Data for Internet broadband streaming and mobile media platform coverage of the Winter Olympics in Turin reveal a rapidly increasing acceptance of these new distribution mechanisms, especially among younger audiences.
In addition to the extensive and rich coverage of the Winter Games by the European Broadcast Union (EBU) members on free-to-air television, European broadband Internet users were able to watch a large selection of live and on-demand streams available on a number of EBU members’ and sub-licensees’ websites in a wide variety of languages. These included ORF (Austria); TV2 (Denmark); ETV (Estonia); France Télévisions (France); Eurosport, Wanadoo (France, UK); ARD and ZDF (Germany); RUV (Iceland); RAI (Italy); NPB (Netherlands); NRK (Norway); TVP (Poland); SVT (Sweden) SF, TSR and TSI (Switzerland); and, BBC and Tiscali (United Kingdom).
By the end of the Games over 23 million live and on-demand video streams had been distributed over the Internet, amounting to some 400 terabytes of moving-image data delivered. At peak times over 45 000 concurrent streams were being viewed by Internet users in more than 35 countries within the Eurovision territory. Content was delivered to more than 1 500 000 individual viewers across the Eurovision territory in more than 10 languages.
This extensive coverage was supplemented by a comprehensive offering of live and on-demand coverage over mobile media platforms. Through a wide range of sub-licensing and co-operation agreements with European mobile operators, moving image content of the Olympic Games was available in Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
The distribution of video over the Internet and on mobile platforms by EBU members and sub-licensees, which corresponded also to an express wish of the IOC, surpassed that of the Athens Games in 2004 after just four days of going online and proved that these additional offers meet the viewing habits of a new and young user group. With the provision of these additional services, which are complementary to the extensive television coverage, EBU members fulfilled their objective to make coverage of the Games available to the widest possible audience and as many groups of society as possible.
This marks one of the largest sports events, if not the largest, ever covered over broadband and mobile telecommunications platforms in Europe, allowing European viewers to complement their television viewing by watching the Games at a time and location of their choice.
For further information: email sports@eurovision.net.
