Page 28 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 2 2011

very day, every month, every year, we
cover major sports events but London
2012 will be the climax of our year‑long
coverage of Olympic sports. As a pan‑
European broadcaster it is very exciting
for us to see the next Games taking
place in the heart of Europe. The UK is
a place where sport is celebrated so we know there will
be a good atmosphere around the 2012 Games. In
addition, London is very convenient for us from an
organisational point of view. Our teams will of course
be based there during the whole event, but we can also
easily send additional teams just for a few days when
needed.
What are the challenges in London?
Given the lack of space for production facilities in the
capital, the Eurosport studio in the IBC will not be as
big as we wanted but this will not be a problem for us
and will not affect our 24/7 coverage.
What resources are you allocating?
To give you an idea, when we cover a grand slam
tournament like Roland Garros – even if it is just on
our doorstep – we only send a team of 25‑30 people.
We started working on London 2012 as early as mid‑
2010. From June this year we have dedicated a team of
10 people to work full‑time on the event, and during
the Games this will apply to 100% of our staff. We'll be
sending a team of approximately 100 including
journalists, sports producers, production staff, sales
teams and communication experts.
ALL SPORTS,
ALL EMOTIONS
Since launching in 1989, Eurosport
has grown from a single TV
channel to the leading European
multimedia platform, broadcasting
in 20 languages across 59
countries. The brand review
completed in early 2011 put the
sports fans and their emotions at
the heart of the narrative. Now, in
the run-up to and during the 2012
Olympics, Eurosport's Director of
Programmes and Broadcasting
Julien Bergeaud has to translate
this into actual programming –
how is he doing this?
E