THURSDAY, 1.00PM:
IF Cape Town wins the 2004 Olympic Bid, the South African Broadcasting Coporation’s Topsport channel will pay more than $15-million if it wants the broadcast rights to the Games. Topsport general manager Edward Griffiths said they are still negotiating with the International Olympic Committee, which owns the world-wide television rights to the games.
Griffiths also confirmed that negotiations with the IOC for the rights to the 2000 Games in Sydney are at an advanced stage. He said should Cape Town win, the rights will go to the public broadcaster and not the pay channel. “The IOC has traditionally had a commitment to the public broadcaster in the country hosting the games because they want the event to be seen by the widest possible audience,” he said.