European Games Broadcast Exceeds Expectations -- On the Scene

(ATR) With just 16 months between signing as host broadcaster for the inaugural European Games until going live with pictures, International Sports Broadcasting’s Manolo Romero says initial feedback has been better than expected.

ISB’s role serving the new multi-sports event is two-fold. The highly experienced global broadcasting company, founded by Romero in 1996, is producing more than 1,000 hours of coverage over 17 days from Baku. Additionally, ISB has assisted the European Olympic Committees (EOC) with rights sales.

"I would say the broadcast is one of the great successes of these Games," Romero said, addressing reporters on Thursday in Baku. "People believed in this project and then offered their money for the broadcast. They’ve had the opportunity to showcase the Games to their countries."

Taking into account that these Games are essentially an unknown commodity, convincing potential broadcasters that the 20-sport event would be appealing to TV audiences was not an easy task.

"It is a new event, so it was difficult to explain how this new event would be and why it would be worthwhile for broadcasters to come and broadcast the games," Romero said.

"We had to target Olympic rights holders, they should be the ones most interested in covering the European Games."

Baku 2015 chief operating officer Simon Clegg said there wasan "extensive level of interest throughout Europe".

"We can confidently say that the majority of Europe has access to the European Games," he said.

Forty-five of the 50 countries participating in the Games are providing coverage, with Kosovo - only recognized by the IOC last December - coming on board just one day before the June 12 opening ceremony.

The five participating nations not providing coverage are Malta, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. Macedonia pulled out just one day before the Games opened.Of the 45, 27 are Olympic rights holders, while 34 are free-to-air rights holders. The average daily amount of programming being seen is 5.7 hours.

"Feedback has been very positive," Romero said. "Some broadcasters have reported that ratings have been better than average."

The Games can also be seen on a dedicated YouTube Channel. There is also livestreaming of events with commentary on Baku2015.com

"We wanted to have maximum distribution on all possible platforms in order to reach the maximum number of people," Romero said. "I think we have achieved that and it is beyond our original expectations."

"The coverage has been quite exceptional," Clegg said of Baku 2015 broadcasting, originating from 16 venues in the Caspian Sea city. "The job that Manolo and ISB has done has been fantastic and ISB was appointed only in February of last year."

Romero said that certain rights holders have been requesting additional coverage, wanting to see, for example, early round matches in various sports when a home athlete is competing."Sometimes this gives us headaches, but it is a good thing," he said.

Having received positive feedback with the Games entering day six of competition, some nations such as Finland are scrambling to find more airtime to show action.

While the Games are a continental competition, they are being seen outside Europe. Parts of North America, South America, China, Japan and Australia, among others, are also offering coverage.In total, 100 countries are receiving ISB’s signal, 46 of which are Olympic rights holders.

"Each multi-sport event has it’s own identity and we approached this as a new event," said Romero, widely considered one of sports TV’s pioneers. "We sometimes say we are the last element of the food chain – we need to have excellence in the sports, excellence in the venues and then it is up to us."

Summing up the overall positive feedback, Romero said: "I think the best proof is that a few [broadcasters] are already asking when do we get the rights for the next one."

Reported in Baku by Brian Pinelli

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