CTV and its partners have landed the broadcast rights to the Olympic Games of 2010 and 2012, ending months of fierce competition against CBC with a record-high bid of US$153 million, roughly CDN$192 million.

The International Olympic Committee made the announcement in Lausanne Switzerland on Feb. 7, joined by execs from CTV’s parent Bell Globemedia and Rogers Media. BGM partnered with Rogers for its run at the Games, while CBC teamed with sportscaster The Score.

‘I’m very glad to say that the results show that the Olympic Games continue to be a much-desired property and the Olympic movement is in good shape,’ says IOC president Jacques Rogge.

Organizers credited the BGM/Rogers win to their ability to promote the Olympic brand, their broadcasting reach, and the dollar figure. The $192 million is more than double what CBC paid for the rights to the Games of 2006 and 2008.

BGM and Rogers are paying $79 million for the 2012 Summer Games, up 40%, and $113 million for the Winter Games, up 221%.

‘Vancouver 2010 will be the biggest event of the decade in Canada and we’re happy to be in the middle of it,’ says BGM president and CEO Ivan Fecan, noting that the bidding process was ‘the clearest and most transparent’ to date. ‘And the result isn’t too shabby, either,’ he adds.

Fecan has pledged that BGM and Rogers will blanket their various TV, radio, print, Internet and mobile holdings with Olympic coverage. Combined, the companies own or control CTV, The Globe and Mail, the sports channels TSN and RDS, Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, the OMNI channels and TQS.

TQS and RDS will lead the French-language coverage, but RDS president Gerry Frappier says he would consider a deal with CBC’s French sister Radio-Canada to reach francophone homes outside Quebec. SRC has a similar deal in place to re-air NHL games, which are carried in Quebec by TQS.

‘We’d be happy to make the same arrangement with them for the Olympic Games,’ says Frappier.

With Vancouver set to host in 2010, the Winter Games were the real prize, with both networks looking to share the spotlight when the Olympics return to Canada. CTV had the Games last in 1992 and 1994, in Barcelona, Spain, and Lillehammer, Norway, respectively.

The decision is the latest in a series of sports injuries at CBC. The network lost a reported $15 million covering the 2004 Olympics in Athens and is still struggling with the loss of NHL hockey. CBC also lost out to CTV when the Winter Games came to Calgary in 1988. Back then, the winning bid was $4.5 million.

The Ceeb’s offer has not been disclosed, although the network said in a statement that it could not afford to buy the Games ‘at any cost,’ noting its obligation to taxpayers.

‘We could not mortgage the programming budgets of other sectors of our schedule to overpay for the Olympics.’

-www.ctv.ca

-www.bellglobemedia.ca

-www.rogers.com

-www.cbc.ca

-www.olympic.org