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The 2024 Olympic Games will be held in Paris, the capital of France. The games were originally played in Greece and the Modern Olympic Games were organised for the first time in 1896 under the International Olympic Committee. While the TV was invented in 1927, it took a long time for them to be telecast internationally. Before the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics were broadcast on TV for the first time.
The 1956 Italy Winter Olympic Games were telecast at an international level. Countries like Australia, Belgium, France and Denmark were audience to the first international telecast of the games. However, the first time Olympics were shown on TV was in 1936 when the Games took place in Germany but only to the local audience. Athletes staying in the Olympic village in Berlin witnessed the broadcast on black and white TV through 25 special rooms in Berlin and Potsdam. It also marked the first ever telecast of a sports event on TV.
In the following years, the Olympic Games were affected due to World War II. A revolution took place in TV broadcasting and 1960 Rome Olympics became the centre of attention. It was the first time the Games were broadcast across Europe. Four years later, 1964 Tokyo Olympics became the first Games to be watched live across the world.
When coloured coverage of Olympics began?
In 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, spectators got a glimpse of the future. Coloured TVs were not that common but those who were in possession of one got to see some pictures which were shown in colour whereas the major part of the broadcast was in black and white. The 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics marked the first coloured live coverage of the games. 12 years later, the 1984 Olympics saw a lot of digital video and super slow motion to enhance the quality of TV coverage.
Olympics broadcasting rights
Currently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) earns a lot of money form Olympic Games broadcast. In India, Viacom18 has the broadcasting rights for the Paris Olympics. The rights are between Rs 150 to 200 crores. IOC sells rights for the Olympic Games separately to countries like Australia, Europe, USA and others. The broadcasting rights are set to rise as cricket is set to be part of Los Angeles Olympics 2028.
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