Rogers Media Withdraws Bid for Olympic Broadcast Rights

TORONTO: Rogers Media will no longer pursue a bid for the Canadian broadcast rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games as part of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.

Rogers is currently a 20-percent shareholder within the Consortium; the remaining 80 percent is controlled by CTV. The decision to withdraw does not affect Rogers’ commitment to the London 2012 Games, for which it will deliver more than 5,000 hours of coverage across multiple platforms.

“As much as Rogers Media would like to continue being involved with the Olympic Movement, scheduling conflicts, combined with our financial priorities, suggest that it’s best for us not to be involved at this time,” said Keith Pelley, the president of Rogers Media. “We had an option and chose not to exercise it.”

“This was a difficult decision on so many levels, but it’s a disciplined approach that allows us to pursue new opportunities to best serve our viewers, shareholders and advertisers,” continued Pelley.

“At Vancouver 2010, Rogers and CTV together set a new standard of media excellence, giving viewers the power of choice with multiplatform coverage in multiple languages,” added Pelley.  “We look forward to delivering that same robust content strategy next summer at London 2012.”