TVNZ Taking The Olympics To The Pacific

TVNZ Taking The Olympics To The Pacific

Pacific Island audiences this year will be able to see more television coverage of the Olympic Games than ever before. Arrangements have just been concluded enabling viewers to see next month's events around the clock, a mix of live and pre-recorded coverage from Beijing.

TVNZ's Pacific Service, TVNZ Sport, the International Olympic Committee and Oceania National Olympic Committees have combined to ensure viewers right across the Pacific, from Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia to the Cook Islands and Niue, can receive extensive satellite coverage of the Games.

Manager of TVNZ's Pacific Service, Ric Carlyon, says that in the past these territories have, at best, received TVNZ's domestic programming or pre-recorded hour-long daily highlights packages. "Now they join viewers the world over with up-to-the-minute coverage, 24 hours a day for the duration of the Games. Some of these territories are participating at Beijing so for the first time locals will have an opportunity to see their competitors".

TVNZ's Head of Sport, Murray Needham, says "we are very grateful to the Oceania National Olympic Committees and the IOC for their contribution which enables us to guarantee this extensive satellite transmission, ensuring that viewers, even in the most remote islands, have the opportunity to see the premier sporting event of 2008, the Olympic Games in Beijing".

It is envisaged that up to 17 TV stations will ultimately receive the extended coverage, a special feed produced by TVNZ Sport in Auckland and delivered into the Pacific by TVNZ Pacific Service, starting on August 6.

ENDS

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