YouTube to distribute Olympics videos in an IOC deal

With the Web becoming a more prevalent platform, the race to ensure broadcast rights for the Olympics means much less. Case in point: Tuesday's deal between the IOC and YouTube.

While obviously the Olympic Games cannot be broadcast live over YouTube, the move marks the first time that content will be available from a single provider on a global basis. Clips and highlights of the games will be uploaded to YouTube, and made available in 77 countries.

YouTube's videos will be be produced in the International Olympic Committee's own broadcast facilities in Beijing. Distribution is slated to begin on August 6, and will be updated through the course of the games. To restrict access, YouTube will use the IP address to determine the geographical location of the viewer.

The International Olympic Committee had first offered online access to content in 2004 during the Athens Summer games, but that was only available in a few countries. Twenty-three territories had online access for the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006.

However, since that initial offering, viewership of online video has skyrocketed. Some 12 billion online videos were viewed in May, up 45% over the previous year. Such rapid growth means a deal like the one with YouTube makes a lot of sense.

"The IOC's priority is to ensure that as many people as possible get to experience the magic of the Olympic Games and the inspirational sporting achievements of the Olympic athletes," television and marketing chief Timo Lumme said.

The younger audience that YouTube brings is something the Games sorely need.
In 2004, the average age of viewers was over 40. If the Olympics cannot attract younger viewers, it runs the risk of losing the major sponsorship deals that keeps the Games afloat. Between 2005 and today, the Games had earned some $2.5 billion from broadcasting rights alone.

Olympic videos will be available as a channel on YouTube at www.youtube.com/beijing2008.