Aug 21, 2008 10:24 AM
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New York, 5:17 PM
Tue Feb 9
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You think NBC is making a good return on its investment for these Olympics? You don't even know what a good return is. NBC had to bid for these Olympic rights in an auction, and they ended up paying more than $1.5 billion for the most recent summer and winter games. But how much did CCTV, the national broadcast network in China, pay for the money-minting opportunity to carry the games in its home country? (Hint: there's nobody for them to bid against):
CCTV is part of an Asian consortium, the Asian Broadcasting Union, that cut a group deal in the 1990s to pay $17.5 million for the 2008 Games. China's share of that fee is not publicly disclosed, but a source said it was "small."
Yes: the only network in China paid a "small" share of $17.5 million to show the Beijing Olympics, which will net them hundreds of millions of dollars.
If this isn't a strong argument in favor of Communism I don't know what is.
[NYS]
Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.
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