Tokyo 2020 Media Updates

[danderson4500]

Given it was an american winning gold, i was shocked that USA Network didnt pick up the fencing event in it's entirtey.

[Durban Sandshark]

On 7/24/2021 at 7:42 AM, danderson4500 said:

CBC has always had a news person co-host the Opening Ceremony, going back to when Peter Mansbridge was on The National. 

Actually, the CBC had another legendary news anchor co-hosting the Opening Ceremony prior to Mansbridge: Lloyd Robertson. I think he did it back in 1968, 1972, and 1976 before moving over to CTV. He performed the same job at CTV for Calgary in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, and Vancouver 2010 when that network held the Canadian Olympic TV rights. Maybe he did Lillehammer's too.

Yeah, I know I haven't posted here in over a week. I want to try to gather a lot of stuff in before I post additional details about Tokyo 2020 media coverage. Some cases I need to jot down more things later on and in others turn to Facebook with the broadcasters' accounts. Speaking of jotting, I wrote down and printed multiple schedules from online at the library, some of this must be done daily. Have to do things in the face of my busy BTS schedule as I still don't have my own computer. I freely admit, I have still write down the bigger nations' updates. Those will likely come after the Closing Ceremony. Right now, I may have to conduct things gradually  

Let's return with Andorra. ATV Andorra makes things easier with the miniscule presentation it has, all in Catalan. Andorra's Olympic Committee sent only two Olympians to Tokyo--men's 800m qualifier Pal Moya and canoeist Monica Doria, far less athletes than in nearly 30 years--and its coverage definitely reflects this. As expected, neither advanced although Moya did set a new Andorran 800m record in his heat. ATV did not show the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics everyday and only appears July 23, 25, 27-29, and August 8 and only just those two sports outside both ceremonies. Nothing else when you see the ATV's TV guide for Tokyo 2020. Again, the ATV schedule is the Opening Ceremony on July 23 at 12:55-16 and the 22:25-1 replay Andorra time. July 25 saw the kayaking qualifiers with the Spain-based Doria at 6:40-7:45 and 8:40-9:45 later with the 21:45-23:45 replay. Goes dark after that until kayaking returns for Doria with the semifinals on July 27 for 6:55-9 and then 14:10-16 before the 22:30-1 primetime re-airing. Additional canoeing qualifiers come the next day 5:55-6:45, 7:50-8:40, and 14:10-15:50 before the 22:10-23:50 re-airing that day. Pal Moya's 800m qualifications heats completed the TVA competition portion on July 29 at 2:45-3:30 and 14:10-15 before the 21:10-21:50 primetime highlight segment. Everything ends for TVA with the Closing Ceremony this Sunday live at 12:55-16 and the 21:45-1 re-airing.   

RTVA sent only two envoys to Tokyo in journalist Joel Romero and camera operator Kevin Ribeiro having left for it to cover Andorra's two Tokyo 2020 athletes the Tuesday before the Opening Ceremony. This is actually RTVA's second time ever covering the Olympics domestically; its first was just three years ago with Pyeongchang. And yeah, Tokyo provides a very unique and unusual experience brought on by COVID-19. Joel and Kevin had to undergo quarantining for three days with safety checks and protocols following its arrival in Japan. There's more that I'll get to soon:  

https://www.andorradifusio.ad/programes/jocs-toquio-2020/noticies-delegacio-andorrana-jocs-toquio/lequip-andorra-televisio-cobrira-directe-jocs-olimpics

https://www.andorradifusio.ad/programes/jocs-toquio-2020/noticies-delegacio-andorrana-jocs-toquio/lequip-rtva-cobreix-jocs-olimpics-toquio-fa

Several weeks ago on the Wikipedia 2020 Summer Olympics broadcasters list, I noticed with Vietnam's entry that it had not just state-run VTV (more on that soon) but also included was Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) and VTC digital television. That was all removed but VTV did reappear days later right before the Opening Ceremony, and it was later confirmed on the list that HTV is doing some Tokyo Olympic Games. I immediately visited Ho Chi Minh City TV's website yesterday and its TV programming schedule, and there indeed was some Tokyo 2020 coverage. HTV Sport, also known as HTV The Thao, has them for 15 consecutive hours from 7-21 Vietnam time daily (7am-9pm). But HTV Sports does offer details as to what it is showing and the sports during this time frame. Without question, Ho Chi Minh City Television surely does place some focus on the Vietnamese athletes there. Don't know what agreements are made with VTV on dealing with the Tokyo 2020 TV coverage while realizing the latter still offers the lion's share of it; I have yet to see any press release announcing the coverage contribution. Coverage started on July 24 Will check it out very soon to hunt for it. HTV 7 does a daily Tokyo Olympic Magazine show at 8:30am.

