OG Broadcast - What I've Been Saying!

[Historian]

The following has been my view since 2008!

What on earth gives the broadcast authorities in Jamaica the right to block legitimate channels to which cable subscribers are entitled? This nonsense of blocking out Olympic (and IAAF World Championships) coverage by NBC and its affiliates has got to stop! I am surprised that the jamaican authorities continue to get away with this practice!

CVM exclusivity makes no sense

Published: Monday | July 30, 2012

THE EDITOR, Sir: The Olympics has started, and my worst fears have already come to pass. As I write this, the programme guide on my cable service is showing the following sports in progress - cycling, tennis, table tennis, fencing, boxing and football.

While all this is going on, what am I allowed to watch? A rerun of yesterday's opening ceremony, inane and boring commentary, and women's basketball.

I know CVM has paid for the exclusive rights to Olympic coverage, but why does the station feel it has the right to enforce a block on events which it is not airing, especially during the hours when it is showing alternative programming? Any financial benefit which it gains from this short-sighted policy will surely be outweighed by the ill-feeling and resentment it will engender by dictating what events the public is permitted to see.

TREVOR BLAIR
tblair_ja@yahoo.com
Irish Town, St Andrew

[Historian]

....But Jamaicans seem satisfied

It is a disservice at this time of the Olympic Games that monopoly by a single re-broadcast entity is being forced down the throats of Jamaican consumers. This was the same nonsense done during the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

This is particularly ridiculous when we consider that, without these silly restrictions, many Jamaican cable subscribers would have been able to enjoy Olympic events of their preference throughout the day and night not only on CVM, but also on NBC and MSNBC (and occasionally NBC’s Bravo channel), not to mention Canada’s CTV. (In the past, Canada’s CBC covered the Olympics, but this year CTV is doing the honors.)

But, aside from this single Daily Gleaner letter all is quiet on the home front. So, I guess only this miserable letter-writer (Mr. Blair) has a problem.

[Bricktop]

Sportsmax has the rights...they licenced them to CVM...you can watch any event you want live on www.sportsmaxolympics.tv Sportsmax simulcast...bitching about blacked out sporting events in this day and age is foolish...everything is available online...

[Historian]

Brickie, I know that

Sportsmax has the rights...they licenced them to CVM...you can watch any event you want live on www.sportsmaxolympics.tv Sportsmax simulcast...bitching about blacked out sporting events in this day and age is foolish...everything is available online...

Yes, I know that, Bricktop. Remember it was Historian who posted a lot of information on this message board about SportsMax rights re the London Olympics? (I knew details of the negotiations long before it became public.)

My complaint is not about me at all, boss.

What I’m referring to here is the overall principle of choice in a modern capitalist (or mixed, if you prefer) economy. Add to this the fact that most people living in Jamaica do not have ready access to the Internet.

The foreign media have their plusses. For example, Canada’s CBC did a first-class job of promoting Jamaican athletes during the Beijing Olympics, even to the point of providing favorable analysis by their “experts” on the exploits and techniques of athletes like Melaine Walker. But of course, the average Jamaican who depended on their cable provider at the time was not aware of things like these, because North American channels were completely blocked out.

Ironically, in that Olympic Games (Beijing) where Ato Boldon helped to introduce America to MVP and Racers track clubs, and where Bolt was treated like a rock star and favorably compared with American legends like Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis in short, rock-music tinged video segments, and where Jamaican athletes were interviewed by NBC staffers, Jamaicans were “blissfully” unaware of these developments by a previously indifferent media house (NBC).

But beyond all of this is the whole principle of choice in a scenario where one is paying a hefty monthly cable bill. Combining access to the outstanding coverage on CVM (thanks to SportsMax) with access to North American channels provides, in my opinion, an ideal scenario.