Bell Media and the CBC have abandoned a joint effort to land media rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games, raising the possibility that Canada could be without a domestic broadcaster for one of the world’s most-watched sporting events.

The announcement comes after the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Bell submitted two joint bids that were rejected by the International Olympic Committee.

CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson said the public broadcaster is taking a step back for now, but may consider making a solo bid in the future.

If the cash-strapped corporation chooses to do so, it could face little competition.

A spokesman for Bell Media, which owns CTV and TSN, said the company will not pursue the Games further. Rogers Communications, which owns Sportsnet, has already passed.

“You take a look at the numbers and at some point you have to wonder whether the IOC is pricing themselves out of the market,” said Richard Powers, a sports industry analyst at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Broadcasters have approached this bid with caution after a Rogers Communications and Bell Media partnership suffered losses from the 2010 Vancouver Games.The companies spent $153 million for rights to the Vancouver and 2012 London Games. This summer’s Olympics are expected to be a money-loser as well.

The next Winter Games take place in Sochi, Russia, while the 2016 Summer Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro.

“We presented not one, but two fiscally responsible bids that are reflective of the Canadian marketplace,” Phil King, president of CTV Programming and Sports, said in a news release Monday. “Unfortunately, we were not able to reach agreement on terms with the IOC.”

As the CBC mulls over whether to make another go at the Games, the hard-up broadcaster is also attempting to reduce its annual budget by $200 million over the next three years, plus find $25 million for severance. And then there is the increasing speculation over what it will take for the CBC to keep Hockey Night in Canada, a cultural touchstone that is crucial to the network’s relevance and bottom line, once its contract with the NHL ends in 2014.

Though it may be a long shot, the CBC could seek a partnership with Shaw Communications, the Western Canadian cable provider, to make another run at a joint Olympics bid. It’s also possible a web-based company like Yahoo Inc. could step in and make a bid to broadcast the games to a Canadian audience online, analysts say.

“It’s not unrealistic at all,” said Powers, “that an online provider would pick this up and really do well with it.”

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Yahoo has not weighed in on the Games.

If no domestic broadcaster makes a successful bid for the Olympics, Canadian viewers would be forced to turn to NBC for coverage. Tuning into the U.S. broadcaster would mean no French-language feed and a focus on American rather than homegrown athletes.

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