Couldn't find a lot from Sri Lanka's Rupavahini unlike in recent Summer Olympics past despite significant promotion. Checked both Rupavahini and its sister Channel Eye, and the only things I could find are the ceremonies (of course), a daily 90-minute highlight shows on Rupavahini and Channel Eye simultaneous at 11-12:30 (one hour on weekends) and a 1-minute Olympic Segment during the primetime News and Weather Report all Sri Lanka time. So definitely not as much breath and diversity with this edition.     

[Durban Sandshark]

Yeah, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games may now be fading into the rearview mirror. But that doesn't mean we will stop with that because there's still a lot of those Olympic media developments to be shared and put forth. Work prevented me a large part of jotting them down here except for on paper. Now the focus for Tokyo is the Paralympics right now, which NBC is going all in with including unprecedented primetime coverage under its 200-hour program. I will get down to many of them even well after the coverage is over. Breath of the coverage around the world. Issues like NBC dealing with low interest nationally with Tokyo 2020 in comparison with the past on the broadcasting and online and print dimensions will surely be discussed, and how will it learn to adjust and adapt to a rapidly changing media consumption and tech landscape onward. It's certainly not like what it was back in 2008-2012.

Been noticing both on the 2020 broadcasting lists from Wikipedia's and the IOC's updated ones that many nations from Africa, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, Middle East/North Africa, and even some European ones decided not to have a national free-to-air TV broadcaster for Tokyo 2020 unlike in recent Olympics. For example, I visited what is thought to be a normal Olympics broadcast rights holder in Malta's TVM with their website and its TV guide. Saw nothing on its two TVM channels. Even already mentioned TVA in Andorra showed something however small. Perhaps they couldn't handle any longer with the rising prohibitive costs of carrying the broadcasting rights when either they have annual budgets that are modest and/or couldn't reach an agreement in time for the Opening Ceremony.

Just because these now "other" Olympics are over, some Olympics broadcast rights holders still continue on broadcasting now deemed replays. SuperSport's channels started showing full events replays, reviews, but more frequently 5-10-minute highlights during the first full week away from Tokyo's Closing Ceremony and is still doing such as of this writing but far more limited than at first. TeleRebelde in Cuba is showing full event replays of select and popular sports mixed along with Cuban athletes' highlights even while showing the Paralympics.  Surely the NHK channels are doing replays likely focus on Japan's successes as hosts. 

Claro Sports released four 24/7 live dedicated channels inside its Apple TV and Android TV applications (with easily accessible TV programming guides) for sports fans across 17 Central and South America nations to stream the Tokyo Olympics while choosing Applicaster’s Zapp app management platform to extend its Olympics distribution strategy because it offered the experience, rich history in sports apps, and the UI flexibility needed to meet Claro and the International Olympic Committee’s requirements with aims of a rich viewer experience. Claro launched its apps, from zero to store, in only three weeks before the Opening Ceremony. After the Closing Ceremony Claro Sports updated its apps to showcase programming from the many leagues and teams like in soccer that fans across Latin America love to watch:

https://www.ibc.org/ibc-daily/claro-sports-launches-tv-apps-to-extend-its-tokyo-olympics-streaming-strategy/7800.article

A major reason why Globo/SporTV was able to keep its staff low in numbers in Tokyo aside from the pandemic while not affecting the quality of the live broadcast coverage of 1040 hours was 16 TVU One mobile wireless transmitters spreading throughout the event sites. They provided coverage of the 33 sports represented at the Games inside Tokyo at any location while embracing 5G, WiFi, Ethernet, and satelitte. TVU also supported 100 other broadcasters well before Tokyo 2020 started: 

https://www.ibc.org/ibc-daily/tvu-provides-remote-production-solutions-to-globo-for-summer-games-coverage/7866.article

 

[Quaker2001]

14 hours ago, Durban Sandshark said:

Yeah, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games may now be fading into the rearview mirror. But that doesn't mean we will stop with that because there's still a lot of those Olympic media developments to be shared and put forth. Work prevented me a large part of jotting them down here except for on paper. Now the focus for Tokyo is the Paralympics right now, which NBC is going all in with including unprecedented primetime coverage under its 200-hour program. I will get down to many of them even well after the coverage is over. Breath of the coverage around the world. Issues like NBC dealing with low interest nationally with Tokyo 2020 in comparison with the past on the broadcasting and online and print dimensions will surely be discussed, and how will it learn to adjust and adapt to a rapidly changing media consumption and tech landscape onward. It's certainly not like what it was back in 2008-2012.

