Hard to believe. And yet. Yannis Exarchos, the imposing boss of OBS (Olympic Broadcasting Services), recalled this on Wednesday August 28 at a press conference, a few hours before the opening ceremony: the first Paralympic Games broadcast on television date back less than 'a quarter of a century. Sydney 2000 for the summer. Salt Lake City 2002 for winter.
« At the time, only a few hours of coverage, remembers the Greek. With perhaps a dozen countries having picked up the footage.» The figures can make you smile. In Paris, the Paralympic Games displayed record media coverage, the widest in history, light years from the hesitant beginnings of Sydney 2000 and Salt Lake City 2002.
John Lisko, IPC's managing director of global media rights, weighed in: “ During the twelve days of the Games, more than 225 broadcasters – TV, digital, audio – will cover the event in all parts of the world. For the first time in the history of the Paralympic Games, all eight billion people on the planet will have the opportunity to see the Games. »
The list displays a fine series of audiovisual heavyweights: NBC in the United States, Channel Nine in Australia, present for the first time, NHK in Japan, Channel Four in Great Britain (Discovery and the BBC covered the Olympic Games ), ASBU for the Middle East and North Africa, TVMS for Sub-Saharan Africa.
For the host country, France Télévisions announces that the Paralympic Games will be present 24 hours a day, on its two channels France 2 and France 3. The daily show Quels Jeux, launched for the Olympic Games, is renewed. A platform has been set up on the Place de l'Etoile, in front of the Arc de Triomphe where the IPC agitos are hung.
Never behind on an innovation, the Paralympic body has signed an agreement with YouTube for the broadcast of all 22 sports in the program. It provides free, live access to the competitions and the two ceremonies in 175 territories, in Asia, Africa and America. The platform will also offer more than 1.200 clips and highlights of the events on its dedicated channel.
At the helm, OBS. The IOC subsidiary responsible for producing Games images no longer packs up its equipment after the Olympic Games close. At the request of the IPC, it also works on the Paralympics.
Yannis Exarchos makes no secret of it: its operation has been revised downwards. But it remains solid. The OBS team numbers 2.500 people, coming from 81 countries. It is reinforced by 350 students, more than half of whom are women, recruited for the Games as young professionals. In total, 250 cameras are deployed at Paralympic venues, 25% more than three years earlier at the Tokyo Games.
« We anticipate 1.450 hours of coverage, which represents an increase of 11% compared to the Tokyo 2020 Games., explains Yannis Exarchos. We also aim to interview 1.500 athletes in a mixed zone. For the first time, we will offer part of all 22 sports in the program live. For athletics, for example, we added an additional feed. We will have three, a number that will allow us to present the events like never before. »
At the IBC, the imposing audiovisual media center installed since the Olympic Games at the Le Bourget exhibition center, nothing has changed much, assures Yannis Exarchos. “The facility remains the same, as do the services, with only a few adjustments”, he says. But the corridors are less crowded. Four thousand people are accredited for the audiovisual media. There were 18.000 at the Olympic Games.
Same reduction in size for the main center of the written press and photographers. Installed at the Palais des Congrès at Porte Maillot for the Olympic Games, it was repatriated to the headquarters of the COJO Paris 2024, the Pulse building in Saint-Denis.
