Durban Sandshark Posted February 18, 2009 Report Posted February 18, 2009 That ever popular Beijing's Some Olympic TV Updates now has a Vancouver remix for all of us to enjoy! Let's start with, who else?, our hosts from north of the US border. If you been reading the press release from a couple of years ago after CTVglobemedia obtained the Canadian Olympic TV rights, it was apparent how wide-ranging it will be from CTV to MTV Canada. Now in total that consortium will air an unprecedented (for Canada) 2100 hours from 11 TV outlets, 10 radio stations, and a devoted website. Far more than what the CBC aired for Torino--425 hours. 657 hours will naturally be live throughout Canada on TV and Internet. But the CTV-Rogers gang will air features that will make it like NBC North. On the ctvolympics.ca website, all of the qualifying rounds will air with 14 live feeds in HD with all of the athletes. As we get closer, I'm sure there's more innovation to be had from CTV. Read more from the Toronto Star. Haven't yet heard much from NBC except, since it's in North America again, everything will be live like the Opening Ceremonies, and coverage will be at morning and night. Internet coverage will definitely be back at nbcolympics.com, though in what new features remains to be seen. I can definitely see HD (the US can't get left behind by Canada in that for the Olympics). How about slo-mo and various camera angles option? Multiple streaming live and on-demand (with commentary)? Any plans for podcastings? Will that Internet 12-hour embargo be in effect like it was with Beijing? Language options like Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, etc.? Since Vancouver's Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be seen live on prime time, how about leaving it alone from commercials? Surely it will be like that online and on-demand? We'll see... 1
mr.x Posted February 19, 2009 Report Posted February 19, 2009 Great topic! CTV's coverage is indeed massive, looking to be something like 5x bigger than what CBC provides even for the Summer Games. And I'm quite impressed by the quality and quantity of their pre-Games coverage promotions and advertising, it really looks like they're spending big money on this. If you ask me, it would seem that Beijing 2008 will be the last time CBC will be broadcasting the Olympics. It would be a dream come true if CTV had commercial-free ceremonies. And as for NBC, they're sending over a team of 5,000 people. I believe Foxtel and Channel 6 from Australia will be sending a crew of 50 to broadcast the 2010 Games. Australians will get unprecedented coverage for the Winter Games, 24/7 coverage on 4 channels. Compare that to Channel 7's pathetic 4-hour prime time highlights show for Torino.
Durban Sandshark Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Posted February 19, 2009 To assure the French version of CTV's official Olympic website doesn't get ignored, here it is from RDS. Also a more accurate basic description about the CTV-Rogers consortium 2010 Olympic broadcast plans: 2400 hours among the media outlets (that's indeed massive for a Winter Olympics). Everything will be on-demand with features, full events, replays, highlights, and interviews like NBC did with Beijing. Both English and French versions of the 2010 website will be written by the Globe and Mail staff, at least a majority, with the French placing an emphasis on Olympic sports, athletes, and news of interest to them, and both will get phased over five times over the next year with fresher content up to the start of the Games. All of the 14 streams will be concurrent with a mosaic quad-screen mode, even director's cut interviews, exclusive pre- and post-Team Canada hockey coverage, and behind the scenes footage. Broadcaster Magazine has greater details. BTW, it's Channel 9 that will do the coverage with FOXTEL in Australia. Let's hope 9 will learn the lessons of 7 when it won't air so many damn commercials at least for the Summer version. I expect Universal Sports, as it expands into other markets (not yet here in St. Louis), to be a full-fledged family member of NBC Olympic's 2010 coverage.
YellowVest Posted February 19, 2009 Report Posted February 19, 2009 Live coverage of the Roof blowing up
SpikeyT Posted February 20, 2009 Report Posted February 20, 2009 YAY! live coverage of the roof blowing up!!! whoooo hooooo. You are a moron.
