The BBC is providing over 200 hours of coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, taking place on the Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to 15
The BBC is providing over 200 hours of coverage of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, taking place on the Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to 15.
JJ Chalmers, Gabby Logan, Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine and Jason Mohammad will front the TV coverage, which will run daily across BBC One, Two, Three and the Red Button, with further coverage on BBC Four and a highlights show on BBC Two.
The BBC Red Button will provide a continuous schedule of live and catch-up programming, whilst the BBC Sport website and app and BBC iPlayer will provide streaming services and on-demand clips.
The Games are now less than 30 days away, with the majority of teams for each country selected and announced before they travel to Australia for the event.
Meanwhile, in Australia, plans for media coverage of the Games has been met with praise and criticism.
NEP Host Broadcast has given students at Griffith University and Griffith Film School the chance to gain experience in journalism and media production by offering assistant roles during the 2018 Games.
A variety of roles will be on offer between April 4-15, 2018 including runners, loggers, camera assistants, camera control unit operators and technical broadcast assistants.
Eight journalism students will also work as broadcast information assistants at the International Broadcast Centre, part of the Main Media Centre, and the Games’ competition venues.
Students have already begun working with NEP in the Games’ run up, both at the World Press Briefing and the Chefs de Mission seminar held in April and October 2017 respectively.
The project hopes to provide integrated learning and practical training on event organization and media within the international multi-sport event.
Participants have expressed their excitement in gaining industry experience and opportunities to network that could kick-start careers in journalism.
These opportunities come in contrast, however, to complaints by News Corp and Fairfax Media on the Games’ coverage restrictions.
They urged Commonwealth Games organisers to relax restrictions on coverage, including video of the events, and allow news companies to operate under usual Australian copyright laws.
In 2014, Seven Network’s Chief Executive Tim Worner secured a deal with the Commonwealth Games Federation for media rights to free-to-air, subscription, online, radio, mobile, social media and HbbTV.
To protect the TV rights bought by Seven, restrictions stipulate that publishers have to wait 30 minutes before broadcasting any content from a news conference.
Digital news bulletins must also be limited to three 60 second segments a day.
Fairfax and News Corp have independently boycotted the 2018 event and have said they will provide coverage outside the Games’ traditional media framework.
They condemned the restrictions as out-of-step with modern digital news reporting, in particular the limited use of video in news reports.
News Media Coalition, parent company of the two global news agencies, as well as Reuters, AFP and Associated Press, called on the Games’ rights owners and stakeholders to recognise the legitimate needs and value of the news media sector.
News Corp’s tabloid, the Gold Coast Bulletin, has nevertheless maintained its role as Official Supporter, newspaper and news site for the Games.
Barbara Slater, Director at BBC Sport, said: “The Commonwealth Games are a hugely popular sporting event for people across the UK.
“Our unrivalled cross-platform offer will transport audiences to the Gold Coast and put them at the heart of the action to follow their sporting heroes throughout 11 days of top-class competition.”
