Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Broadcast in 43 Sub-Saharan Africa Countries and Territories

LAUSANNE and ZUG, Switzerland, April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

- Infront and TV Media Sport successfully managed Olympic media rights distribution in Africa: Agreements sealed with 30 free to air national networks and TV5 Monde Africa

Sports fans across the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region were able to follow the story of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games on broadcast media in unprecedented scale and depth. In a collaborative approach, led by the leading international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media and supported with operations by the French-based sports event and television agency TV Media Sport (TVMS), Sochi 2014 coverage was achieved in 43 countries and territories within the region.

The wide exposure achieved was as a result of an exclusive media rights agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Infront, covering free-to-air television and radio rights, alongside non-exclusive internet and mobile rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. The programming offered to broadcasters in January and February included a live/delayed signal and highlights from all competitions as well as full coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

The successful media distribution effort has helped to further grow local interest in future Olympic events - particularly as the daily thirty minutes highlight programmes produced were tailored for African audiences with a focus on African athletes and the most popular competitions, complemented by the best moments of all disciplines. Broadcasters in turn further drove awareness and appeal for the Games through their own promotions and programming.

Great success in 30 African countries

Overall, the Sochi 2014 programming - including live broadcasts of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the highlights programmes - was made available on national TV in 30 countries. In addition the pan-regional network TV5 Monde Africa aired the programming available in all 43 sub-Saharan countries.

Timo Lumme, Managing Director, IOC Television and Marketing, said: "This project underlines the universality of the Olympic Movement and demonstrates that the Olympic Games are more than a sporting event. Today every continent wants to be part of and closely follow the Olympic Games, irrespective of the sports tradition of the country. We are looking forward to repeating this effort for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing together with our partner Infront."

Stephan Herth, Executive Director at Infront, added: "Securing Olympic Winter Games coverage in the entire Sub-Saharan region in a first distribution attempt means we fully delivered on our promise to the IOC and sports fans in Africa. Although winter sport is still a new area for most African broadcasters, their appetite for tailor-made broadcast coverage of Olympic Games was significant. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the event coverage had a huge impact with the local audiences. This success provides us with a great basis for upcoming IOC distribution tasks."

Hédi Hamel, CEO of TV Media Sport, added: "The wide exposure we have achieved with our network of national and local broadcasters in a short lead time was a great success. We have connected the African TV audience to the biggest universal sports event. The quality of our partnership with Infront is a developing force and will greatly contribute to the penetration of major international sports events in the continent."

For further information, please contact:

Jörg Polzer / Nike Möhle
Corporate Communications
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723-17-18
Fax +41-41-723-15-16
press@infrontsports.com
http://www.infrontsports.com

IOC Media Relations Team
Tel: +41-21-621-6000
pressoffice@olympic.org
http://www.olympic.org