High definition coverage for Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) Wednesday said that it has finalised deals with rights holding broadcasters from 13 countries across six continents.

Prasar Bharati is the host broadcast partner for Delhi 2010.

"The international broadcast exposure will beat all records set. The Games are to be viewed across Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and the United States, with additional daily news coverage reaching across 160 countries," said CGOC treasurer A.K. Mattoo.

The total contracted value for the 13 international rights holding broadcasters is $46,342,601 out of which CWGOC has already realised a sum of $34,224,000. The U.S. Canada and Tanzania are paying for the first time for Commonwealth Games broadcasts from overseas.

For the first time in the history of Commonwealth Games, all 17 sports disciplines and opening and closing ceremonies will be covered on High Definition Digital Format (HDTV). National rights holding broadcasters Doordarshan will telecast live opening and closing ceremonies besides all sporting events round the clock.

"The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) being set up at the Pragati Maidan is almost ready. This will be the nerve centre for all the broadcast activities. MTNL is providing Optical Fiber Connectivity (OFC) from all venues to the IBC to ensure the best possible images," Mattoo said.

"British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will be sending a crew of 250 while Australian broadcasting team will comprise 280 people," he said.

Prasar Bharati has appointed Satellite Information Services (SIS) Live of UK for production and coverage services. SIS Live will deploy over 1300 experts  across all venues. Approximately 345 HD cameras, including 38 Super SlowMotion cameras, 55 Robotic cameras, 40 RF cameras and 100 Slow Motion Servers are going to be part of the technical infrastructure.

A range of 'Speciality Cameras' will include 'Fly Cam' for overhead tracking shots at the ceremonies, athletics and swimming, 'Crawl Cam', 'Pole Cam' and 'Turn Cam for underwater shots at the swimming venues. 'Dive Cams' will follow divers from the diving board into the water.

The 'Track Cams' will run alongside the track for events like the 100 meters. Helicopters with specially mounted cameras will cover the entire route. Special motorbikes equipped with RF cameras will follow the athletes for the coverage during the whole course of route.

"There is no delay as far as broadcasting is concerned. The work is in progress. The IBC is the best I have seen in my career," said Govardhan Sharma, DD Additional Director General.

The leading international Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) of Delhi 2010 include:

Australia: Channel Network Ten/Foxtel/ABC Radio New Zealand: Sky TV and PRIME United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation South Africa and Africa: SABC and SuperSport Asia: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Nigeria: Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria Canada: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Cyprus: Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Namibia: Namibia Broadcasting Corporation Seychelles: Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation Caribbean: Caribbean Media Corporation United States of America: Video Sound Inc. Tanzania: Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation