Although watching and experiencing the 2012 Olympic Games and its many iconic moments brought a tremendous amount of pleasure to Canadians nationwide, the companies that brought us the coverage will likely carry much more bitter sweet feelings (and losses) regarding the Games.
According to the FP, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, which is comprised of Bell Media (owner of CTV) and Rogers Communications Inc. anticipate losses in the tens of millions, particularly on marquee events, according to consortium president Adam Ashton.
The two media conglomerates partnered in 2005 to pay a whopping $153 million to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) for the rights to broadcast the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and 2012 London Summer Games across the expanse of Canada in both 2010 and 2012 respectively. The price was a record sum, believed to be fueled by the desire to broadcast the home-based Winter games.
In the end however the London Games lost less than the Vancouver games, due in part to the popularity, story lines and international appeal of the Summer Olympics. The 2010 event’s coverage led to $90 million in costs as compared to $63 million for the 2012 coverage. The consortium represented a 80/20 investment split between Bell and Rogers as Bell’s CTV held the broadcasting rights for the games.
The collective losses were enough to discourage the consortium from renewing their agreement for the 2014 and 2016 events.
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