CBC comes up short in Beijing

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. will not be able to provide cable broadcasts to Canadian Olympic venues in Beijing, CBC officials said.

Athletes' families and friends who traveled to the Olympic Games to cheer Canadian teams won't be able to watch events on special television feeds at Canada Olympic House or in their hotel rooms, as in past Games, the Vancouver Sun reported.

CBC also won't be available at the B.C.-Canada Pavilion near Tiananmen Square, the report said.

Steve Moore, CBC's executive producer of sports, told the newspaper the situation was caused by the CBC's lack of a broadcast license in China and the prohibitive cost.

Moore said NBC was finally allowed by Chinese authorities to put a feed into the company's hotel rooms and the hotels of sponsors, "but it was at a huge costs."