HISTORY OF TELEVISION AT THE PAN AMERICAN GAMES

SAO PAULO 1963      North American television "found" the Pan American Games in 1963.  ABC devoted the May 11th episode of it's 90-minute long ABC's Wide World of Sports program to coverage of the IVth Pan American Games from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

WINNIPEG 1967      CBC agreed to televise 25 hours of coverage of the Vth Pan American Games from Winnipeg.  The main studio in the Minto Armoury was linked by coaxial cables to 8 of the venues.  This allowed black & white and color pictures to be simultaneously transmitted from multiple events.  This gave CBC's producers the ability to switch back and forth as events warrented.  CBC televised the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.      All three U.S. television networks were approached by the Winnipeg Pan American Games Society about U.S. rights. NBC and CBS both passed rather than (in their view) promote ABC's Olympic coverage.  ABC had already bought the rights to the 1968 Winter and Summer Olympics, but devoted the July 29th and August 5th telecasts of it's 90-minute ABC's Wide World of Sports program to coverage of the Vth Pan American Games from Winnipeg.      All together about $75,000 were made in worldwide TV rights.

CALI 1971      All three networks passed on the VIth Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia.

MEXICO CITY 1975      CBS bought the rights to the 1971 and 1975 Pan American Games in a double package.  They hoped to use the games to boost their chances of winning the rights to the 1980 Moscow Olympics.  (They didn't.)  CBS televised 7 2/3 hours of coverage from Mexico City in 1975.  Consisting mostly of nightly highlight shows, the coverage was, nonetheless, the most extensive coverage of the Pan American Games seen on U.S. television up to that time.

SAN JUAN 1979       CBS aired 14 1/4 hours of coverage from San Juan in 1979.  Hosted by Dick Stockton, the nightly highlight shows and weekend "CBS Sports Spectacular" broadcasts were well received and drew modest but decent ratings.  (Mid 5's until the final Sunday drew an 8.2)  For the first time the Opening Ceremony was shown live in the U.S.

CARACAS 1983      CBS won the rights for the 1983 games in Caracas for almost $1,000,000.  It's coverage consisted of 16 hours on weekend afternoons, including the Opening Ceremony.  John Tesh composed the theme song for the CBS coverage.  It looked at first that CBS would not air any events.  The videotape machines were lost in transit, facilities were less than adequate, and construction was ongoing.  But, CBS perservered.  When a drug scandal broke out during the games, host Brent Musburger was on top of it.  He even appeared on the "CBS Evening News" with nightly updates.  CBS had no hesitation in reporting on the departure of 12 U.S. athletes who flew home rather than submit to the new, strict drug tests.

INDIANAPOLIS 1987      The rights for the 1987 games were won by CBS with a bid of $4,000,000.  Brent Musburger again hosted.  CBS aired 26 hours of coverage, all on weekend afternoons, including live coverage of the Opening Ceremony from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Additionally, CBS provided the world feed.  The ratings were boosted by the participation of Cuban athletes on U.S. soil, providing a USA-Cuba showdown in many events.

HAVANA 1991      ABC joined the picture by reaching an agreement to pay $8.7 million for rights to the 1991 games at Havana.  But, the Justice Department blocked the deal on grounds that it violated the Cuban Embargo Act.  Then, CTV, a Canadian network, was reportedly close to a deal for the rights.  They would then resell them to ABC.  After much discussion, ABC and TNT were given permission to go ahead with their rights deal at a fee of $6.5 million.      ABC aired 22 hours of coverage on weekend afternoons and produced the world feed.  TNT provided 27 1/2 hours of coverage in prime-time, including the Opening Ceremony.  The ratings were in the 3's (as expected).  Both networks aired extensive travellogue segments about Cuba, in addition to the usual sports events.  Brent Musburger was ABC's host, while Ernie Johnson, Jr. had the honors on TNT.  Musburger's open criticism of the Cuban organizers just before the games began was ill-received by the critics.  One lowpoint was TNT reporter Nick Charles' incessantly excessive praise of Fidel Castro during the Opening Ceremony.  ABC's legendary sportscaster Jim McKay interviewed Fidel Castro during the games.  TNT planned live coverage of the Closing Ceremony, but was forced to switch instead to an NFL Sunday Night football game's pregame show when Castro's tardiness delayed the start from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM ET.

MAR DEL PLATA 1995      The 1995 games were the first since 1971 not seen on network television in the U.S.  Negotiations on a TV deal collapsed at the last minute, forcing the United States Olympic Committee to step in.  The USOC arranged with Turner Sports and Prime Network for a series of syndicated 60min. magazine-style broadcasts to be aired nightly on various regional cable sports networks.  A total of 25 hours of programming was produced.  As many of these networks were already committed to other programs in prime time, the Pan American Games shows were often aired at 2 or 3 in the morning.  Ratings were undoubtedly dismal.

WINNIPEG 1999      The 1999 games suffered a similar fate, as the rights deal fell through at the last minute.  Univision did air extensive spanish-language coverage in the U.S.  The rest of the U.S. had to be content with a 2 hour highlights show on ESPN the day after the games ended, hosted by Sandra Neil.      In Canada, the 1999 games were telecast by CBC and The Sports Network (TSN) in a joint effort.  CBC provided 38 hours of primetime coverage (including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies) and TSN aired 50 hours of daytime coverage.  CBC also provided the world feed.

SANTO DOMINGO 2003      CBC bought the rights to the XIVth Pan American Games for US$10,000,000.  They aired 16 hours of coverage in Canada, in the form of weeknight highlight shows and live weekend afternoon broadcasts that were hosted by Scott Russell. (The Thursday August 14 highlight show was cancelled due to the massive blackout that hit much of the northeast U.S. and parts of Canada.)  CBC also provided the world feed.

 

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