming back. I think Scott Russell has earned the right of being the new Primetime host!
Jeff
1 August, 2012 at 11:21pm
Scott Russell would be deserving, however they’d probably go with Ron MacLean.
Vlad
2 August, 2012 at 12:20am
True, in Beijing, they gave Ron the hosting duties for their Prime Time Show, until Ron’s mother died in Canada, and he left the show. In replacement of Ron, the CBC Executives did a panic attack move, to break their Morning Show pair, and put Scott Russell in the Prime Time Show, I would like to see Williams go back to CBC, but maybe you could have Scott host the morning show, from Sochi/Rio, have Ron do the Afternoon/Daytime telecast, and Williams do the Prime Time Show. If Williams does not leave CTV/TSN, then I can see Ron in PrimeTime, Scott in Afternoon/Daytime, and possibly see maybe Mitch Peacock (He did CBC’s Morning Show for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, if they don’t do that, then I could see them bring in news Correspondents to do hosting, it could be Diana Swain co-hosted the Morning show with Scott Russell for the 1st Half of Beijing and did the entire show for the remainder of the games, or Ian Hanomansing could be used, he hosted CBC’s Pacific Prime show (Late-Light Show into the late hours of the morning in Eastern Time Show).
Viraj
2 August, 2012 at 9:20am
Sorry. Is anybody really watching the current broadcasts? Brian Williams is horrible! Always was. And most people I talk to can not stand watching him. All his time count downs and reading of scripts. Come on. Are you joking? Williams is losing viewers for whatever network he works. Ron is king. MacLean should be the host. He has the most. People in Canada trust him. He is sincere, honest and calm. Ask any athlete as well who they feel is best prepared and most knowledgable. MacLean #1.
Smittty
2 August, 2012 at 2:55pm
Brian certainly isn’t losing viewers. Otherwise nobody would hire him. He is in the Order of Canada, you’re not (I’m assuming), therefore hard to sound credible when you say he is horrible. The primetime broadcasts are on a very tight schedule that is scripted ahead of time. So, yes, he reads scripts. I’ve got news, so does every other news and sports presenter. Including MacLean.
Just as you say MacLean is sincere, honest and calm, so is Williams. The timechecks are seriously blown out of proportion. Haven’t heard him mention the time once this Olympics, I don’t think. MacLean’s puns usually lose me as a viewer, personally.
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 6:45pm
Agreed. I can barely stand to listen to Williams. His uneven speech patterns and overemphasis of every third word is annoying. Can he learn how to pronounce CH and SH? The CHinese coaCH, the presentaSHun was sensaSHunal, the powerful SHowing, etc. His interviews are insincere and smarmy.
shrek
7 August, 2012 at 1:59am
I think CBC would use Hanomansing. He was great in 2008.
canadiansportsmedia
2 August, 2012 at 7:00pm
Also, for anyone’s listening enjoyment, Bob McCown and Damian Cox interviewed Jeffrey Orridge, the executive director of CBC Sports, on the subject of the investment of the Olympics, yesterday on CBC, it is on the 1st segment of the 6PM Hour. Here is the link to the entire hour: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fan590primetimesports/~3/QYMLE4ZChGI/PTS-2012-08-01-6-pm.mp3
The Interview is in the beginning of the podcast, its around 20 minuets long. Enjoy!
Viraj
2 August, 2012 at 3:12pm