Baku, Azerbaijan, June 18
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
The level of broadcast of the First European Games in Baku are beyond our original expectations, Manolo Romero, Vice Chair of the OBS Board of Directors said at the press conference in Baku on June 18.
He said that from very beginning there has been defined strategy which was very clear and was the one they followed.
"First, we had to target Olympic right holders. Olympic right holders that cover the Olympic games should be one most interested in covering the European games because many of the sports are very well known and are qualified for Rio," Romero said.
The second target, according to Romero, was to have maximum distribution, maximum number of hours in all possible platforms in order to reach the maximum number of viewers.
"We have now achieved that. We have 45 of 50 European countries - participants of the Games, covering them. From those 27 are Olympic rights holders," Romero said.
He said that the opening ceremony was covered in 40 of those 45 countries live. The rest covered the highlights. And the average daily programing is 5.7 hours per day, according to Romero.
"30 of non-European countries covered the opening ceremony LIVE. And the average daily programing is 2 hours per day in those countries," Romero said.
He also stressed that there is also digital coverage.
Romero said the overall feedback from the broadcasters is very positive both in terms of the quality of coverage and ratings. Many of the broadcasters, according to Romero said that the venues look magnificent, the look of the games is fantastic, and they are happy with the way it is being presented.
The European Games that kicked off in Baku June 12, will last till June 28.
There is a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.
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