Lowball’ Olympic bids from CBC-BCE open door for Yahoo

[pat c]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle2358280/


Competition to broadcast the Olympic Games in Canada is about to become an event of its own, with Yahoo Inc. (YHOO-Q14.72-0.21-1.41%) considering a bid to steal the Games from the country’s television powerhouses and push the coverage onto the Internet.

Broadcast rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia and the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil are up for grabs after the International Olympic Committee rejected two “lowball” bids by a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and BCE Inc. (BCE-T40.670.060.15%) partnership.



I don't know what to think of this. A lot of people don't really like watching things on the internet or don't have the equipment capability. Hmm.......

[made_in_canada]

I don't see internet-only coverage being too popular with the general public. There's still a lot of places in Canada that don't have reliable high speed internet. Internet streams also tend to be unreliable and poorer quality. I can't see that ending well if Yahoo does end up with broadcast rights.

[pat c]

No, I agree. I wonder what the bid was from CBC and what the bids are from other countries.

[AragornElessar]

I don't see internet-only coverage being too popular with the general public. There's still a lot of places in Canada that don't have reliable high speed internet. Internet streams also tend to be unreliable and poorer quality. I can't see that ending well if Yahoo does end up with broadcast rights.

Too true and I live in one of them. If Yahoo gets the rights, all Hell will break loose up here in Canada. Not just us either, but for all those people who are doing Chemo or on Dialysis in hospital, there goes two weeks of something that makes being where they are a bit more bearable.

Nope, this is not good at all if this happens.

[skatesindreams]

What does this trend mean for coverage in other countries?
I believe that the Olympics has been aiming for an Internet based coverage platform for quite some time.
I guess that it's good that I'm in the process of replacing/upgrading my television/computer!

[Jenny]

Not sure if I'm reading this right, but it sounds to me like television would still be part of the plan:

Recent deals in other countries provide a window into how Yahoo could use the Games if it did outbid BCE and CBC. In Europe, a sports marketing company is sub-licensing them to television broadcasters. In Taiwan, an Internet service provider has complete control of both online and television rights.

So if Yahoo is successful (and unless they've got some big investors who want to make a gamble on this, I don't see it), it sounds like they would produce the content but then sell it to tv stations to broadcast, along with making it available online as video and other content.

I just don't see it as being viable though - they'd have to make a major investment in producing the programming that traditional tv networks already have in place, and they'd have to score tv distribution deals to have the reach that will attract advertisers - only that revenue would go to the networks, no? Not sure if revenue from online advertising would be enough for something of this scale.

What's scary is the reference to Netflix - does that mean Yahoo will cut distribution deals with pay per view stations? May sound like a good way to make money, but how many people will actually do that? Only the marquee events would have significant buy in, and again, that means it's less attractive to advertisers.

[manhn]

Oh gawd, who's gonna commentate the figure skating? Twitter Girl from The Voice and Twitter Girl from Battle of the Blades?

I have no use for skating on the internets. And who would Yahoo sell the coverage to?

[ioana]

Oh gawd, who's gonna commentate the figure skating? Twitter Girl from The Voice and Twitter Girl from Battle of the Blades?

Dunno, I'd take just about anyone incuding a Twitter Girl over Sandra Bezic. Unfortunately, NBC safely stashed away the broadcast rights so we'll get to hear her dulcet tones for a few more years yet.

[danceronice]

I don't see internet-only coverage being too popular with the general public. There's still a lot of places in Canada that don't have reliable high speed internet. Internet streams also tend to be unreliable and poorer quality. I can't see that ending well if Yahoo does end up with broadcast rights.

In the US at least, in a lot of rural areas your options are dial-up, satellite (which IME isn't so much better that it's worth being five or six times more expensive than dial-up) and MAYBE wireless if you're lucky. Cable/DSL just aren't options. There was some talk from my power company about 'over the power lines' service but it appears to have fallen through. So unless rural Canada gets much better options I can't imagine it would be easy.

And while I'll watch some things on the net (I watched a few Breeder's Cup races when it was my Saturday to be at work) it's really not comparable to watching it on a TV.

[barbk]

But if you live where I live, even minimal cable (and we're talking really minimal...just broadcast + the various shopping channels) sets you back $28 a month by the time you're done with the various taxes and fees. I'd much rather get the content delivered over the internet and let my money go to purchasing the specific content I want. (Over-the-air nets us about 1 channel now that they've gone digital, at it is a public tv channel but not the major public tv station in the area. Pre-digital we were able to pull in 1 and 3/4 channels.)

Can't you hook your TV up to display internet-provided content? That's what we're looking at doing.