I get that you have work and other obligations and all, but I'm still at a loss as to how someone can have this much interest in Olympic media developments and have made a number of posts right before and after the Olympics and a grand total of 1 post during the Olympics.  Could have a lot of fun if you posted in this thread more, you know, actually *during* the Olympics

[Durban Sandshark]

On 8/26/2021 at 8:50 AM, Quaker2001 said:

I get that you have work and other obligations and all, but I'm still at a loss as to how someone can have this much interest in Olympic media developments and have made a number of posts right before and after the Olympics and a grand total of 1 post during the Olympics.  Could have a lot of fun if you posted in this thread more, you know, actually *during* the Olympics

Wish I could during those Games. But the problem at the time is the Summer Olympics tend to get scheduled concurrently during the peaking of the BTS season in retail. This typically happens to me when the Summer Olympics roll around during late July-late August. See, I work on flex hours, meaning, in my case, because of my super-reliability rep at my store, I get more hours per week and ease the burdens for the seasonal workers, who tend to be younger and inexperienced--and it can get stressful. Emphasis is on making revenue for the store and can stay for several more hours. Often voluntarily. Also, partly because of that, this very much eliminates me writing about it here during that time and not watching it. Bear in mind, I yet to own a computer, tablet, and smartphone to enable me to work around that. Hopefully, I'll get them next year. So it's just easier, given the circumstances, to not writing about it here and "disappear" at that very time. Hoped I wouldn't; paycheck won out. And when I do write about the Olympics media news at this time, I just jot down some notes from online with the hopes of eventually putting them here, however long.

Sorry for the delay in my response. Hopefully in the next summer one in Paris, this won't serve as another case.

TeleRebelde in Cuba is currently airing repeats and highlights from Tokyo 2020 for up three parts of each day. With the big Summer Olympics events (track and field, swimming, gymnastics, basketball, soccer, diving) and sports with strong Cuban interest (boxing, wrestling, volleyball, canoeing, baseball, karate). Checked its schedule. Going from last week onwards to New Year's Day. Even for some events presented as The Story Before Tokyo in apparent preview format. Some air for an hour. Others for up to 2-3 hours for some events.  

[Durban Sandshark]

First post about Tokyo 2020 Olympic broadcasting posted this year--and we're almost halfway home with 2022--on this thread. Still planning to get back on bringing more details that we missed.

But a more recent development I can inform is that back in early April was the American 43rd Sports Emmy nominees were announced on April 6 with the winners announced May 24. The NBC family of networks' coverage of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo garnered 10 nominations. Half of the total 20 nominations for NBC. Telemundo and Peacock were repped each out of its 6 and 5 in total, respectively. The Tokyo 2020 coverage earned noms in Outstanding Live Sports Special, Outstanding Live Studio Show in Spanish, Outstanding Interactive Experience - Event Coverage, Outstanding Promotional Announcement, Outstanding Technical Team Event, Outstanding Technical Team Studio, Outstanding Camera Work - Short Form, Outstanding Editing - Short Form, Outstanding Graphic Design - Event/Show, and The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award.

NBC's personalities that were involved in the Games in Tokyo that got nominated, though not necessarily for Tokyo 2020 are Mike Tirico (Outstanding Sports Personality/Studio Host), Michelle Tafoya (Outstanding Sports Personality/Sports Reporter), and Telemundo's Andreas Cantor, Ana Jurka, and Miguel Gurwitz (Outstanding On-Air Personality in Spanish). Surely, NBC will win plenty of the Sports Emmys tech categories if not exactly dominate or sweep them. I'm no oddsmaker guy, but I could suspect Telemundo's trio could cannibalize their votes in their category and maybe favor TUDN/Univision to win or ESPN Deportes' Cristina Alexander.  Not sure if it's a shock at all regarding Peacock's lack of noms for their portion of the Games of The XXXII Olympiad in the digital categories. Maybe the Sports Emmy should expand to include streaming-related sports categories.

