The estimated over 3.7 billion spectators who plan on tuning into the Athens Olympics in 2004 can now breath a sigh of relief. The building that will broadcast images of the upcoming games has been built. In less than two years, the 130,000 m2 International Broadcasting Center (IBC) – a practical vision of steel, glass and reinforced concrete – sprung from a parking lot of the Athens’ Olympic Sport Complex (OAKA).
The first Athens Olympic venue to be completed was unveiled on May 5 with great fanfare, though a little shy of its original January 23 deadline. Now the building is in the Athens Olympic Broadcasting’s http://www.aob.gr/english (AOB) care. The AOB, host broadcaster of the game, must arrange the interior according to the needs of rights-holding broadcasters from around the world.
TV giants share Maroussi roof
NBC , Channel 7 and The Japan Consortium are among the Games’ 11 principal television rights holders who will call the IBC home during the games. They won’t be alone. Smaller rights holders, technicians/ staff and volunteers are expected to total 10,000 in the IBC on a 24-hour basis during the Olympics. It is where the official Olympic footage from each event will be streamed to and edited, then broadcast (or webcast) to audiences worldwide. (Non-rights holding broadcasters will work at the Main Press Centre, across the street).
The IBC has two symmetrical blocks of office space at its entrance, underground parking for 2,500 vehicles and a restaurant with a rooftop garden. However, the bulk of the space under greenery-covered roof (50,000m2 of 87,000m2 of functional space) is devoted to studios. It is one of 20 Olympic construction sites under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture. Good organisation was key and material transport the biggest challenge in the injury-free rapid construction, says architect Manos Symiakakis, of the office of Deputy Culture Minister Nassos Alevras. The project cost 105 million euros (initial figure without VAT).
Catering to broadcasters
“For two months,” says the AOB’s website, the IOB “will be the world’s largest broadcast operation.” As in Sydney, 12,000 accredited broadcasters are expected, along with their 1,000 cameras, over 400 editing suites and 55 broadcast vans. (AOB will provide some of this equipment). The broadcasters will start “moving in” a few months before the games. At venues, the AOB will ensure there are 1,795 commentator positions and 2,580 observer spots, notes the site.
Spaniard Manolo Romero and his International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) owns 90% of AOB. (ATHOC has 10%). ISB brings Athens its experience in broadcasting the Salt Lake City Winter Games, as well as Romero’s past work in Nagano and Sydney. AOB is now preparing the IBC studios for the increasingly digital needs of broadcasters. Telecommunications needs include dozens of kilometres of cables and the lasted web-broadcasting networks.
During the games, AOB will shoot 3,500 hours of video footage for official rights holders at each venue. Broadcasters in turn will be provided at the IOB with that footage to send to their viewers via optical fibers and satellite.
The AOB must catch up to Olympic coverage technology, with major players like NBC raising the stakes in time. In Salt Lake, for instance, NBC offered high-definition television (HDTV) broadcast of some events for the first time, while Sydney coverage was increasingly in digital (vs analogue) format.
To say Olympic broadcasting is essential for the 2004 games is an understatement. The International Olympic Committee reports that TV rights account for no less than 50% of Olympic revenue. In Sydney, Olympic broadcast revenue was $1.3 billion. In Greece, the IOC expects it will increase to $1.4 billion. The post-Olympics use of the IOB building has yet to be decided.
