'A $50m headache’— all not happy

Press, 5 August 1976, Page 13

'A $50m headache’ — all not happy

NZPA Montreal; The Montreal Olympics I were not just a sports festival — they were also the j biggest, most expensive pro-i duction the broadcasting in-1 dustry has ever mounted. Nothing on the scale of I the SSOM blanket coverage! of the two-week Games may | ever be seen again. Even the) spectators at the main sta-l dium depended heavily on the two giant screens at! either end of the arena: which gave a live television | picture of events. The days have gone when they simply watched runners flash by, or saw the javelin throwers as tiny dots at the far side of the field. Instant playbacks and slow-motion analyses of the action w'ere a big part of their pleasure. But for every single fan who paid at the turnstile to see the Games in person, there were more than 3000 television viewers watching it home. The total audience around the world was estimated at between 800 m and 100 m.

All the television was provided by a single body —

the Olympic Radio and Television Organisation, which was set up just for the [Games by the state-owned iCanadian Broadcasting Corporation. i It was in full existence .only for the 14 days of the Games. I But it assembled vast (quantities of complex equipIrnent to produce an estiI mated 3000 hours of sports ■programming.

■ The picture every viewer lin the world received came from a single 0.R.T.0. unit at every arena, transmitting continuous live programmes to a main centre. Only a handful of minor sports, such as archery, were covered on film.

The prestige athletics and swimming events were often transmitted live by satellite to the richer overseas networks. but most of the material was recorded at the centre and edited to suit each region’s individual needs. The 1972 Munich Olympics were covered by ex:perts from all over Western (Europe, but this time all the

work was done by Cana-: dians. Overseas braodcasters sitting in the centre could select their coverage from up to 27 simultaneous channels and add their own commentaries or studio programmes. Needs varied tremendously. Viewers , in the United States, Western Europe and Japan — and of course Canada itself — were offered up to almost 14 hours a day of coverage. Other countries, such as Australia and the gulf oil States bought specially tailored packages. And about 70

[developing countries took a daily nine-minute film, which was free at the insistence of the International Olympic Committee. Top 0.R.T.0. officials say they are happy that the organisation kept within its original budget of SSOM set three years ago, in spite of rising costs and expanding demands.

But the financial position is far from happy, and experienced observers in the industry believe Olympic television may have to be slimmed down in future — providing the Games themselves survive.

The contribution from the Canadian Government, which always insisted that Montreal and later Quebec Prov ince should foot the bill for the Games — was its biggest Olympic expense.

The Russians have not yet discussed their television plans in detail for the 1980 Games in Moscow, but they intend to spend only a quarter of the Canadian outlay. Few other countries are expected to be willing to pay for blanket coverage if the networks themselves do not pay more.

This time A.A.C. of the United States paid the lion’s ■ihare, throwing in S23M. The European Broadcasting Union was asked for a similar sum, but finally bargained its way out at less than half of that, arguing that it had fewer opportunities for making money from commercials and that Atlantic satellites were expensive, according to informed sources.

Viewers may have been happy to get an electronic glimpse of the Games, but the television industry’s re-

actions to the 0.R.T.0. product have been mixed. Some of the 3000 foreign broadcasters in Montreal said that the Canadians made blunders. One big test which they said 0.R.T.0. had failed was the cycling road race, traditionally the most difficult event for television. It called forth a battery of gadgets, including speciallybuilt vehicles carrying mobile cameras and relaying their signal through helicopters hovering overhead.