CCTV.com Scores Digital Rights for Beijing 2008 Olympics

BEIJING, December 18: The International Olympic Committee
(IOC) has granted CCTV.com, the digital arm of the Chinese state broadcaster,
the Internet and mobile platform exhibition rights within China for the Beijing
2008 Olympic Games.

The IOC selected CCTV.com based on its ability to guarantee
full exploitation of the digital-broadcast rights over a variety of platforms,
by working closely with its television broadcast team. Over-the-air TV rights
for next year’s Olympics were acquired by CCTV, as a member of the Asian
Broadcasting Union, in 1998. The IOC launched the tender for the Internet and
mobile platform broadcast rights to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in March
2007.

IOC executive board member and member of the IOC’s TV rights
and new media commission, Richard Carrión, said: “The Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games will break new boundaries in terms of digital Olympic broadcast. It was
important for the IOC to make sure that all potential partners understood the
value of the rights and demonstrated that they would fully exploit these rights
in mainland China, whilst also providing satisfactory guarantees of anti-piracy
and security measures. By granting digital rights to CCTV.com, the IOC believes
CCTV.com’s digital team will work closely with the broadcast team at CCTV to
develop joint executions across media platforms. This will ensure Chinese
Olympic fans have access to the best possible Olympic coverage in 2008.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski