46 XTREME International Triathlon Union
iche sports broadcasting is undergoing a major boom.
BECAUSE THEY’RE WORTH IT Triathlon can be an expensive sport to broadcast due to its multiple locations and need for aerial and fast-moving capture
Easily launched OTT platforms have enabled sports that might make only occasional appearances on pay or linear TV channels to deliver-global coverage to enthusiastic fans. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is the international governing body for triathlon racing and its variants. Headquartered in Lausanne, the organisation is the global rights holder for all triathlon races under its banner. Outside a few major events, triathlons are rarely at the centre of mainstream sports coverage, yet triathlon fans and athletes, both professional and amateur, are a huge, very devoted audience. As online video streaming began to take off, the ITU launched its own subscription OTT platform, Triathlon Live, which features live and on-demand triathlon content. “We’re quite a young sport, which makes it easier to try and engage with new audiences and try new things,” says Olalla Cernuda, the ITU’s Head of Media and Communications. “We were one of the first international sports that actually developed an OTT platform for streaming our own races, back in 2011.” From the beginning, the ITU decided to focus coverage of the sport across two areas. The first was via the TV rights, which
are shopped to linear broadcasters via an outside agency. The second was through its paid streaming platform. Until quite recently, broadcasters were not enthusiastic about regular triathlon coverage. The audiences are relatively small, they can be challenging to cover, and, depending on the season’s events, may cross over a variety of time zones. But for a rights holder like the ITU, especially given their direct access to the niche audience, the remuneration can be a great boost to the business, and from its launch fans were keen to consume the site’s streamed races. This year, due to growing interest, the ITU has lowered its prices slightly and expanded its services. In addition to race coverage, members will now get behind- the-scenes content, interviews, tips and other added-value elements. The channel also produces a bi-weekly magazine show, and members have access to the archive of all ITU races since 2008. At this point, commentary on the channel is in English, but the channel has been receiving vociferous requests for content in other languages. As revenue grows, the channel aims to roll out other
WE ARE QUITE ANEXPENSIVE SPORT IN TERMSOF PRODUCINGTVCONTENTFOROURRACES
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