At least 18 European Broadcasting Union (EBU) members will show coverage of the International Biathlon Union’s (IBU) Biathlon World Championships, which get underway in Antholz Anterselva, Italy today (Wednesday).
EBU members broadcasting the event include the Nordic quintet of TV2 (Denmark) YLE (Finland), RUV (Iceland), NRK (Norway) and SVT (Sweden). ERR in Estonia and LT in Latvia have also committed to broadcasting the championships.
Elsewhere, the event will be broadcast by ORF (Austria), BTRC (Belarus), CT (Czech Republic), ARD and ZDF (Germany), Rai (Italy), C1R (Russia), SKRTVS (Slovakia), SIRTVS (Slovenia), SRG SSR (Switzerland) and UA:PBC (Ukraine).
Other broadcasters of the event include Eurosport and Eurosport Asia, as well as NBC in the US. Polish commercial broadcaster Polsat, French free-to-air digital-terrestrial broadcaster L’Équipe, Russian sports broadcaster Match TV and Chinese state broadcaster CCTV have also secured rights.
More than 330 hours of live coverage will air on linear television, with the majority of broadcasters to also offer supplementary digital coverage. The EBU noted that coverage will increase by 10 per cent compared to last year’s World Championships in Östersund, Sweden following the addition of Iceland’s RUV and Italy’s Rai as EBU members.
The EBU extended its rights deal with the IBU back in May 2016. The four-year agreement covers the 2018-19 to 2021-22 seasons and extends a relationship that began over 20 years ago.
The deal grants the EBU and its rights-holding members access to free-to-air coverage of at least 36 World Cups, three World Championships and various other IBU events.
This year’s World Championships will take place at the Südtirol Arena Alto Adige and will run through to February 23. Eurovision Services, an EBU company, will serve as the host broadcaster.