In case you were wondering how CCTV is paying for their new office building.
NBC is relatively happy with their ratings for the Olympics this year. Approximately 30 million people have watched the games. In contrast, in China, state broadcaster CCTV had about 840 million people watch the Opening Ceremonies and other events.
Now the fun part.
CCTV paid less than $17 million for exclusive broadcast rights in China but could reap $394 million in Olympic advertising revenue, according to Group M, a media company that tracks television advertising revenue here. By comparison, NBC paid almost $894 million for U.S. broadcast rights and is expected to garner $1 billion in ads.
IOC officials have said this is the end of China paying lowball prices for the rights to the Olympics. Come the next games, it is expected that CCTV will have to pay at least $100 million for the rights. CCTV, with 18 channels and a $2 billion budget can probably afford it.
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The Olympic Closing Ceremony this Sunday (tape delayed in the USA until Sunday night 7:00 PM EDT) will only have 7,000 people participating, unlike the opening ceremony which had 15,000, according to Olympic organizers. The ceremony, which is in final rehearsals at a university far outside of Beijing is suppose to be ‘amazing’ and will include an 8 minute segment telecast from London, home of the 2012 games.
“It’s just unlike any other closing ceremony I’ve ever seen,” said Neal, executive vice president of NBC Olympics. Usually a simple vehicle for extinguishing the Olympic flame and setting the stage for the next games, this year’s ceremony will have a great deal of entertainment, he said.
None of the 15,000 performers in the closing participated in the opening ceremonies. Some people have lobbied to have Yang Peiyi perform in the closing ceremony, after her voice was used (but not her face) in the opening ceremony.
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Which one still can't get a drivers license?
Faced with huge international pressure and a general sense of ‘give me a break’ the IOC has finally caved into demands and declared they will conduct an investigation into 12 14 16-year-old Chinese gymnastics star he Kexin (and any possible coverup by Chinese authorities).
An IOC official told The Times that because of “discrepancies” that have come to light about the age of He Kexin, the host nation’s darling who won gold in both team and individual events, an official inquiry has been launched that could result in the gymnast being stripped of her medals.
The investigation was triggered as a US computer expert claimed today to have uncovered Chinese government documents that he says prove she is only 14 – making her ineligible to compete in the Olympics – rather than 16, as officials in Beijing insist is her age.
Pulling up documents from ‘closed’ servers (closed after people started to notice the age discrepancy)
computer security experts are displaying some of the website information that shows her age as being 14, despite what is in her passport. You can view the documents at the
security experts blog.
Not dead
Many have wondered ‘where the hell is Jacque Rogge’ during the Olympics? His presence was noted at the opening ceremonies, but for the next 10 days he was AWOL and unspotted nearly anywhere. He managed to make an appearance the other day at the softball tournament (i.e. proving he was not detained in jail for trying to protest in China) but then quickly disappeared, only to re-emerge last night with some harsh words for 200m winner Usain Bolt:
Rogge said: “That’s not the way we perceive being a champion. I have no problem with him doing a show. I think he should show more respect for his competitors and shake hands, give a tap on the shoulder to the other ones immediately after the finish and not make gestures like the one he made in the 100m.
“I understand the joy. He might have interpreted it in another way but the way it was perceived was ‘catch me if you can’. You don’t do that. But he’ll learn. He’s still a young man.”
On the one hand, this was pretty odd. Usain Bolt has been one of the highlights of the Olympics. His ease of winning some of the most sought after titles in the games has been extraordinary. Despite knowing the final result, I myself watched last night and as he finished his turn with a five yard lead my jaw dropped and I spoke aloud ‘holy bejesus’ as I expect a number of other Americans did too. And then he sped up…
But on the other hand, as I watched his celebrations I did say to myself ‘Americans have celebrated like this at previous games and gotten raked over the goals by the British press and others for being too arrogant, too jerk-like.’ I did wonder if this had been an American winning this event and celebrating in such a manner how large the cry would have been from the European media.
As Bolt is a Jamaican and thus, not an American, he generally will get a pass for his behavior. Perhaps Jacque Rogge was on the right track last night in calling for some dignity.
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