Durban Sandshark Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Posted February 24, 2009 Got additional news regarding CTVglobemedia and Rogers Media 2010 Vancouver partnership from Canadian Press; --Vancouver's media team will involve a staff of 141 people (Calgary's amount of 45 in 1988, the last time it hosted a Winter Olympics)...Vancouver's hours from CTVglobemedia is 2100+ (maybe 2400) compared to Calgary's, also from CTV, 391 --a deal is in the works to get non-Quebec residents to have free cable access to RDS and TQS (a good thing, it should be permanent) --more extensive and niche access coverage live and on-demand online and TV (every moment) with language reports in not just English and French but Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Italian, Ojibway, and Portuguese (Spanish and Inuit should be included hopefully later) --as part of making Canadian Winter Olympians household names in the Canadian public for Vancouver 2010, CTV has those already-mentioned promos profiling Jan Hudec, Melissa Hollingsworth, and Patrick Chan saying "Do You Belive?" with Donald Sutherland narrating. Well, look for that to total 125 in all in these vignettes. --another thing: many of those athletes will appear in places like MuchMusic discussing things like their fave music artists and at Fashion TV on their shoes or clothes when traveling --innovative visual graphics, which won't revealed and haven't even been seen and prominent on like ice hockey and alpine sports...but don't see them go too far like glowing pucks (like FOX did) for us Stateside residents who aren't as fervent with hockey than the Canadian
Durban Sandshark Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Posted February 24, 2009 Just got an update on the Aboriginal Canadian coverage. HD is no surprise. I would think and expect APTN will devote more hours toward the Aboriginal languages as opposed to granting more to English and French (a majority of APTN's programming is in English), despite having 10 hours daily of the fact both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will get aired in Aboriginal languages. But this is STILL taking shape. APTN's Vancouver 2010 Diverse Olympic TV Coverage Plans McDonald's Canada and Royal Canadian Mint secured their sponsorship spots for the CTVglobemedia-Rogers Olympic Consortium
mr.x Posted February 24, 2009 Report Posted February 24, 2009 Thanks for the update! CTV's coverage whallops CBC's.
Durban Sandshark Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Posted February 24, 2009 Thanks for the update! CTV's coverage whallops CBC's. It sure will from the looks of it. Telemundo surely, I expect, will have an expansion of its Winter Olympic coverage in Vancouver from Torino when it was just daily highlights and not live-as-it-happens action or even the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. One it did that the English brethren didn't was air a Winter Olympic preview. Yes, it's very early for Telemundo's Vancouver plans. There have been some Latin/Hispanic Winter Olympians from the US recently like Jenny Rodriguez and Scott Gomez, and that's bound to expand more, so why not expand its coverage and market the likes of them? I just don't know exactly or even project how many hours it will air. Since it's in North America, I expect it will have live coverage. NBC will surely alert us to that and more.
pax Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 NBC also has a new network, Universal Sports, which shows only olympic, and international sports (and is still showing Beijing re-airings) and it wouldn't surprise me if they try for 24 hour coverage on the network.
mr.x Posted February 25, 2009 Report Posted February 25, 2009 Sweet NBC preview on Vancouver 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9rQhZsnsrs And the latest CTV Believe in 2010 ad with Patrick Chan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIzXleUeatA
Durban Sandshark Posted February 26, 2009 Author Report Posted February 26, 2009 For those fascinated by all of the Olympic coverage we have been getting over the last several Olympics, the construction of its broadcast production with focus on nationality/ethnicity/race/gender/prestige/politics, viewer reception, and its growth and evolution (both winter and summer), there's an academic-oriented book you may like to grab. It's called Olympic Media: Inside the Biggest Show on Television. This deals with primarily NBC's successful operation of the US TV rights of the games since 1988 with interviews with Dick Ebersol, Bob Costas, and Jim Lampley with a behind-the-scenes view. This book also explains why boxing was moved from NBC primetime to the likes of CNBC in those weekday three hour blocks. Since the book was published in March 2008 before the Beijing Olympics, Olympic Media ends with a critique on NBC's Torino coverage, so it doesn't get onto the Internet's impact on Beijing's coverage live and on-demand and the 12-hour broadcast-to-Internet embargo (detailing the whys), among other things. Getting significant info regarding other nations' Olympic broadcast plans would be neat, but I understand why NBC gets to be the guinea pig: that network submits the most TV money worldwide to the IOC with an array of resources at its disposal as the biggest market and makes a great case study. Most other nations' TV broadcasters can't afford to do that by themselves. Olympic Media: Inside The Biggest Show On Television
Durban Sandshark Posted March 17, 2009 Author Report Posted March 17, 2009 Come April, after NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol talks with NBC affiliates based on the West Coast, we should get more details about NBC's plans, particularly the amount and what sports will get the daytime coverage (and will it be live?).
