Singapore has eventually decided to broadcast the 2016 Rio Olympics live after mounting public criticism from a handful of people questioning why a country aiming to be a sporting nation cannot show sports on TV as it happens.

Mediacorp has since brokered a new last-minute deal with Dentsu, the Olympics broadcast rights holder, after re-entering negotiations on Thursday, Aug. 5, a day before the event starts.

The Olympic Games, a two-week event once every four years where people do things as fast and hard as possible to win a prize, will be shown on up to five channels at one time.

From Saturday, Aug. 6 to Aug. 22, Singapore timing, okto and four Toggle channels online will show the Games live.

No mention was made on how much the deal costs, but it is estimated to be below S$8 million.

The Games will mostly be shown during the graveyard shift at 3am Singapore time -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is 11 hours behind -- which means that if five people here stayed up to watch, the cost could be anywhere up to S$1.6 million per pax.

During the last Games, Mediacorp was believed to have paid about US$2.5 million (S$3.33 million) for the free-to-air fees of the 2012 London Olympic Games. This excludes technical costs, which was thought to be over US$1 million (S$1.33 million).

Previously, it was reported that Singapore will not show the Games here because cost concerns were a "commercial decision", but without explicitly saying that the government was unwilling to pay through its nose for broadcast rights.

Singapore stands a strong chance of winning medals in a number of sports, including swimming (Joseph Schooling in the 100m butterfly), table tennis (Feng Tianwei in the women’s singles), shooting (Jasmine Ser in the women’s 10m air-rifle and 50m three positions) and sailing (Colin Cheng in the Men’s Laser Standard).

The Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is estimated to be held at the expense of the host country, which will be left in economic ruin.

Top photo via Joseph Schooling Facebook

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