olympic broadcasting through the years (2008 - 1924)

Beijing
2008

Turin
2006

Athens2004

Salt Lake
2002

2001

Sydney2000

The Beijing Games is the first
OBS operation, as an agreement
is signed between OBS and theOrganising Committee toestablish Beijing Olympic
Broadcasting Co. Ltd (BOB) as
the Host Broadcaster. For the
first time, all multilateral live
coverage is in HDTV with 5.1
surround sound and OBS
provides a record 5,000 hours oflive HD content.

Broadcasters maximise
opportunities in new media
technology, providing viewers
with more access through theInternet, mobile phones andmultiple television channels. For
the first time in history, viewers
in sub-Saharan Africa are able toexperience the Olympic WinterGames.

For the first time, broadcasters incertain countries offer live action
and highlight videos streamed tomobile phone handsets using
3G-technology and live video
streams via the Internet throughdedicated web sites. More than
300 television channels provide a
total of 35,000 hours ofdedicated coverage, and 3.9billion viewers in 220 countries
and territories, each watches anaverage of more than 12 hours ofcoverage.

The IOC launches aninternational tender process
resulting in International Sports
Broadcasting (ISB), a small
private organisation, serving as
the 2002 Host Broadcaster.
For the first time, the hostbroadcaster covers all Winterevents live, and reach 2.1 billion
viewers in 160 countries.
100 million viewers in India
receive free-to-air coverage forthe first time.

The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) announces theestablishment of a permanent Host
Broadcaster for the Olympic
Games. The Host Broadcaster
operations would be performed bya private company funded by andunder the direct supervision of theIOC. Olympic Broadcasting
Services (OBS) is officiallyestablished in May 2001 with themission to develop a moreconsistent, organised approach to
the Host Broadcast operation.

Olympic broadcast reaches 3.7
billion viewers in 220 countries.

Nagano1998

Atlanta
1996

Lillehammer
1994

Barcelona
1992

Albertville
1992

Los Angeles
1984

Television coverage of theGames is provided to
180 countries and territories.
The Olympic Winter Games arebroadcast live in Australia for
the first time.

The broadcast reaches arecord 214 countries.

More than 120 countries andterritories view television
coverage of the Games, and, forthe first time, the Winter Gamesare broadcast on the African
continent.

Launch of a central broadcasting
service, independent from any
domestic broadcaster, providing
the international signal for all
events to the International
Broadcast Centre (IBC).
Coverage of additional events is
sublicensed to other cable andsatellite broadcasters, expanding
the total sports coverage. Further
HDTV testing takes place, withmore than 40 HDTV cameras andtheir support systems deployed,providing 225 hours of Olympic
programming.

The first major sports event inEurope to be produced andtransmitted in analogue HDTV
– in parallel to the standard
coverage in PAL and NTSC.
Reception is provided at about
150 special viewing sites
throughout Europe.

The Host Broadcast operation as
it is recognised today is
introduced. ABC, the U.S.
domestic rights holder, serves as
the host broadcaster andprovides the international signal
which can be supplemented bybroadcasters’ independently
produced unilateral signals forthe first time. Television and radio
rights are acquired by 156
countries. More than 2.5 billion
people watch the Olympic
Games.

ww.obs.tv

olympic broadcasting through the years (2008 - 1924)

Munich1972

Sapporo1972

Mexico City
1968

Tokyo
1964

Rome
1960

Melbourne
1956

For the first time, theinternational signal is createdfor global distribution and isseparate and clearly distinct
from the domestic broadcast.

Japanese network NHKprovides the television feed forbroadcasters to choose thecoverage they want – serving
as an initial model for today’s
host broadcast organisation.

The Olympic Games arebroadcast live fully in colour for
the first time to the world. Firstuse of hand-held colour
cameras bring new intimacy tocoverage.

Satellite broadcast coverage isused to relay images overseas
and the Games reach aworldwide audience for the firsttime. The first Olympics to beaired in colour (limited to a few
select events and broadcast onlyin Japan).

The first Olympic Games toreceive significant TV coverage
across Europe, with a total of 18
countries broadcasting theGames. Furthermore, for the firsttime, viewers in the UnitedStates, Canada and Japan areable to see the Olympics on
television, through a combinationof taped and live events.
Broadcast rights are introduced
for the first time.

The Organising Committee
asked the international
broadcast community to pay
rights fee for access to thetelevision feed. EBU (Europe)and all three North America
broadcasters (NBC, ABC, CBS)refused to pay and, as a result,international television
coverage of the Games waslimited, and only Australians
were able to enjoy live
broadcast.

Cortina
1956

London
1948

Berlin
1936

Paris
1924

The first ever Olympic WinterGames to be broadcast live andoutside the host country, with
the Italian public broadcaster
distributing the signal for free
to 61 broadcast organisations
around the world.

For the first time, select eventsare covered by multiple cameras(3-4). More than 500,000
viewers, most residing within a
50-mile radius of London, watch
the 64 hours of Olympic
programming.

The first Olympic Games to be
televised, in and around Berlin
only, with a total of 138 viewing
hours and 162,000 viewers. Oneof three cameras was capable oflive coverage – only when thesun was shining.

The first Olympic Games totransmit live radio broadcasts ofOlympic events, although thelack of an international
broadcasting standard meant theaudience was limited mainly tothe home nation.

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