Rafa Posted March 17, 2009 Report Posted March 17, 2009 I've read that. Not bad at all but I expected more.
Durban Sandshark Posted March 17, 2009 Author Report Posted March 17, 2009 I too was expecting more from NBC Sports at this time since we're past the one year mark, Mo. NBC's coverage for Vancouver has to be well more than the 416 hours it aired from Torino. The only things I think NBC omitted from that were a preliminary women's ice hockey game (not involving the USA) and a last-place classification one with prelims in the marquee events. I'd be curious if NBC's going to put all the stops and add ancillary stuff like CTVglobemedia/Rogers Media will do in theirs like work with MTV. It won't be as multilanguage like having Chinese, Inuit, Portuguese, and French. Like to see that from them--Spanish is definite--but we'll see for sure. Will we see an Olympic ice hockey channel like for basketball and soccer? What will be the networks' breakdown in hours?
mr.x Posted March 18, 2009 Report Posted March 18, 2009 ^ i would think NBC's tv coverage would be quite similar to SLC or even better, while the online coverage would be a marginal improvement over Beijing. Granted, Torino was a disaster for NBC with ratings much lower than usual...they might be more conservative this time around? Especially since the other tv networks aren't doing an Olympic break and are continuing airing new tv episodes which draw away viewers from the Games.
Rafa Posted March 18, 2009 Report Posted March 18, 2009 Why was Torino a disaster. Where can I read up about this disaster?
Rei Posted March 18, 2009 Report Posted March 18, 2009 You know Mo.. it's all about the anti-Torino campaign by mr.x. Joking aside simply because NBC is for NA viewers and the host was in Europe.. and also cause Miller sucked.
mr.x Posted March 18, 2009 Report Posted March 18, 2009 Torino Olympics a ratings disaster for NBC Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 20:59 CST By Paul J. Gough NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - A closing-night flop helped seal the deal for a tepid Winter Olympics, with NBC's ratings finishing down double digits from Salt Lake City four years ago and Nagano, Japan, in 1998, according to final data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. NBC's primetime coverage of the Torino Winter Games averaged a 12.2 household rating/19 share, beginning with opening ceremonies February 10 and finishing with a thrashing by ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" finale Sunday night. That's down 36% from the 19.2/31 received by the Salt Lake City Winter Games, which got a boost from being held Stateside. But even more worrisome for NBC, which paid big bucks for the Olympics and expects to turn a $60 million-$70 million profit despite the poor ratings, Torino was off 25% from Nagano's 16.3/26. Among total viewers, the declines also were in the double digits. Torino averaged 20.2 million viewers, down 37% from Salt Lake City (31.9 million) and down 19% from Nagano (25.1 million). Its share of the adults 18-49 pie was significantly lower than either of its most recent predecessors, with Torino (6.1/16) down 45% from Salt Lake City (11.1/28) and off 31% from Nagano (8.9/23). Reuters/Hollywood Reporter Source: REUTERS
Rei Posted March 18, 2009 Report Posted March 18, 2009 NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2006– With the Winter Olympics taking place several time zones away in Torino, Italy, daily results are announced long before United States primetime television hours. To find out the medal winners and losers, Olympic fans are turning to the Internet to get up-to-the-minute results on their favorite sports... hitwise.com
mr.x Posted March 18, 2009 Report Posted March 18, 2009 what's your point? There's no point, I was only responding to Mo's request for something to read about the ratings failure. I don't know why you're taking it so personally. Fact is, tv ads are where NBC makes most of its Olympic revenues and the tv ratings they got for 2006 were lower than those they promised their advertisers. And given that Torino is halfway around the world, yes it is quite obvious that ratings would be lower.