And there were other Olympic/Paralympic-related Sports Emmy nominations involving Olympians too, so let's give them their mention: LFG (for Let's F***ing Go on the USWNT soccer team and their fight for equal pay, Outstanding Long Documentary) on HBO/HBO Max, Facebook Watch's Simone vs. Herself (Outstanding Documentary Series - Serialized), Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: "Oksana: The Remarkable Story of Paralympic Superstar Oksana Masters" also on HBO/HBO Max, #StrongerTogether: "What Agnes Saw" at Olympics.com for Outstanding Public Service Announcement/Campaign, Telemundo's Nos Vemos en el Podio and ESPN Deportes' Último Tren a Tokio and En Sus Zapatos: "Alexa Moreno" (profile on the Mexican gymnast who came oh so close to winning the first Latin American Olympic gymnastics medal on the women's vault in Tokyo) were all in for the Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish category.

Meanwhile north of the border in Toronto on April 10, the Canadian Screen Awards did their thing with the sports categories. CBC's coverage of Tokyo 2020 had, if I got this correct, 10 Canadian Screen Award nominations (2 in Sports analysis or commentary, 2 in Sports play-by-play, Sports feature segment, 2 in Sports Host, Sports opening, Sports program or series, and Live Production, Social Media) but end up winning only 1 with CBC Olympic Morning Host Andi Petrillo walking away with the Sports Host win in beating out CBC Olympic Primetime host Scott Russell, stopping a shutout. Shockingly IMO, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on CBC wasn't even nominated for Live Sporting Event Coverage, Sports Directing, editing, graphics, tech, production, or any Audience Award. Also no specific Quebecois sports categories exist here, so no Radio-Canada/RDS here.      

[Durban Sandshark]

Over in Britain, BBC's Tokyo 2020 coverage rightfully and deservedly won Best Titles and Graphic Identity for its brilliant intro to its daily coverage at the 2022 British Academy Television Craft Awards on April 24 specifically for Ron Chakraborty, James Cross, Factory Fifteen, Tim Jones, Kenji Kawai, and Fantasista Utamaro. 

BBC's Tokyo 2020 Olympics, credited to BBC Sport/BBC One here, is currently up for Best Sport at the upcoming British Academy Television Awards set for May 8 hosted by Richard Ayoade. It's the only nomination for it here as there aren't many specific sports-themed categories there unlike in the USA or Canada.

If there's any Australian Logie noms to Seven's Tokyo 2020 coverage that are announced or anywhere else, I'll pass them on to you  

[Durban Sandshark]

Seven Network's coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games won Most Outstanding Sports Coverage TV Logie at the Gold Coast in Queensland down in Australia.

Also, longtime Australian Olympic (10 of them), AFL, horse racing, and tennis (among other sports) TV sportscaster and studio host Bruce McAvaney was inducted into the TV Week Logie Hall of Fame, introduced on-stage by AFL commentator and friend Leigh Matthews, as the second sportscaster inducted. In this Hall of Fame induction segment, Mr. Olympics gets testimonies from Cathy Freeman, former sportscaster Dennis Cometti, and Chris Waller.  He's also currently battling leukemia, which he admits his voice isn't sharp but responding well in his recovery.

This is Bruce McAvaney's TV Logie Hall of Fame segment:

Here's how the Australian Olympic Committee honored and congratulated McAvaney and Seven for its Olympic Logies honors:

https://www.olympics.com.au/news/aoc-congratulates-bruce-mcavaney-and-channel-seven-on-logies-success/

[Durban Sandshark]

More casual on Olympic media here since this is the ESPY Awards are going on tonight as we speak at LA's Dolby Theatre with Stephen Curry hosting. Since this is the Tokyo 2020 media thread, I tend to be generous about this despite ESPN not holding the rights. Katie Ledecky and Sunisa Kim are both nominated in Best Women's Sports Athlete. Allyson Felix, Ledecky, Lee, and Paralympian Oksana Masters are all nominated for Best Olympian, Women's Sports. Fellow Olympians Sam Kerr (Australia) and Vivienne Miedema (The Netherlands are in Best International Athlete, Women's Soccer. Brazilian silver medalist skateboarder Rayssa Leal is in Best Women's Action Sports Athlete with the rest all Winter Olympians. Felix's winning her 11th Olympic medal in Tokyo surpassing Carl Lewis' record in US Olympic track and field is in the Best Record Breaking Performance category. Women's golf gold medalist at Tokyo 2020 Nelly Korda appears in Best Female Golfer

Swimmer Caleb Dressel and Paralympian sprint runner Nick Mayhugh are in Best Olympian, Male Sports. Luka Doncic, who lead Slovenia all the way to the men's basketball bronze medal game against Australia, is in the Best NBA Player category. Japan's Yuta Horigome reps skateboarding with his gold medal street skateboarding win in Tokyo in Best Male Action Sports Athlete.