Channel 4 has clinched the terrestrial rights to broadcast the jewel of the skiing calendar, the Skiing World Cup, from November in a 3 year deal.
The deal will mean more skiing for terrestrial viewers, and more live coverage, as Channel 4 devotes more airtime to the sport than ever before.
The coverage will feature leading names from skiing, including former Olympic and World Champion Franz Klammer and British skier Alain Baxter, who last week failed in his appeal to retain his Olympic Bronze Medal, but had a three-month ban lifted by the International Ski Federation. Viewers will be able to see almost all of Baxter’s slalom races on Channel 4.
The World Cup, which takes place from November to March, includes the famous downhill and slalom races from such legendary European courses as Kitzbuhel, Val d’Isere and Val Gardena, plus competitions from the US and Canada.
There will be a weekly hour-long Saturday morning programme covering the Alpine Skiing World Cup events, many of them live for the first time, plus two late night programmes featuring the best of the week’s action, Ski-jumping, cross-country. There will also be a special one hour early breakfast show on Saturdays featuring the Nokia Snowboarding World Cup.
The season runs from November to March and the first programme will be broadcast on November 23rd. There will be 15 hours of daytime coverage of the 2002-2003 season – plus over 100 hours of late night programming – up from the 2001-2002 total of 10 hours. Programmes will be broadcast live or as-live, depending on the time difference at the location.
Channel 4 has negotiated the deal with the rights holders FIS/Media Partners, the programmes will be made by Hothouse Productions. The move follows the channel’s successful coverage of the Nokia Snow Boarding World Cup which began in 2000.
Channel 4 Head of Sport, David Kerr, says: ‘It’s a terrific coup to bring the World Cup to Channel 4. The deal is recognition of the channel’s track record in covering Winter sports over recent years. It is an exciting time for the sport after the worldwide success of the Winter Olympics and we want to capitalise on that with increased coverage bringing the sport to a new audience.’
Producer of the coverage for Hothouse Productions, Nick Fellows, says: ‘There couldn’t be a better time to cover skiing, with British success at an all-time high. Our coverage is going to mean that terrestrial viewers can follow the whole season for the first time. We are lining up a whole host of skiing stars – including Franz Klammer and Alain Baxter – to give us the inside story on the sport.’
For more information contact:
Matthew Robinson, Channel 4, 020 7306 3747
Pictures: Tristan Hopkins, Channel 4, 020 7306 8157