mr.x Posted March 20, 2009 Report Posted March 20, 2009 NBC Universal, Microsoft keep Olympics pact in play Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:50pm EDT By Mike Shields NEW YORK (Mediaweek) - NBC Universal will once again partner with Microsoft to support its online delivery of the Winter Olympics in 2010. As it did during NBC Universal's much-ballyhooed Web coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Microsoft will provide the video-streaming technology for the Games as well as prominent distribution on its MSN portal. From February 12-28, fans will be able to access live and on-demand footage from various events via NBCOlympics.com on MSN. A similar arrangement last year resulted in a traffic windfall for NBC, which streamed more than 2,000 hours of live events during the Beijing Games. NBC Universal executives claim that online coverage reached more than 52 million unique users -- the kind of numbers rarely, if ever, seen in online video. Besides tapping into MSN's high reach as a promotional platform, NBC's online coverage of the Vancouver Games also will once again employ Microsoft's Silverlight technology, which promises to deliver high-definition-quality video within a standard Web browser. (Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)
Durban Sandshark Posted March 23, 2009 Author Report Posted March 23, 2009 NBC Universal, Microsoft keep Olympics pact in playThu Mar 19, 2009 6:50pm EDT By Mike Shields NEW YORK (Mediaweek) - NBC Universal will once again partner with Microsoft to support its online delivery of the Winter Olympics in 2010. As it did during NBC Universal's much-ballyhooed Web coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Microsoft will provide the video-streaming technology for the Games as well as prominent distribution on its MSN portal. From February 12-28, fans will be able to access live and on-demand footage from various events via NBCOlympics.com on MSN. A similar arrangement last year resulted in a traffic windfall for NBC, which streamed more than 2,000 hours of live events during the Beijing Games. NBC Universal executives claim that online coverage reached more than 52 million unique users -- the kind of numbers rarely, if ever, seen in online video. Besides tapping into MSN's high reach as a promotional platform, NBC's online coverage of the Vancouver Games also will once again employ Microsoft's Silverlight technology, which promises to deliver high-definition-quality video within a standard Web browser. (Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters) The details adds that it will have an adaptive Smooth Streaming 720p HD with more enhanced and evolved technology than it was in Beijing: pausing, rewinding, viewing in super slo mo, real time video alerts, take advantage of metadata overlays, perform high resolution frame capturing, all live. For now, no announcement for multiple camera angles. But I hope to see that happen. Silverlight's already used right now with March Madness On Demand, but since I lack its capabilities, is it enhanced a little bit since Beijing?
Durban Sandshark Posted March 26, 2009 Author Report Posted March 26, 2009 ...and multiple language coverage to click on as an option at least for online (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Inuit, etc. on select events where applicable) A row has developed between the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and the USOC over the latter's alleged greed on the IOC's revenues. The sports governing bodies are attacking it by passing a non-binding resolution, to be presented to the IOC, to end the USOC's open-ended contract giving it 20% of the IOC's global sponsorship revenue and pressure the USOC to scrap that for a new renegotiation pact. Though Chicago is one of the frontrunners for 2016, this could, if not resolved soon, derail Chicago's prospects, something the USOC is pushing. The USOC says it gets that because of the huge amount in billions the US gives from NBC's lucrative TV broadcast rights as the largest global market for the Olympic movement. You know, maybe it's time the USOC/NBC should give up some of its revenue percentages for the greater good. All that said, the IOC really has gotten greedy by turning to News Corporation to jack up the revenues in many territories like NZ, Turkey, Canada, and much of Europe. Surely, cooler heads will prevail. Meanwhile, NBC has been mum on the matter. But in Denver, where the SportAccord is having its meetings right now, while the TV rights negotiations for 2016 and beyond are presently on ice. NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol named the American Winter Olympians that will be promoted for NBC's coverage in Vancouver: Shani Davis, Lindsay Vonn, Shaun White, and Apollo Anton Ohno. Bode Miller could be added on later if he comes out of his noncommittal status and skis again. I would like to see NBC emulate somewhat close to what CTV is doing for its "Do You Believe?" campaign for its Canadian Olympics. Because we Americans know we'll perform well medal-wise north of the border, no need to overdo it. Nice segue. Some Canadian Olympians, as part of the consistent pub the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics gets throughout the CTVglobemedia-Rogers Media consortium up to February in the minds of the Canadian public, including Jeremy Wotherspoon, Melissa Hollingsworth, Denny Morrison, Steve Omischi, Ashleigh MacIvor, Charles Hamerlin, Emily Brydon, and Paralympian alpine skiers Lauren Woostencroft and Karolina Wisniewska all appear along the etalk red carpet at the 2009 Juno Music Awards, "Canada's biggest music night" and its equivalent to the Grammys south of the border, on March 29 in, of course, Vancouver, live on CTV at 8pm Central time that is hosted by comedian Russell Peters. Wotherspoon and Hollingsworth will also present Juno awards.
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