Europe’s leading free-to-air broadcasters met in Munich earlier this week at the World Broadcaster Meeting for the European Championships 2022 to learn more about ongoing preparations for the second edition of the multi-sport event.
The European Championships 2022 will once again bring together the existing championships of some of the continent’s leading sports - including the 2022 European Athletics Championships - into one multi-sport event to create a must-watch experience that crowns the champions of Europe in nine sports.
About 80 representatives from 21 European broadcasters attended the meeting either in-person or remotely. In total, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) - a European Athletics Partner - already has agreements with 44 broadcasters in Europe to cover the event.
The Munich 2022 Local Organising Committee presented its Host Broadcast plans that include more than 400 hours of live production of the nine participating sports across the 12 competition venues from 11-21 August with the athletics programme taking place between 15-21 August.
The Host Broadcast operations will not only provide state-of-the-art coverage for linear TV, but will also provide extensive support for the digital and social coverage of the broadcasters and the participating federations. With the use of legacy facilities and landmarks from the 1972 Olympic Games – including the Olympiapark as the centrepoint of the championships – the LOC emphasised the sustainability concepts and initiatives at the heart of the event organisation which minimize the environmental impacts and unnecessary costs for the host city.
Broadcasters were excited to see the shared vision of the Munich 2022 LOC, European Championships Management and other stakeholders to build on the success of the first edition of the European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin, both on the field of play and on television screens and digital channels worldwide.
Achim Hammer and Steffen Lunkenheimer, Heads of Program for German broadcasters ZDF and ARD respectively, jointly commented: “This World Broadcaster Meeting was very special – it really created a ‘wow’ factor for us. The commitment of Munich and all the stakeholders to make the multi-sport European Championships 2022 a big success is clear and we are confident the German public will embrace this event like they did in 2018."
BBC Sport's Ron Chakraborty, the British broadcaster's Lead Executive - Major Events, said, "The Munich 2022 WBM was a top-class event, with great presentations and plenty of progressive thinking from the LOC and Host Broadcaster, and European Championships Management. We saw how TV audiences reacted very favourably to the Glasgow/Berlin event and now, after seeing the Host Broadcast plans and the venues from the 1972 Olympic Games that will provide a fantastic backdrop, we are assured that with Munich in 2022 the multi-sport European Championships is going from strength-to-strength.’’
Executive Producer of the European Championships Munich 2022 LOC Benedikt Happe said: “It was our intention to present the World Broadcaster Meeting in Munich 2022 in a different way. We wanted not only to showcase our comprehensive Host Broadcasting concept, but also provide a feeling of what the event will be about: high-end, innovative, spectacular and entertaining.
“We are very happy about the feedback and appreciation we received from our broadcast partners and are looking forward to excite sport fans all across Europe.”