Zug, Switzerland – Infront Sports & Media, the leading international sports marketing company, has sealed media rights agreements in eight additional territories for broadcast coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – extending the reach and the exposure of the games across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Key territories including Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, Congo and Cote d'Ivoire demonstrate the significant success of the Infront rights distribution effort - operating as exclusive media rights partner to the International Olympic Committee across 43 countries and territories in Sub-Saharan Africa. Taking a collaborative approach, Infront is supported operationally by the France-based international sports event television and organisation agency TV Media Sport (TVMS).
In Nigeria, the agreement signed with the Nigerian Olympic Committee provides programming with national public broadcaster NTA, the biggest private broadcaster AIT as well as Silverbird and HipTV. In Kenya, the agreement is with national broadcaster KBC (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) and in Angola, national broadcaster TPA covers the event.
Further agreements closed include: Burundi – RTNB (Radio Télévision National du Burundi), Republic of the Congo – Tele Congo (Télévision Nationale Congolaise), Cote d'Ivoire – RTI (Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne), Gambia and Senegal - the Excaf Group (Groupe Excaf Telecom), Mozambique – TVM (Televisão de Moçambique) and Seychelles – SBC (Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation). These are the latest contracts sealed as part of the campaign to increase exposure for the Olympic events; previously Infront and TVMS had already secured coverage in Tanzania with Azam Media, as well as pan-regional broadcasting by TV 5 Monde.
All agreements comprise the extensive rights for free-to-air transmissions of live and delayed coverage across all platforms – terrestrial, satellite and cable TV, as well as (non-exclusive) internet and mobile. Coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies is ensured, along with at least six hours daily programming from the competitions.
Stephan Herth, Executive Director Summer Sports of Infront, said: “These new agreements cover the most populated countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and are an important pillar in our media rights distribution strategy to increase exposure for Rio 2016 on the continent. Together with the IOC, we are well on our way to boosting the globally integrative character of the Olympic movement and we look forward to concluding more agreements in the near future.”
Hédi Hamel, President of TV Media Sport, added: “We are glad to contribute in spreading the Olympic values of universality by having achieved for the first time in history, the broadcast of the three Olympic Games: Sochi 2014, Nanjing 2014 and Rio 2016 on the African continent.”
As part of the media rights mandate for Sub-Saharan Africa, Infront together with TV Media Sport are producing a specific broadcast feed, tailored for an African audience, with six to nine hours of live content every day, as well as daily highlights and news programmes. This includes a focus on African athletes and the most popular competitions, with the programming being further enhanced with commentary in French, English and Portuguese.
Infront Sports & Media is one of the most respected sports marketing companies in the world, managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Led by President & CEO Philippe Blatter, Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production and event operation – and has won a reputation for its high standards of delivery. As the number one player in winter sport and with a leading role in football, summer and endurance sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 170 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 900 experienced staff working from over 35 offices across more than 15 countries, delivering 4,100 event days of top class sport around the world every year. In November 2015, Infront was integrated into Wanda Sports Holding, part of the Chinese conglomerate the Dalian Wanda Group.
TV Media Sport is an international sports marketing company, dealing with media rights and event management, specialised in the African continent. TV Media Sport, through its unique network of local partners, is recognised as a major operator with strong and credible relay in all regions of the African continent. Its philosophy is to bring prestigious worldwide sporting events to Africa and to bring local events out of Africa. Amongst many sports, TV Media Sport holds the rights of the UEFA Euro 2016 as well as the IAAF World championships in Athletics 2017 for the African continent.