A proposal to extend French-language coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics is faltering amid a dispute over advertising revenues.
According to the Canadian Press, Canadian public-service broadcaster CBC president Hubert Lacroix has complained over commercial broadcaster CTV’s refusal to compensate CBC if agrees to carry CTV's Olympic feeds to francophone audiences outside of Quebec.
"I will tell you right now that we will not allow CBC/Radio-Canada to incur any cost in providing the service CTV purchased so that CTV can deliver a profit to its shareholders while we are laying off employees," Lacroix said yesterday.
"That kind of bailout is completely irresponsible and we will not participate in it. We must be appropriately compensated for our production of the Games either by receiving adequate compensation from CTV or by selling advertising on our airwaves during the Olympics."
CTVglobemedia is head of a broadcast consortium – a mix of cable stations to help provide extensive French-language service - with exclusive rights to carry the Games. The consortium can reach roughly 96 per cent of the francophone population but is yet to find a way to reach thousands of francophones outside of Quebec without satellite or cable service, estimated to be 9,000 – 12,000 people.
Rick Brace, CTV's president of revenue, business planning and sports, said the latest offer allows CBC to carry the consortium's feed for free and compensates the CBC for any lost revenue it would have had by carrying its own programs.
