Unprecedented Broadcast Coverage and Digital Innovation to Connect Fans Worldwide to the Magic of Tokyo 2020

Olympic 2020, Tokyo 2020

Photo: Two mascot statues unveiled at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government headquarters for the 100 days to go until Tokyo 2020. Credit: © Tokyo 2020 and TMG. Image provided by IOC.

Olympic 2020, Tokyo 2020

Tokyo, 09 Jul 2021 — While spectators may not be able to attend Tokyo 2020 in person, fans worldwide and in Japan will be able to experience the thrill of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, thanks to new, innovative technologies. Tokyo 2020 will be broadcast globally to a potential audience of over 5 billion people, with more coverage by broadcast partners than any previous Olympic Games across both linear TV and digital:

In Japan, TV coverage of Tokyo-2020 could be around double that of Rio 2016.
NBCUniversal will air more than 7,000 hours of coverage across TV and digital platforms in the USA - a US Olympic record.
Across Europe, Discovery Eurosport will air up to 4,000 hours of coverage on its TV and digital platform. This unprecedented level of content will be available in 48 territories.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), working with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Olympic broadcast partners (RHBs), have also created a suite of digital tools as part of the “ Share the Passion” project. It will allow athletes to engage with friends and family in the venues and enable fans worldwide to be actively involved in supporting their sporting heroes.

Fan Video Matrix: Allows fans to be a genuine part of the Games experience by sharing their reactions to the sporting action in five-second video selfies, displayed as a video matrix inside the venue.
Cheer Map: A virtual “cheer” button will get embedded on several broadcasters’ digital platforms. Fans can watch the broadcast feed of an Olympic event and virtually clap or cheer by clicking the button. The system collects all the cheers and renders a global map of “ cheer activity.” The map is sent as a video stream to broadcasters and showcased on venue video boards.
Athlete Moment - Family & Friends: At selected venues, Olympians will be able to interact live, straight after they compete, with their family and friends back home through dedicated “ Athlete Moment” stations.

“ Our ambition is to bring the magic of the athletes’ achievements to the world on an unprecedented scale. Technology will play a critical role and allow us to bring fans ‘ inside the venue’ virtually. It is an important ambition, not just for the fans but also for the athletes as they compete on the world’s biggest stage. The IOC and OBS have benefited from the great partnerships we have with the world’s leading media companies and sponsors and with Tokyo 2020. We also believe these new digital innovations will leave a legacy which we will build on at future editions of the Olympic Games,” says OBS CEO Yiannis Exarchos.

For Tokyo 2020, OBS will again push the boundaries of Olympic broadcasting by producing more than 9,000 hours of content, 30 percent more content than for Rio in 2016, in more formats, to assist the world’s broadcasters in bringing the Games to the world. For the first time in Olympic history, the total live coverage will be in Ultra High Definition (4K) HDR with Immersive Audio (5.1.4). In addition, audiences around the world will get introduced to never-seen-before camera angles, 360-degree replays, multi-camera live Virtual Reality (VR) coverage, and more analytical data processed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) than at any previous Olympic Games, including:

Intel’s True View cameras will offer, for the first time, immersive replays for all basketball matches.
3D athlete-tracking technology developed in collaboration with Worldwide TOP Partners Intel and Alibaba. This first-of-its-kind broadcast enhancement technology uses AI and computer vision to enhance the viewing experience with near real-time insights and overlay visualizations during the athletics sprint events (100m, 200m, 400m, and 4x100m relay, as well as decathlon/heptathlon). For example, viewers will understand the exact moment each sprinter reaches their peak speed and analyze the different phases of the race in detail through a complete set of race statistics.
In another breakthrough, the coverage of the archery competition will go deep into the body of the athletes, providing for first-time biometric data from miniature sensors worn by the archers. The monitor’s receptors will detect the heart rate and transmit the data wirelessly to generate the on-screen television graphics. As a result, audiences will witness the heartbeat variations and adrenaline rush experienced by the archers as they shoot their arrows.

In addition, the IOC has developed additional ways to enhance the way worldwide audiences will experience the Olympic Games, including:

olympics.com - launched by the IOC in May 2021. The new platform provides a single, people-centric digital presence that utilizes Olympic digital and social media channels to drive engagement and deliver content and communications. Offering a comprehensive source for Olympic information, news, and original content, olympics.com creates one destination for all Olympic online properties - including the Olympic Channel, Tokyo 2020, and all future Games - allowing for improved, streamlined digital engagement during and between each game.
The Tokyo 2020 FanZone - an interactive gamification experience on olympics.com and the official Tokyo 2020 website and mobile app that will engage and unite fans around the world leading up to and throughout the Olympic Games:
- Pre-Games: Fans can participate in regular trivia competitions to win prizes or enjoy thrilling sporting action from past Olympic Games via Magic Moments and vote on their favorite highlights.
- During the Games, the Fantasy Challenge will allow fans to create a team by selecting their ten favorite athletes from individual sports. Fans can start a league with friends or join an existing one to compete against other teams.
- And in the Bracket Challenge, fans can select the winning bracket in each team sport while competing with friends and other fans worldwide.

Source: International Olympic Committee

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