Multi-platform viewing key to Olympic broadcasting success: Hendren

CBC/Radio-Canada should model its coverage of the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the successful multi-platform efforts of this year’s London Summer Olympics, but may still have a hard time turning a profit, Gordon Hendren, president of Charlton Strategic Research Inc., says. In an interview with The Wire Report on Thursday, Hendren said online and mobile coverage provided by Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., during this summer’s London Olympics helped to pique audience levels, and advertising revenues. “There was more content available online and through mobile than ever before, which helps TV ratings because it gets more people interested and engaged, so they go back and watch it on TV,” Hendren said of this summer’s Olympic coverage. “It’s proven to work … It generated record ratings, so would be very smart to do a multi-platform approach.” Hendren pointed to Bell-owned CTV’s coverage of the Olympics as a prime example of multi-platform coverage. During the course of the games, Bell made Olympic material available on its CTV website and also live-streamed Olympic coverage to its wireless subscribers through the Bell Mobile TV service, and through a pair of mobile applications dedicated to French and English-language coverage of the games. In a release on Aug. 3, the consortium said that during the first week of its London 2012 coverage, 61 per cent of traffic on its digital platforms came from a mobile device. The consortium said 3.4 million hours of content was viewed on the CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca online platforms during the Olympics. Canadians also downloaded more than 1.1 million CTV and RDS Olympic apps, it said. Hendren, whose firm tracks the impact of Olympic sponsorship in Canada, told The Wire Report that Bell and Rogers hauled in about $100 million in advertising revenues during the Olympics. He said this figure was higher than for past games, and was a reflection of the higher audience totals. In a release on Aug. 13, the consortium said Canadians watched 662 million hours of coverage during the 2012 Games, with the average viewer watching 21 hours of content. The consortium added that 95 per cent of Canada’s population watched the coverage on consortium channels. CBC announced on Aug. 1 that it secured the exclusive Canadian broadcasting rights to 2014 and 2016 games. The public broadcaster declined to say how much it paid for those rights, but said its coverage of the two games would “either break even or be profitable.” Industry sources speculated that the broadcaster’s bid was in the range of $70 million to $80 million. Chris Ball, a spokesman for CBC English services, said in an email statement Friday that “the range being speculated in the press … gives people a good sense of what CBC paid.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the rights to Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 after the Bell and Rogers consortium submitted a winning bid of $153 million US. Rogers’ stake in the Olympic bid was 20 per cent and Bell’s 80 per cent. Those figures do not include the costs broadcasters incur to produce coverage of the games. Hendren said the higher viewership levels did not generate any extra revenue for Bell-owned CTV but allowed the broadcaster to escape owing “make-good” advertising slots to Olympic advertisers. He said those make-good arrangements are carried out when a broadcaster does not attain the viewership levels it has promised to an advertiser, and is forced to compensate the advertiser with additional ad time during other programs. “In this case, the ratings exceeded expectations so there would probably be little or no make-goods, which is a good thing for the network,” he said. Adam Ashton, president of the broadcast consortium, said in an emailed statement to The Wire Report Friday that the two broadcasters’ coverage model “significantly grew ad revenues from previous Summer Games.” Ashton said the consortium drove efficiencies in all aspects of production and operation for London 2012, based on what it learned during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic broadcast. “However, the rights costs were substantial, and although we have yet to complete our reconciliation, it is projected that losses will be in the tens of millions for 2012,” he said. Hendren added that this year’s higher Olympic ratings are good news for the CBC because they mean it will be able to charge more for advertising during Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016. He added that other factors could still bring the value of those advertising slots down, impacting CBC’s bottom line. He pointed to the questionable participation of NHL players in the Sochi 2014 Games as a “huge consideration” that will impact the CBC’s advertising revenues. The NHL, which is currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players’ Association, has yet to confirm whether its players will be allowed to participate in Sochi. “If they don’t go to Sochi, then those rights are going to be worth less,” Hendren said. Ball said the CBC believes Canadians will tune in to watch Olympic hockey whether NHL players are participating or not. “As demonstrated by the huge numbers who tune into the World Juniors, we’re confident that any team playing under the Canadian flag in a world class tournament like the Olympics will garner a big audience,” he said. Hendren said that regardless of the financial value, the Olympics are the largest media property and present an “outstanding opportunity” for any broadcaster. “Even though you might break even, it’s probably worth it because you generate so much profile for your network, you can do a lot of pre-promotion of other programming,” he said. He said that with the Olympic rights, a host broadcaster will not only build traffic around its broadcasts, but on its online sites and wireless capability, if applicable, as well. “On those fronts, it’s obviously a win,” Hendren said. CTV said in a release Thursday that as a result of its London 2012 coverage, CTV National News’ audience grew 31 per cent and its young adult audience, those between the ages of 18 and 34-years-old, saw an increase of 73 per cent. Ball said CBC will learn not just from the consortium experience with the last two Olympics, but will look at what other broadcasters such as BBC and NBC have accomplished on a multi-platform level. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Multi-platform viewing key to Olympic broadcasting success: Hendren

Broadcast | August 17, 2012

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Multi-platform viewing key to Olympic broadcasting success: Hendren

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