The IOC to launch an Olympic Channel

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to launch an OTT TV channel as early as 2015, which will be stocked with archive material and some international sports coverage. 

The decision was taken during a meeting of the full membership of the IOC in Monaco. The OTT channel is part of the Olympic Agenda 2020, which consists of 20+20 recommendations, Broadband TV News reports.

Each recommendation, voted on individually, received the full backing of the 96 IOC members in attendance. There were no votes against and no abstentions.

The channel will be available year-round between the Olympic games and will costs €490 million a year. Ser Miang Ng, chairman of the IOC Finance Commission, told members that the estimated breakeven period for the new channel, aimed particularly at improving the Olympic Movement’s communication with young people, was seven to 10 years.

The IOC itself would contribute €175 million, or nearly 36%, of the costs. Sports federations and National Olympic Committees would each chip in €72 million, the Olympic Movement Fund €38 million, while the remaining €133 million would come from incremental TV rights and sponsorship program sales.

The new channel will be run by the Olympic Broadcasting Services, the IOC’s division based in Madrid, Spain, that produces a host country’s Olympic Games feed for international broadcasters.