Vancouver: CBC may be well in the lead, but Canada’s other broadcasters are still thinking about getting into the race to secure the broadcast rights for the 2010 Winter Olympics, won by Vancouver on July 2.

Negotiations with the International Olympic Committee are still about a year away. The IOC, however, recently signed a US$2.2-billion deal with NBC to broadcast the 2010 and 2012 Games, and is now negotiating for Europe and will perhaps do so with Japan before it moves to seal a broadcast deal with Canada in 2004.

CBC, the incumbent Olympic broadcaster in Canada, paid US$160 million for the right to broadcast five Olympic Games between 2000 in Sydney and 2008 in Beijing.

Depending on the source, the estimated Canadian broadcast rights value of the Vancouver Games and the 2012 Games, for which Paris, New York and Toronto are vying, could range from US$55 million to US$100 million.

‘The CBC really wants [the rights] and has a strongly demonstrated Olympic commitment,’ says Nick Marrone, executive director of marketing and communications at the Canadian Olympic Association. ‘CBC does a fantastic job, no doubt about it. They understand and honor the Olympic brand.’

The CBC has continually broadcast the Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta, while CTV handled the Barcelona Games in 1992 and the Lillehammer Games in 1994.

‘The Games are more valuable when they are in Canada and live,’ says Tony Agostini, senior director at CBC Sports. ‘The emotional value is high, but we have to make sure there is a business case.’

The CBC’s package that continues until 2008 includes the CBC main channel, as well as TSN, Newsworld, Radio-Canada, RDI and RDS. However, since that deal was signed, TSN has been acquired by CTV, a situation that complicates the next series of negotiations.

‘The TSN issue has not been determined yet,’ says Agostini. ‘The relationship with TSN has allowed us to show more Olympics. It has served the Canadian viewers well.’

For its part, CTV is sitting on the diplomatic sidelines – despite the difficult position faced by Bell Globemedia, TSN’s owner, and the CBC.

‘To date, there is no decision as to our intention to bid on the rights,’ says CTV spokesman Mike Cosentino. ‘TSN’s current Olympic partnership with the CBC through 2008 makes commenting inappropriate.’

Global Television, meanwhile, is clearly the dark horse in the group. While the broadcaster acknowledges that Olympic coverage ‘deviates’ from the core business of entertainment broadcasting, Global will have a ‘corporate responsibility’ to consider the opportunity, says Adam Ivers, VP programming for Global Television Network.

‘Being an Olympic broadcaster makes it difficult to achieve the margins we strive for when you look at the point of entry [for the broadcast rights],’ he says. ‘The production is a big undertaking and I don’t think it’s practical for private broadcasters, the way we’re structured. CBC has a long history with Olympics and has fewer pressures to achieve rates of return.’

For independent producers in Canada, the Vancouver Olympics may provide some new business – but the scope of the opportunity is still years away.

‘You have to think the Olympics are going to be good for business,’ says Susan Croome, B.C.’s film commissioner. Expo ’86, the last big international event in Vancouver, was a boon for domestic filmmakers, she says.

Videographers, commercial producers, DVD and multimedia producers and post and visual effects companies should get some work from the Olympics, she predicts. And service producers working on U.S. productions that might be impacted by the Olympic hubbub should be able to navigate the inconvenience during the Games, she adds.

‘More facilitation will be required on the part of the Commission,’ Croome says. ‘But at that time of year [February], a lot of shows are working in studios and shows that require snow will be working in the regions.’