CIGNAL VOWS FREE TV BROADCAST OF PARIS OLYMPICS IF IT SECURES RIGHTS

CIGNAL remains in the negotiation stage for the broadcast rights of the 2024 Paris Olympics even as the company made a commitment to support Team Philippines by funding its training camp set month before the competition proper. 

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham Tolentino said Cignal is bankrolling Team Philippines’ training camp in Metz, France that will serve as the final phase of the athletes' preparationfor the Paris Games.

Metz is a one-hour train ride away from Paris, making it an ideal place for Team Philippines’ training camp, said Tolentino. The POC has already booked the Metz training camp as early as last year.

"Meron tayong ginawang project na one month before Paris Olympics, meron na pong training camp. Malaki ang pasalamat ng POC na this would be bankrolled by Cignal. Thank you very much Cignal for being our partner in the 100 years na pakikipaglaban sa Olympics," said Tolentino.

Aside from bankrolling the training camp, Cignal is also set to produce a 13-part mini-series on the preparations of Team Philippines in the Olympic Games, and provide updates on the Filipino viewers about the campaign.

Cignal optimistic

As for the telecast of the competition, Cignal president Jane Jimenez-Basas said it is still in negotiations with the Olympic rights holder for the Philippines broadcast rights.

"Right now, we are actually in the tail-end of our discussion with the official rights holder for the Olympic Games which is Dentsu. Unfortunately, we don’t have the final agreement yet but we are doing our best, we are trying our best with the support of our chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and the POC to secure the rights," said Basas.

"Ang objective namin is to put as many games particularly the games where the Filipinos are competing in in all available platforms which include free-to-air," said Basas.

The broadcast rights will come at a hefty price.

In the United States, NBCUniversal paid USD $7.8 billion (roughly P390 billion) for the Olympic broadcast rights until 2032.

In India, Viacom18 was believed to have paid USD 31 million (roughly P1.55 billion) for rights of the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to a report.

Free-television assurance

Basas assured that Cignal will also air the Olympics on free TV/free-to-air through RPTV Channel 9 and One Sports once they have obtained the TV rights.

"Kung magawa po naming successful ang pag-uusap namin with Dentsu, ang tinitignan namin is as many as 18 channels bringing the (Olympics) as the most comprehensive coverage of the Games. Pero ang priority namin is the Filipino athletes," said Basas.

Tolentino said POC and Cignal will conduct activities to drum up the Olympic campaign of the Philippines through the ‘Isang Daang Taon Laban Para sa Bayan: Celebrating 100 Years of Filipino Excellence in the Olympics’ initiatives.

2024-04-19T10:10:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd