The new Olympic television channel will launch in English and possibly Spanish and Chinese initially before other languages are added, according to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) managing director for television and marketing services, Timo Lumme.
Lumme was speaking to the New York Times newspaper ahead of a vote by the IOC on the establishment of the channel that took place today (Monday). The IOC outlined that the launch of the channel would cost €490m ($612.5m) over its first seven years of operation and the proposal was approved unanimously this afternoon.
Lumme said that the channel’s primetime programming would be the same around the world, but the channel would offer tailored programming in different regions and countries.
“This is a way that people across all geographies and demographics can touch the Olympic brand at any time of year,” Lumme said.
“No question that technology is a huge enabler for us,” Lumme added. “If you go back 15 or 20 years, the notion of launching an Olympic channel and going through the regulations of each country in the world to launch a network would have been a much different proposition than what’s available to launch an internet digital channel across all territories to an addressable population.”
The creation of the channel is one of 40 recommendations aimed at modernising the IOC that the organisation is voting on in Monaco today and tomorrow.