To mark 100 days to go until the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Discovery Communications and Eurosport have unveiled their plans to transform the Olympic Winter Games viewing experience.

First fully digital Games for Europe

Eurosport says it will deliver the “first fully digital Games for Europe”, live and on-demand coverage across all screens in 48 markets.  The interactive Eurosport Player will be the only place fans can watch every minute, every athlete and every sport – online, on mobile, tablet devices or connected TVs.  More than 4,000 hours of coverage and 100 events will be available, including 900 hours of live action, more than ever before across the continent

Eurosport Player will give fans the chance to personalise and define their own Olympic experience.  The new Make It Yours campaign, launching in November, will call on fans to take control of their Games experience and choose what they watch, when they watch and how they watch their favourite sports and local heroes.

The campaign features Eurosport’s new anthem, a modern cover of the Queen classic ‘I Want It All’, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, highlighting a fan’s ability to instantly access every moment of the Games, anywhere and anytime, on Eurosport services.

Taking a new approach for a new generation, Discovery recently announced a first-of-its-kind Olympic Games partnership with Snap in Europe.  At Games-time, the partnership will deliver user-generated and behind-the-scenes content from PyeongChang 2018 to Snapchat users in Europe.

Eurosport will have a dedicated mobile digital studio in PyeongChang and will work with some of the biggest digital influencers from across Europe, embedding them into editorial teams during the Games to co-create unique content for social media focused on engaging new and younger audiences.  This represents another Olympic Games first for Europe.

Technology and innovation

Innovation will be at the forefront of Eurosport’s immersive coverage, utilising the latest production technology, more data and 1,100 cameras to bring fans closer to the action.

A highlight will be the new “Eurosport Cube” studio, with action from PyeongChang brought to life through ground-breaking technology.  An Olympic Games first, the Cube studio will use augmented reality and enhanced data to create an immersive and interactive environment, offering fans best-in-class analysis of the action.

As part of Eurosport’s series of up to 100 new and unique short form films, technology will be used to share a greater understanding of every winter sport.  This first-of-its-kind content will give fans a new perspective on winter sports, allowing them to become the experts.

An example is Eurosport’s Sport Explainers: using augmented reality and data to create films that delve deeper into the technical explanations of winter sports, showing how the world’s best athletes win gold.

Jean-Briac Perrette, Discovery Networks International President and CEO, said: “PyeongChang 2018 marks the first Olympic Games of our ground-breaking long-term partnership with the International Olympic Committee. We want to redefine the Olympic Games experience for the viewer with immersive storytelling, unrivalled expert talent and an all-screen strategy reaching new and younger audiences. We know that viewers want more: more access to their local heroes, more expertise and more ways to watch the Olympic Games, and this is exactly what we are bringing to fans across Europe.”

Peter Hutton, CEO Eurosport, said: “Our leadership in sports broadcasting, combined with Discovery’s extensive presence and platforms, will bring local fans closer to the events and athletes that they love. Our world-first Eurosport Cube studio is a perfect example of this, using augmented reality and enhanced data to offer fans more informative analysis of the action.  This will bring to life expert analysis in an interactive and immersive virtual world which has never been seen before at an Olympic Games”

On November 1st, Eurosport will dedicate the entire day to Olympic programming and content and throughout the winter, every weekend, fans can follow a dedicated show, Destination PyeongChang, featuring the athletes on their journey to the Games and the best moments from the week’s winter sports action.

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