The CBC at prayer

Canada's national network is the host broadcaster for the Pope's visit to Toronto this month. But that may not turn out to be a blessing, RAY CONLOGUE writes

By RAY CONLOGUE, The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, July 2, 2002

"Plus we're bringing in extra mobile units from Vancouver and Montreal," says Mark Bolgutch, the executive producer of CBC's coverage.

But in exchange for being the sole broadcaster allowed to cover the event, the CBC is obliged to share all footage free of charge with other broadcasters, both domestic and international, as it is filmed. The public network will enjoy no advantage in its coverage of the event.

Why is the CBC spending so much money if it has to give the product away?

"CBC must be getting money from somebody to do this," Bolgutch says. "It's not out of the goodness of our hearts."

But neither Bolgutch nor other CBC employees has been told what the financial arrangements are. Spokeswoman Ruth-Ellen Soles said only that the network has a contract with Catholic authorities that "will generate money for CBC."

Catholic authorities, however, were more forthcoming. The CBC will receive the exclusive right to sell and use footage of the event after it takes place. "And they'll be able to put out videos of the event afterward," says Paul Kilbertus of the National World Youth Day organization, a Catholic association that handles all the business arrangements for World Youth Day events.

Videos of any event involving the Pope are hot sellers in Catholic countries. In addition, there is a steady demand from foreign television and film-production companies for footage of the Pope, "and CBC will have the rights to the images," says Bill Kokesch of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The public network was selected by Catholic authorities to be the "host broadcaster" for the Pope's visit to celebrate World Youth Day, starting with his arrival on July 23 and leading up to an open-air mass on July 28 that will be attended by as many as a million people.

Being chosen as "host broadcaster" by the Vatican is prestigious, Bolgutch says. But it also carries a lot of responsibility. If CBC equipment fails, or bad weather prevents transmission of the signal to other countries, then broadcasters around the world will be unable to show the event.

In the case of an outdoor event such as the Way of the Cross on July 26, a storm would prevent any broadcast at all. "If there's lightning that night, we're in trouble," Bolgutch says. "Our wireless signal is coming off a moving crane, and it can't go up if there's lightning. And the helicopter might not get up. It'd be a mess on TV."

The Way of the Cross is the event that most troubles CBC organizers. It involves actors at fixed locations on Toronto's University Avenue enacting the 12 Stations of the Cross in sequence. Thousands of onlookers will be at each "station," and the CBC will have two mobile cameras leapfrogging each other up University Avenue to film each performance as the previous one ends.

"The public will be asked to leave a lane of the road open for the cameras to move, but it's hard to get 300,000 people to behave themselves," Bolgutch says.

The frail health of the Pope, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, means that any personal interview with him is out of the question. When not doing public events, John Paul will stay at a Catholic retreat on Strawberry Island in Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. Only Vatican television will be permitted there.

"The Vatican press office will give us, World Youth Day, video images from Strawberry Island, which we will give to CBC," Kilbertus says.

The fact that the Pope recently failed to complete a public mass in Rome due to exhaustion is also troubling broadcasters.

"The Pope is one of the unknowns," Bolgutch says. "Nobody knows how much he'll be able to do. But everybody's willing to be patient."

All four Canadian broadcasters are taking the feed from CBC, but unlike the host broadcaster, says Dennis Macintosh of CTV, they will only broadcast portions of it. CTV and its local subsidiary, CFTO, will cover the Pope's arrival, the welcoming ceremony at Exhibition Stadium on Thursday, "and, of course, the mass on Sunday will be on the whole network." But only portions of the Way of the Cross will be shown on Newsnet, CTV's all-news channel, depending on how many other news stories break that day.

"One thing we asked for was to use our helicopter, since we own one, for the travelling stuff, but we've been refused," Macintosh says. "Only the CBC's rented helicopter can go in. The organizers are nervous about the Pope and, of course, they're nervous about who's up in the sky.

Other broadcasters are permitted to bring a camera to the events, but only to film their own broadcasters on site. "CBS wants to show Tom Brokaw reporting directly from the scene," Kokesch says.

They can also film the crowd, but are strictly forbidden from training their cameras on the Pope or the clergy. Only CBC may film them.