China’s General Administration of Sport and its State Administration of Radio and Television signed an agreement in Beijing yesterday to jointly create a platform for events, programmes and content covering summer and winter Olympic sports.
A new content platform will be created with programming focused on Chinese athletes and Olympic events. The upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be an early focus, followed by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. There will also be particular focuses on coverage of winter sports and ‘youth-interest’ sports.
The goal of the partnership is to create high-quality sports content with Chinese characteristics and focused on Chinese narratives, and to increase the appeal of sport among Chinese audiences.
The events and content will be carried on Chinese state-owned media, which includes China Central Television (CCTV), China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Radio International and China National Radio. These organisations were merged into one broadcasting platform in 2018 called “Zhongguo Zhisheng”, which translates to “Voice of China”, and is also referred to as Central Radio and Television Station, and China Media Group.
At a ceremony yesterday to launch the partnership, Shen Haixiong, deputy minister of the Central Propaganda Department and president of China Media Group, and Gou Zhongwen, director of the General Administration of Sport and Chinese Communist Party secretary, signed the agreement and delivered speeches on behalf of both parties.
Shen said: “In recent years, [China Media Group] has promoted the development of media integration, while exploring 5G, and 4k and 8K streaming mediums, and artificial intelligence applications, attaching great importance to the innovation of content. Sports is a very important pillar of our content plan, and this strategic cooperation will help increase more attention at home and abroad, as well as more exciting content for audiences.”
Gou said: “[China Media Group] is one of the most authoritative and influential platforms to shape public opinion, and this in-depth cooperation will build on our synergies and integrate our resources to promote sports in China.”