CBC broadens Olympics coverage with Bell, Rogers licensing

CBC/Radio-Canada reached licensing arrangements to share coverage of the 2014 Olympic Games with Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. CBC said in a release Thursday that it will share coverage with Rogers’ specialty channel Sportsnet and Bell channels TSN and RDS. It said some “exclusive license arrangements” were made for coverage of the Sochi 2014 Olympics though it did not provide further details. “Stay tuned—more platform distribution announcements to come,” the release said. On Aug. 1, 2012, CBC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the public broadcaster had secured the exclusive Canadian broadcasting rights to air the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Games in French and English. CBC did not disclose what it paid to secure the rights but Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of CBC sports properties, said at the time that the bid was “both respectful of the stature of the Games and fiscally responsible.” CBC said Thursday that coverage leading up to the Games in February 2014 will be available on all platforms, including TV, radio, online, and mobile. “As we count down to Sochi 2014, we are committed to sharing the inspirational stories of our athletes, while providing Canadians with a robust Olympic Games experience, across all platforms,” Kirstine Stewart, executive vice-president of CBC English services, said in a statement. Brian Schecter, a media analyst and president of consulting firm Puddle Duck Productions in Vancouver, said in an interview that the licensing arrangements are good for CBC because they allow the public broadcaster to offload some the costs associated with purchasing the rights. Schecter said the arrangements also bring Canadian viewers a higher level of Olympic coverage. “If the expectations are that, from Games to Games, to increase coverage every time out, you have to find an outlet and a way of doing that,” he said. “In CBC’s world, they just don’t have the outlets and the platforms to do that beyond what they are currently maxing out.” Conservative government’s budget cuts across government also affected CBC, reducing the public broadcaster’s annual parliamentary appropriations by $115 million starting in 2014-2015. Orridge said in a phone interview Thursday that CBC plans to deliver Olympic content through as many outlets as possible. “One of the reasons why we decided it was most propitious to expand the broadcast opportunities, by sub-licensing to TSN, to TSN 2, to Rogers, Sportsnet and Sportsnet One, is to begin the process of expanding the consumer availability, for as much coverage as possible,” he said. Orridge said previous Olympic coverage by Bell and Rogers created higher expectations. “It’s kind of created an expectation for the Canadian public that we certainly will be meeting and exceeding in terms of the amount of hours and availability ,” he said. The former Olympic consortium, a partnership between Bell and Rogers, covered the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and 2012 Summer Games in London. Orridge said details of what content would be distributed by what broadcaster and how still has to be determined. “But we certainly envision everything from mobility to tablet, to web, to second-screen,” he said, “all of what is quickly becoming the standard in terms of distribution platforms.” The licence arrangements also help CBC to meet its mandate by providing the broadest possible distribution for such marquee events that are nation-building and of national interest, he said. “That’s why the Olympics were important,” Orridge said. “That's why the Pan Am Games were important us to acquire the rights, and that’s why Hockey Night in Canada is so special, because they’re all nation-building and nation-sharing events people rally around.” —With reporting by Danika Grenier at dgrenier@thewirereport.ca and editing by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

CBC broadens Olympics coverage with Bell, Rogers licensing

News | February 7, 2013

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CBC broadens Olympics coverage with Bell, Rogers licensing

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