Eurosport, the no. 1 pan-European sports media group which broadcasts in 20
languages and reaches 131m homes across 54 countries celebrates 25 years in the
business. Under new CEO Jean-Thierry Augustin – himself a Eurosport veteran – the
channel is not resting on its laurels but forging ahead on all platforms and using its
partnership with new stakeholder Discovery to full advantage. What are the priorities?
y priorities are
to keep
Eurosport as a
strong broadcast
platform in
Europe, to
strengthen
Eurosport 2, and to increase
localisation in selected markets so
that we can enjoy the strength of
being both pan‐European and local.
This is one angle.
The second angle is to strengthen
our partnership with Discovery. We
have launched a two‐hour weekly
block on Discovery’s Velocity
channel in the US, and this is some‐
thing we would like to do on a world‐
wide basis. And we are one of the
few TV media groups that has been
developing a very strong foothold
in digital. We are also working on
our own content, we are growing
the business in all segments.
What does Discovery bring to the
table?
Eurosport and Discovery are the
two leading media brands in pay‐
TV in Europe. Together, we are
stronger jointly in certain areas, and
there are areas where we
complement each other. We have
been working together when it
comes to distribution, where we
have set up a joint organisation
which means we can better serve
our clients with Discovery in the
Eurosport portfolio.
Another area where we are
cooperating is advertising.
Eurosport is known for its pan‐
European advertising business.
Discovery has a fully localised
model so we’ll work with Discovery
to develop local advertising where
it makes sense.
We have started a cooperation
with SBS – a company Discovery
bought in 2012 – to jointly sell
advertising on Eurosport in
Sweden for instance.
I should stress that with its pan‐
European advertising, including on
digital, Eurosport provides quite
complex solutions for international
advertisers. We are able to qualify
audiences very well and offer
advertisers the opportunity to be
seen in a very wide environment.
What matters in advertising is to
get in touch with people. On TV,
online and through the Eurosport
mobile apps we are able reach a
very wide audience.
We are developing Eurosport360,
an innovative multi‐feed service, as
a powerful add‐on to Eurosport
and Eurosport 2. For the Grand
Slams, for example, it has
additional content which is
available also on tablets, with a
very appealing interface.
Traffic
numbers
go through
the roof
when the
transfer
window is
active
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50
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ISSUE 1 2014
|
THE CHANNEL
A LIVING
BRAND
