Snowed in Bidding? ABC Still Cheery About Winter Olympics

Strongly believing that they paid too much--$309 million--for the broadcast rights to the 1988 Winter Olympics, ABC officials nevertheless predict that the Games to be held here in February will be a “marvelous Olympics.”

The record price tag and the negotiations with the International Olympic Committee that led to it still frost Roone Arledge, group president, ABC News and Sports, who in his 25 years with the network has produced nine Olympic telecasts. He will be executive producer again when ABC covers the XV Winter Olympics here Feb. 13-28.

“Maybe this is using too strong a word, but we were misled by the Olympic Organizing Committee,” Arledge told a group of visiting U.S. journalists here this week. “We had been assured that this was not going to be a straight money bid,” implying that such factors as technical expertise and extent of coverage would also be considerations.

“But during the negotiations, NBC proved very, very eager to get these games. When we reached $300 million, we were going to drop out as a matter of principle.

“We had been authorized by ABC to go to about $320 million,” he continued. “Then, when NBC said $304 million, we talked about leaving, but decided we would put another $5 million on it. What happened was we got the games for $5 million more than they bid.”

“Something in the area of $260 million would have been reasonable,” he said.

ABC’s pride in covering the Olympics also kept his network in the bidding. “When you have a continuing interest in something, you also have an interest in where it’s shown. You don’t want it in the hands of people who don’t know what they’re doing,” he said.

Arledge and other ABC executives had flown in to participate in the network’s first media tour of Olympic sites here. The media’s one crack at questioning Arledge came during a visit to the network’s sprawling broadcast facility, where the plan was to dole out facts and figures about the technical marvels that will deliver the Olympic telecasts to American viewers. Instead, the press largely wanted to know about that costly bidding process.

Over three days, however, some three dozen writers, editors and photographers were shuttled to all the venues to see firsthand--up close and personal--the sights and sites that viewers will see during ABC’s 94 1/2 hours of coverage, much of which will be in prime time.

They arrived just as the first snowfall of the season hit the area, a joyous turn in the weather for everyone connected with the Games.

The weather, it seems, and the question of whether there will be snow for the Games is the No. 1 concern of ABC, the Olympic Organizing Committee, the city of Calgary and the Canadian Television Network (CTV), which as host broadcaster is providing pool coverage for ABC and the world.

Not to worry, however, said a site supervisor at the new $70-million ski jump/bobsled/luge area, where (as with other venues) 100 jets can be turned on to produce 3 to 4 inches of snow in 36 hours. “We expect snow, but we don’t have to have snow,” was the assurance.

Of particular interest to the visitors was a new $28-million indoor speed skating oval, one of only three in the world. The size of one football field with three tennis courts on each end, the oval was appreciately eyed by Eric Heiden, the American superstar speed skater who won an unprecedented five gold medals in the 1980 Games. He’ll provide speed skating analysis for ABC at the upcoming Games.

“There’s nothing better in the world right now,” Heiden said of the facility. “Because it’s indoors, you have uniform weather conditions and ideal ice conditions,” and he predicted that half of the world records and all of the Olympic records will be shattered at the Calgary Games.

The short-track speed skating also will take place in this oval, and Keith Jackson will handle that commentary. He described this event as a “human demolition derby” and said he ended up doing the commentary because “there isn’t anyone else on the staff that can say ‘Hot Damn.’ ”

Jackson’s main assignment, however, will be to host the weekend daytime coverage, which he happily noted will put him in a studio where “it’s warm!”

Jim McKay, easily the dean of Olympic coverage (he’s worked on 10 Olympics), popped up at several venues, each time asked to reminisce. Early in the tour, he was standing in the snow at Nakiska (a skiing area about 60 miles from Calgary--Nakiska, incidentally, being an Indian word for friendly meeting place). There he was taping segments for a two-hour entertainment special, being produced by Carolyn Raskin, which will air Dec. 26 as one of ABC’s pre-Olympic programs.

“After the last Games,” McKay said as snow fell around him, “I was asked if I’d do another, since I would be 66 by then. I said I didn’t know, because I had never been 66 before. But I feel great, and here I am.”

Frank Gifford will be going into his seventh Olympic assignment, working again as late-night host. “Late-night coverage,” he explained, “doesn’t pick up on the competition as such, but we try to pick up on the individuals. We’ll be taking the personal side, the unusual happenings.”

Donna de Varona, the two-time swimming gold medalist, said she’ll occupy a new anchor spot at Olympic Village, reporting the day’s story as it relates to the athletes, coaches and parents.

Dick Button, whose figure skating analysis on TV goes back to 1962, will be on that beat, along with gold medal skater Peggy Fleming. And Mike Eruzione, captain of the U.S. hockey team that won the gold medal in 1980 in a dramatic game with the Soviets, will be working alongside Al Michaels on the hockey coverage.

Eruzione believes the U.S. team can win a bronze medal and “possibly a silver.” And ABC would like that enormously, because hockey and figure skating are two events that attract viewers and bring high ratings.

As in the past, the actual sports coverage will be surrounded by “Up Close and Personal” reports, the feature segments on participating athletes, and new “Point of View” tapes that will let home viewers experience various competitions. For instance, a camera mounted on a luge helmet will take viewers speeding down that icy ride.

The question becomes, do the sidelights complement or compete with time that could be spent on live coverage?

Dennis Swanson, president of ABC Sports, responded that “we’re not going to miss an event because of a packaged piece. We do the background to show the athlete as he is, then lead into him in competition. We shoot 90-100 of these, but they might not all get on.”

Concurrently, he said, decisions must be made on how much coverage to give American participants. “American viewers want to know how our athletes are doing, but some great moments in Olympic tradition have come from foreign competition . . . “ so a mix is called for.

Dennis Lewin, senior vice president of production at ABC Sports and another ABC Olympic veteran who will be producing the ’86 Games coverage with Arledge, addressed a similar issue: How much time do you give each event?

“Those are daily decisions,” he said. “There is a laundry list of events and we have to combine that with the story of what’s happening. You just have to make a judgment on a daily basis.”

One area that is being upgraded for these Games is audio, which in the past has taken a back seat to video. There will be about 500 microphones at the venues and stereo mikes will be used at some locations to get the sensation of the speed of a skier or skater going by.

So preparations seem pretty much on schedule. The Calgarians are happy to be working with ABC. ABC is happy to be working with CTV. The Olympic organizers are happy for ABC’s $309 million . . . and Frank King, chairman of the Olympic Organizing Committee, admits that, yes, the price tag was steep, but he believes ABC will get its money’s worth.

But given the corporate belt-tightening structure at the three networks now, will there ever be another $300-million Olympics?

Arledge feels that will depend on where the games take place. A Summer Games in the United States or North America might make that reasonable, but if they’re in a foreign country where much of the television coverage must be seen on delay because of the time difference, that’s another story.

“People love the Olympics and will watch them daily, but they don’t watch with the same intensity and numbers as they do with live coverage,” Arledge said.

As of this week--with 11 weeks to go before the opening ceremonies--commercial time in ABC’s coverage of the Games is about 96% sold out (with 30 seconds in prime time costing $285,000, compared to $215,000 at the ’84 Games).

Still, Arledge said, the Winter Games will not show a profit (tacked onto the $309 million price tag is another estimated $50 million to $60 million in production costs).

“But then,” he said, “we’re also not going to show a profit on ‘Dolly’ or Lucille Ball or Ellen Burstyn and a lot of other things we do.

“And if you compare what these games are going to do for the network as opposed to other things that don’t make money, I don’t think it’s without reason that we’ll be interested in events like this in the future. Hopefully, they’ll be profitable.”