The IOC has exploited China’s likely status as host of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games "to agree a bumper new broadcasting deal with China Central Television," according to THE NATION. The state broadcaster "has been awarded exclusive rights to screen the next four Games" in a deal believed to be worth some $550M. This "is more than double the sum agreed for the same rights covering the four Games from Vancouver 2010 to Rio 2016, and reflects Asia’s monopoly of Olympic hosting rights between 2018 and 2022." The new deal "represents a scarcely believable leap" from the $17.5M paid by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union for the TV rights (excluding new media) covering most of Asia, including China, for the Olympics in Beijing in '08. Even so, $550M "works out at only around" $0.40 per head of Chinese population for all four Games, compared with the approximately $3.80 per capita paid by NBC Universal for the right to air Rio 2016 on U.S. soil. CCTV President Hu Zhanfan described the deal as a “win-win agreement.” He said CCTV was "determined to be, as always, a powerful and exceptional partner of the IOC" (THE NATION, 12/5).
