Production company NEP Australia has extended its long-running association with the Commonwealth Games by being awarded the host broadcaster contract for the 2018 edition of the multi-sport event, which will take place in the Gold Coast region of Australia.
Gold Coast 2018 will be NEP’s fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games with the Australian-based company having delivered the broadcast for the Glasgow 2014, Delhi 2010 and the Melbourne 2006 Games.
NEP will be aided in the delivery of the contract by Gold Coast 2018’s Australian rights holder, commercial broadcaster Seven, and UK production company Sunset+Vine.
Stirling Hinchcliffe, Minister for the Commonwealth Games for the Queensland government, said: “This announcement will deliver more than 1,200 jobs and also hundreds of training opportunities for students here in Queensland. Importantly… NEP Australia will provide training for 200 local college and university students in the lead up to the Games and give them real-life exposure to a major international event. This investment in our state’s students will be a tremendous legacy from the Games and will help to build the next generation of broadcast talent in our state.”
NEP Australia is in the process of establishing an office in Bundall on the Gold Coast. It will also manage the design, installation and operation of the International Broadcast Centre for the Games.
Gold Coast 2018 chief executive Mark Peters said: “Today’s announcement of NEP as our host broadcaster gives us absolute confidence that the best possible coverage of GC2018 will be delivered and, in doing so, showcase the Gold Coast as a world destination event city and images of Queensland around the globe. NEP’s broadcast will also include ultra high definition broadcast of the opening ceremony – four times the resolution of current high definition.”
The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will be held from April 4-15, 2018.