Canada: CBC goes big for World Cup broadcast

CBC offered free foosball on the patio as part of its World Cup celebrations.

By Charlie Smith

These days, the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament has become ubiquitous on CBC Radio and CBC Television. Foreign correspondent Adrienne Arsenault has been delivering nightly reports from South Africa, where the month-long tournament begins on Friday (June 11). CBC Radio's World Reportnewscast will broadcast from Johannesburg on that same day. Even the local CBC outlet has been trumpeting the World Cup with frequent reports and various soccer-related events. On June 8, the public was invited to a celebration on the plaza outside its Hamilton Street headquarters.

As CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay points out, the national broadcaster will carry all 64 games of the tournament on one or more of its broadcasting platforms. "Even though there is no Canadian team in the World Cup, the Canadian population, being what it is, is probably the most ravenous World Cup fans," Keay told the Georgia Straight by phone from Toronto. "Everybody comes from somewhere, so there is a lot of emotional investment in the various teams."

CBC's World Cup executive producer, Trevor Pilling, told the Straight by phone that the network will offer the "most robust" coverage of the tournament in Canadian history. "The sport is first and foremost," he said. "But I think it's important for us to give the context of the country—of the socioeconomic impact or opportunity that this tournament will provide for South Africa and all of Africa."

Two English-language crews will cover the games. The evening games will be hosted by Scott Russell, who will be joined by CBC soccer analyst Jason de Vos and former Scottish World Cup player John Collins. The morning crew will be hosted by Mitch Peacock, alongside soccer analyst Nigel Reed and Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi.

Soccer is big business around the world, but it doesn't come close to rivalling hockey as a spectator sport in Canada. FIFA generated more than US$1 billion in revenue last year, according to its annual report. Of that, US$623 million came from the sale of broadcasting rights for the 2010 World Cup.

CBC has refused to divulge how much it paid for the Canadian rights. In 2006, theToronto Star reported that the national broadcaster spent $25 million for the next two FIFA World Cups, but Keay stated that this figure is inaccurate. He wouldn't tell theStraight if the real number was higher or lower than $25 million.

Pilling pointed out that TSN and Rogers Sportsnet shared the Canadian rights to broadcast the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany. The last time CBC aired parts of the tournament was in 2002. There was a cumulative audience of 1.7 million for the Canadian broadcasters of the final game, according to a paper by Ontario academics Peter Donnelly, Graham Knight, and Margaret MacNeill. "The World Cup was a lump in your throat experience for many urban Canadians, as they recognized and celebrated their multicultural existence," they wrote.

Source: CBC goes big for World Cup broadcast | Vancouver, Canada | Straight.com http://bit.ly/aCYSx7

(Yimber Gaviria, Colombia)