(ATR) On the eve of Rio 2016’s opening, a national opinion poll suggested the Games could be a ratings disaster in Canada.
Only 13% of respondents to an Angus Reid Institute survey said they were "very interested" in following the Games and 53% said they would pay attention to Rio 2016, down 7% from London 2012. The pessimism was driven by media coverage of Brazil’s political upheaval, crime and fears of the Zika virus.
The numbers were not encouraging because Rio is only one hour ahead of key media markets Toronto and Montreal.
But CBC head of sports programming Trevor Pilling is beaming about ratings as the Games enter the final weekend. Primetime coverage for the first 10 days was 18% better than London 2012 (2.29 million on CBC, versus 1.94 million on CTV in 2012). The Pacific prime time/Eastern late night coverage averaged 1.09 million, up 186% over the same time period from London 2012. NBC has reported an 18% decline in TV viewership, although it has registered a shift to online consumption.
"Nothing creates more of a shared national experience than the Olympic games, it’s playing itself out to be true again," Pilling told Around the Rings. "Canadian consumers expect to see everything live and on any device you can consume it on."
The most-seen moment so far was Usain Bolt’s 100 meter gold medal sprint that featured Toronto’s Andre De Grasse winning Canada’s first medal in the event, a bronze, since Atlanta 1996. Viewership peaked at more than 6.9 million, making it one of the most-watched moments on Canadian TV in 2016. By the Games’ halfway point, 30.4 million Canadians had watched some coverage.
Other big national audiences, according to Numeris TV Meter, included almost 2.7 million on Aug. 13 for Michael Phelps’ 4 x 100m medley relay gold; 2.378 million in prime time on Aug. 7 for Phelps’4 x 100m freestyle relay gold and 16-year-old Penny Oleksiak’s 100m butterfly silver and 1.271 million for Canada’s Aug. 16 daytime loss to Germany in the women’s soccer semifinal.
CBC has 250 on-air, technical and support staff on the ground in Rio and another 450 working in Montreal and Toronto. Along with partners TSN, RDS and Sportsnet, CBC and its French service, Radio-Canada, are producing 1,275 hours of content from Rio and 4,000 hours of live event streaming, on up to 23 streams a day.
CBC’s first crews arrived in early June to outfit the space in the International Broadcast Centre. CBC also has a studio in the Olympic Park’s so-called TV tower for its anchors.
Pilling is waiting eagerly for the Aug. 21 launch of the Olympic Channel and how rights holders, like CBC, will fit into the equation. He said CBC does not have an agreement with the Olympic Channel yet, because the project is so new.
"It’s an interesting challenge that they have, they’re trying to do a global channel that has to appeal to consumers in many territories," he said. "They are going to be a complementary service to what it is that we do.
"We share a goal of growing the connection between our audiences and those athletes. Many of the principles of what they’re after is what we’re after."
On Saturday, the night before the Olympic Channel launches and the Rio Games close, CBC will pause its Olympic coverage for the final live concert of what is expected to be the last tour of Canada’s most-popular rock band, The Tragically Hip, from Kingston, Ontario. The band’s singer/songwriter, Gord Downie, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. CBC hosts and Canadian athletes will be at the Canadian consulate in Copacabana, which overlooks the Beach Volleyball Arena, introducing the concert and also for the return to Rio coverage.
"We think it will just fit perfectly, a beautiful night of Canadiana, that may be a little melancholy at times I suppose," Pilling said. "It’s just the right thing that it’s on CBC and ties into this wonderful patriotic moment of what our athletes have done and to celebrate the most iconic band in Canadian history."
Rio is the second Games of CBC’s six Games deal through 2024. The public broadcasting company has been forced to evolve and integrate its TV and radio divisions because of technology and economics. Rogers Communications outbid CBC for National Hockey League rights with a US$5 billion, 12-year deal in 2013. CBC still carries the flagship Hockey Night in Canada, however.
"Now that we’re no longer in the hockey business as a core focus, we’re focused on Canadian amateur and high performance athletes," Pilling said. "One of those keys for us is to be athlete-centric."
That includes making more former Canadian Olympians on-air analysts and reporters and carrying the weekly Road to the Olympic Games package of world cups, championships and qualifiers across the spectrum of Olympic sports.
Written by Bob Mackin in Rio de Janeiro.
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