The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE newest addition to the IAAF calendar, the IAAF/BTC World Relays will “take the Bahamas to the world.” And, according to the Local Organising Committee, it will take a mutually beneficial relationship between the national and international broadcasters.

The Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas will serve as the national broadcaster with International Sports Broadcasting out of Spain as the international broadcaster. Diana Swann, general manager of the BCB, said the organisation is once again eager to enter the partnership.

“The Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas is pleased to partner with the LOC and the IAAF to serve as host broadcasters for this year’s meet. It is certainly a privilege to play a major role in the promotion of the event and on the two days of live coverage to residents throughout the country,” she said.

“As the national broadcaster we will work collaboratively with the international broadcaster in producing the television coverage. We will provide production and technical support where required. The experience of working with another broadcast organisation will provide another opportunity for our employees to observe international best practices, and seek to employ those practices in future local and national projects. We are committed to providing a high quality broadcast that Bahamians and other viewers assessing our transmission would appreciate. It is our intention to match the competition with a world-class production that is both informative and entertaining.”

The BCB will carry the meet live for a national viewing audience, providing full coverage throughout the programme from 7-10pm on both nights (May 2-3). “This mutually beneficial relationship is another expression of the collaboration necessary in the country’s hosting of international events and we are extremely proud to be a part of this effort,” Swann said.

“We view this as a vital part of our public service commitment as the country’s national broadcaster. We will provide national coverage to the thousands of Bahamians across the archipelago who will not be a part of the 1,5000 attending the two days of competition.”

According to its website, (ISB) is a full-service broadcasting organisation that is long on experience. It is headquartered in Madrid, Spain and it also has offices in the United States.

Founded by Manolo Romero, a pioneer in sports television, ISB primarily serves major events as the host broadcaster, responsible for providing the television and radio signals as a service to the event’s rights holding broadcasters.

Created in 1996 after successfully winning a competitive bid to become the host broadcaster for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter games, ISB has been actively involved in every Olympic Games since 1998 while members of its staff have worked in each Games since 1968.

Tonique Williams, senior director of event media services, said the scores of international journalists led to the prestige of the meet.

“The international journalists will be representing some 36 agencies from 12 countries and there will be about 27 local journalists representing some 10 agencies,” Williams said. “We also have two Family Islands that will be represented by journalists, who will come in from Grand Bahama and Exuma.”

Among the list of agencies who will be here to cover the event are Track and Field News, Getty Images, three agencies out of Jamaica, three out of Belgium, five from Japan and 16 from the United States,” Williams said. “There are also about 14 broadcasts coming in, including EuroSports, TV Jamaica and Broadcast from China.”

Lionel Haven, managing director of the LOC, said the coverage will grow as the meet continues to develop each time the Bahamas acts as hosts.

“We have 41 countries participating in the event this year so we are bringing the Bahamas to the world,” he said. “Last year the event was showcased in 161 countries, this year we anticipate equally if not more because last year was an inaugural event, they’re may have been some uncertainty from countries and stations on what the event would be like. The success of last year’s event would have made this a more attractive tool this year.”

After hosting a successful debut last year, carried live in parts to more than 161 countries around the world, Haven said a journalist from the United Kingdom coined the event in his ‘Spikes’ magazine “Bahamazing” because it was, in his opinion, the most successful meet ever.