Will Canadians be stuck watching NBC during future Olympics?

Canadian broadcasters have teamed up to try and buy domestic media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics, but apparently they still can’t afford them. The International Olympic Committee has shut down two joint bids by CBC and Bell Media (which owns CTV and TSN), and Bell says it’s giving up. Meanwhile, Rogers Communications never even bothered vying for the rights—mostly because they are pretty darn expensive and the Games tend to be money-losers. (Rogers and Bell paid $153 million for the 2010 and 2012 Games; they lost money in Vancouver and are expected to lose more in London.) That leaves the financially strapped CBC to try and go it alone or attempt a long-shot joint bid with Shaw Communications. Or (please, no!) it could just leave Canadians to watch NBC during the Sochi and Rio de Janeiro Games‚ which would mean no feel-good features on Canadian athletes, no French-language feed and broadcasts helmed by the wrong Brian Williams. [Toronto Star]