The Infront Sports & Media agency and International Olympic Committee have hailed the success of the sub-Saharan broadcast strategy put in place for the 2014 Sochi winter Games, adding the initiative will be repeated for the forthcoming Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
In a collaborative approach, led by Infront and supported with operations by the French-based sports event and television agency TV Media Sport, Sochi 2014 coverage was achieved in 43 countries and territories within the region.
The project was as a result of an exclusive media rights agreement between the IOC and Infront, covering free-to-air television, non-exclusive internet and mobile rights in sub-Saharan Africa. The programming offered to broadcasters in January and February included a live/delayed signal and highlights from all competitions as well as full coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sochi Games.
Overall, the Sochi 2014 programming was made available on national television in 30 countries. In addition, pan-regional broadcaster TV5 Monde Africa aired the programming available in all 43 sub-Saharan countries.
Timo Lumme, managing director of IOC Television and Marketing, said: “This project underlines the universality of the Olympic Movement and demonstrates that the Olympic Games are more than a sporting event. We are looking forward to repeating this effort for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing together with our partner Infront.”
Stephan Herth, executive director at Infront, added: “Securing Olympic Winter Games coverage in the entire sub-Saharan region in a first distribution attempt means we fully delivered on our promise to the IOC and sports fans in Africa. Although winter sport is still a new area for most African broadcasters, their appetite for tailor-made broadcast coverage of Olympic Games was significant. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the event coverage had a huge impact with the local audiences. This success provides us with a great basis for upcoming IOC distribution tasks.”
Nanjing will host the 2014 summer Youth Olympics from August 16-28.