CableVision panned for Olympics coverage, but says it had no other choice

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Criticised coverage of the London Olympics was Bermuda’s only option, according to CableVision boss Terry Roberson.

Responding to criticism yesterday Mr Roberson said he was “saddened” to hear that viewers are disappointed in the quality of the coverage, but he would pass on the complaints to the service provider, International Media Content (IMC).

“I am saddened that viewers are disappointed by the quality and choice of coverage provided by IMC, and it is also regrettable that viewers have not seen as much of our Bermuda athletes as they would have liked,” Mr Roberson said.

“With that said, people should recognise that Bermuda CableVision does not have control over what is shown by IMC. Our cable system is simply a vehicle for the coverage which IMC supplies.”

Since the start of this year’s Olympic Games, coverage of the event locally has been roundly panned.

Many viewers have complained about poor visual quality and erratic sound, while others have criticised the selection of events that are being covered.

Mr Roberson said that IMC, the parent company of SportsMax, had purchased exclusive broadcast rights for the Caribbean region, which includes Bermuda, according to the Olympic Committee Market divisions.

“We had no choice but to purchase the rights to broadcast the feeds supplied by IMC if we were going to bring Bermuda any coverage of the Olympics,” Mr Roberson said.

“Bermuda CableVision made a considerable investment in acquiring these feeds in the public’s interest, and these costs were not passed on to our valued subscribers.

“We felt this was far preferable to offering viewers absolutely no television coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.”

The regulations also required CableVision to blackout coverage of the games from other sources, including NBC, CNBC and MSNBC along with Canadian channels.

He explained that CableVision had partnered with VSB so that those without CableVision could still watch the games, and extended the rights to World on Wireless so that more Bermudians would be able to view the games.

“I encourage subscribers to tune into channels 11 and 514 this week to see the rest of what London 2012 has to offer.

“There is no doubt that this is a superb international event boasting fierce competition across a wide variety of sports.”

lSee Letter to the Editor on Page 4

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