IAAF Global Athletics (© IAAF)
MonteCarloLess than five months before the start of the Olympic Games, Athens will host the IAAF World Television Seminar, a two day forum for TV professionals to meet and exchange ideas of how to provide the best possible coverage of the number 1 Olympic sport on television.
President Lamine Diack said: “It has been 10 years since the last IAAF World Television Seminar and it is also vital for the sport’s future livelihood that we reconsider and redefine the manner in which it is broadcast. The competition with other sports for TV spectators is becoming increasingly fierce and Athletics needs to provide programming that is exciting, cost efficient and also has marketing potential. In short, our sport should be attractive to broadcasters.”
The Seminar, which takes place on 29/30 March, has a number of key goals:
• Introduce up-to-date, dynamic television coverage of Athletics to a new generation of TV producers so as to improve the status of the sport amongst viewers
• Harmonise the coverage of Track and Field Athletics worldwide
• Seek new ways to better inform the spectators in the stadium without harming the TV product
• Redefine Guidelines for Track and Field Athletics coverage and operations
The Seminar is being organised by the IAAF Television Commission, chaired by IOC Member Alex Gilady (ISR) and amongst the delegates will be Television producers and directors including representatives from Athens Olympic Broadcasting (AOB), IAAF Marketing Partner Dentsu as well as Timing and Data companies involved in the organisation of Athletics competitions.
More detailed information about the World Television Seminar Programme and Speakers will be released in the coming weeks.