CCTV World Cup Deal Ends in Ratings Crash
Before this World Cup kicked off, CCTV drew widespread praise online, and while a Bangladesh Cricket Match kept some sports fans busy elsewhere, many viewers admired how the broadcaster handled the rights deal. Facing FIFA’s expensive broadcast quote, CCTV managed to negotiate the price down and eventually secured the World Cup rights for only $60 million. Compared with previous market prices, the deal saved a huge amount of money, and at the time almost everyone believed it was a clever