24IOC Marketing Report – Beijing 2008 Chapter ThreeBroadcasting The Beijing 2008 Broadcast Beijing 2008 saw the Olympic Games – and Olympic broadcasting – come of age, as superb sporting action was delivered to the world via television, the internet and mobile phones, offering fans unprecedented choice of when and where to watch the Games. These were the first truly digital Games, harnessing the power and potential of digital technology to ensure that more people enjoyed more action from in and around the Chinese capital than ever before. The IOC's cutting- edge host broadcast partner, Olympic Broadcasting Services ( OBS), delivered more than 5,000 hours of high definition sporting excellence to the rights- holding broadcast partners. In turn, the IOC's broadcast partners made an unprecedented amount of footage available to viewers in their territories, with a total of 61,700 hours of dedicated Beijing 2008 broadcast coverage aired globally. From the spectacular Opening Ceremony to the moment that Beijing bade farewell, this was the biggest broadcast event in history – a complex undertaking involving the world's most talented and experienced producers, directors and technicians. Coverage of every single event reflected state- of- the- art production values, helping to demonstrate the skill and determination of the athletes in minute detail. The Beijing Games were available across the world, with broadcasts in 220 territories and an estimated potential TV audience of 4.3 billion people. Superb sporting performances helped drive not only television audiences, but also internet and mobile phone downloads, to new levels. The Global Reach of the Games The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were the most watched Games in Olympic history, with a potential global reach of 4.3 billion people.