GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC –The Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) has expressed concern about the state of a deal with the CANOC Broadcasting Incorporated (CBI) for the coverage of next year’s Olympic games in Brazil.
Broadcasters raised their concern about a Memorandum of Understanding with CANOC as the 46th Annual General Meeting of CBU came to a close in Grenada here on Thursday.
Earlier this year CBU and CANOC announced that they had reached an agreement, in principle, which would allow CBU members to transmit coverage of the games on radio, free-to-air television, cable television and on-line media.
“We also had discussions and deliberations on an area of concern to us that is right at our door steps largely to do with the 2016 Olympic games which are but a year away,” CBU Vice President Gary Allen told a news conference here on Thursday afternoon.
“The broadcasters were concerned , particular concern that at this stage we do not have the clearest pictures that one should have at this stage at what would happen with respect to broadcast of the Olympic games from Rio in Brazil 2016”.
The MOU called for CBI to provide access to twelve feeds from which participating CBU members may select specific content for distribution in their respective markets.
Part of the programming to be delivered under the MOU is a television channel designed especially for Caribbean audiences, and produced by ESPN.
CBU says aspects of the MOU with CBI have been breached.
“We entered a memorandum of understanding with the rights holders for the Caribbean, CANOC broadcasting Inc and aspects of the MOU that we have signed have already been varied and or in fact breached,” Allen pointed out.
“At this stage the broadcasters cannot say that we have an arrangement that will allow us to be involved in the Olympic broadcast 2016”. The deal with CANOC also allows CBU members to send a limited number of reporters and technical staff to work alongside the ESPN team in Rio, to produce coverage to be sent back to their respective stations.
Allen says Caribbean broadcasters are also becoming concerned about the involvement of advertisers in the absence of a final deal with CANOC, the rights holders.
“There is still sometime that we hope would be used wisely to put us back on track and we have passed a resolution which intends to try and do that,” Allen said.
“But we are concerned that advertisers are being involved in arrangements which commit our platforms and we still do not have a commitment on the use of our platforms, signed off with the rights holders and that is an issue that is of concern to us”.
