CableVision, WOW To Offer Olympic Coverage
Bermuda CableVision and WOW announced that, in a joint effort, they have resolved the rights issues surrounding televised coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which will take place from February 7 – 23, in Sochi, Russia.
“CableVision and WOW, have secured the rights to the Olympics programming. This includes coverage on the broadcast channels that have historically aired the Olympics. We are very pleased that we can provide access to this content for our valued customers,” explains Terry Roberson, CEO of Bermuda CableVision.
In addition to the Olympics programming being broadcast on the networks traditionally known for providing the coverage, additional Olympics programming will be available to Bermuda CableVision customers who subscribe to the Max Pack. The Max Pack includes SportsMax and SportsMax2.
Stanley Wright, President & CEO of WOW, says: “We realise the popularity and social relevance of Olympic programming to our subscribers. We have worked closely with Bermuda CableVision to make Olympic coverage a reality. The Olympic Winter Games are rich and diverse in content and lend themselves to simultaneous coverage across multiple channels.”
Over 80 countries will be competing in this year’s Olympic Winter Games, which are expected to draw 3 billion television viewers from around the world. The Sochi 2014 programme includes sports as diverse as: skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, snowboarding and ski jumping.
Competition for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games from Sochi, Russia, will begin one day prior to the Opening Ceremony due to the increase in the number of Winter Olympics events.
Primetime coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics will begin on Thursday, February 6, on the primary network carrying the coverage one night before the supporting broadcast networks provide their coverage of the Opening Ceremony on Friday, February 7.
Bermuda is set to be one of the few warm weather nations to make an appearance in the 2014 Winter Olympics, with skier Dr. Tucker Murphy set to represent the island for the second consecutive time.
Read More About
Category: All, Business, News, technology
Thankyou. Summer olympics I can do without. Winter olympics, with all of the speed sports, is worth watching. Hope that we will not be limited to US programming.
Triangle Drifter, We don’t have to look at those pesky competitors from Africa, Caribbean, Oceanic.
I hope they show the Jamaican bobsled team.
Look where your mind went. Sad.
Didn’t even think of them. Do any of them have a hockey team or snowboard athlete in serious contentions, or do they only have the odd novelty participant who struggled to meet minimum requirements?
No, I was thinking more of coverage provided by the BBC & the CBC.
One thing Triangle Drifter, we don’t have to listen to the incompetent commentators on Sportmax2 and Sportsmax. The best commentators are on BBC & the CBC. Those commentators will not stray from the British and Canadian athletics. We probably won’t know who the winners are.
Great! Now why dont you get started sorting out the rights for the World Cup so we can get ALL the games live rather than the recorded crap we had last time!!
I think Bermuda Broadcasting has the World Cup rights (they aired a TV commercial for it last night). Whether that’s a good or bad omen remains to be seen.
Oh look, cable companies actually giving us the things that we pay for. How very generous of them.
To the best of my recollection it was NOT the cable companies who were causing a problem, it was the company that had exclusive rights for the Caribbean area who had threatened that if our local cable companies showed any Winter Olympic coverage on those channels who would normally carry it (CBC, NBC, BBC etc) they would be sued.
I for one am most grateful that Cablevision is now able to show us a variety of coverage, but sadly, NOTHING will please everyone in an age where complaining is a part of our natural psyche!
I’m afraid that I’m of the belief that the cable companies should not offer a station to their viewership unless they can supply the entirety of what that station broadcasts.
I pay for a list of stations. If I dont get every single thing those stations broadcast, I shouldn’t have to pay full price.
Example: I order from the Fruit of the month club and for some reason, legal or otherwise, they are unable to send me the fruit for March. I’m going to expect a refund for March.
Cable companies simply shrug and say it’s out of our hands, but we’re going to take your money for nothing anyway.
Good news…some will complain about coverage of US athletes but given the choice between the Jamaican Bobsled team and US athletes I will go with the US coverage
To clarify, does that officially mean Ch 11 (VSB/NBC) as well as USA/MSNBC/Bravo/CNBC will show Olympic coverage? The terms “historically” or “traditionally” as mentioned in the press release is a tad too vague for my liking.
Good to hear… I wonder what happened to the “It’s outside of our control” from 2 weeks ago?
Terry Roberson, CEO of Bermuda CableVision, explains: “We – along with all other cable companies and broadcasters in the Caribbean region and Bermuda – received notice on January 21 from IMC stating that, although coverage is expected on a number of channels originating from North America, this coverage must be blacked out during broadcast of all Olympic events.
“This includes coverage on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC and CTV. We regret any inconvenience this may cause our valued customers, but we trust they will understand the necessity of complying with these international distribution contracts, which are outside of our control.
Will any coverage be in HD?
Gotta love how the only cablevision subscribers who can watch the olympics are those who subscribe to the Maxsports channels! Way to service your customers Cablevision! Final nail in the cablevision coffin for me, bring on Logic.
Amazing, two competing companies worked together to overcome the Olympic licensing issue that could have forced viewers to pay for Caribbean only coverage, yet most of the comments here are negative. SMH.
Thank you CableVision and WOW.
Hooray!
I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE OLYMPICS….BRING THE DAMN FOOTBALL BACK. CHEESH!!