Broadcasters have been unveiling their plans ahead of the start of the inaugural European Championships, which take place in Glasgow and Berlin from the 2nd to the 12th of August.
Audiences in many territories are being offered over 100 hours of coverage of all seven sports across the ten days of televised competition and the Championships are expected to attract a potential TV audience of over a billion sports fans.
In the UK, Hazel Irvine, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan will lead the TV coverage across BBC One and BBC Two, with both channels showing up to twelve hours of coverage a day combined. This will be accompanied by extensive daily coverage on BBC Radio 5 live and a full digital offering, including video streams, highlights, and on demand clips. A HD video stream will also be available, offering alternative live action and long form highlights of the finals on BBC Sport Online.
In Germany, ARD and ZDF are co-broadcasters of the Championships, with coverage on alternating days featuring all seven sports. ARD’s ‘Das Erste’ will broadcast live from the Championships with comprehensive coverage from all the different venues, meaning up to almost 13 hours coverage per day, plus up to three livestreams accessible on sportschau.de and on the HbbTV-App, together with coverage on social media. Meanwhile, ZDFsport.de offers up to three parallel digital live streams from the Championships, which will also be available via HbbTV.
RTVE will cover the event in Spain, as will RAI in Italy, while France Télévisions’ channels will also handle extensive coverage.
“The quality and volume of dedicated coverage that will be available free-to-air for fans is outstanding,” said Stefan Kürten, EBU director of sport. “This is a historic milestone in the promotion and broadcasting of key Olympic sports in Europe and ensures that millions of fans will have the opportunity to experience sport at its very best.”
The EBU and Eurovision Media Services will act as both the broadcast partner (representing European public service media) and the host croadcaster (overseeing the overall production of the event). EMS will also distribute the event to media organisations for TV and online platforms.
