Dial in to the Olympics ...
2005-06-23 21:10
Geneva - The European Broadcasting Union said on Thursday that it would seek bids from companies interested in offering viewers the chance to watch the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the 2008 Games in Beijing on cellphones.
Invitations to tender will be launched shortly based on mobile video packages covering a single country or groups of countries, the EBU said in a statement.
The EBU, which groups 72 television and radio stations in 52 countries, holds the overall broadcasting rights in Europe for the two events.
"The EBU wishes to further complement comprehensive television coverage with the opportunity for Europeans to be able to watch images of the Olympic Games over cellphone devices at a time and place of their choosing," said Stefan Kuerten, director of Eurovision operations.
"Athens 2004 highlighted the ever increasing appeal of the Olympic Games."
"European television audiences reached record levels with viewers watching an average of 14 hours of broadcast coverage over the 17 days of the competition," he added.
- AFP