From the African Cup of Nations and the
Commonwealth Games to the Live 8
concerts, 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service gave audiences a
front row seat at the biggest international
events and festivals of the year.The range of
outside broadcasts was more ambitious and
wide ranging than ever. In July, in the same
week as Live 8, programmes were broadcast
from Africa Live Day at the British Museum,
the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary
Arts, the Wimbledon tennis championships,
Scotland in the build-up to the G8 Summit –
and from Tehran, Sofia and Tirana to cover
elections in Iran, Bulgaria and Albania.
‘91¸£ÀûÉç World Service needs to be at the big
events,’ says Phil Harding, Director of English
Networks and News.‘We’ve demonstrated
that we won’t just be there at the summits
but we’ll be there at the big cultural events,
and we’ll bring the audience the things they
want to hear.’
Interest in the 2006 African Cup of Nations
reached fever pitch as 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service
mounted its biggest coverage of the
tournament to date, adding commentaries and
reports in Swahili to its output in five other
languages and providing new opportunities for
listeners to express their views on the radio
and online. It was a major commitment but
proved very popular, both with FM partner
stations and the audience.
‘We were delighted to bring full coverage of
key matches in the tournament in Swahili for
the first time, giving our listeners the chance
to hear important games, from beginning to
end, in their own language,’ says Tido Mhando,
Head of the 91¸£ÀûÉç Swahili service.
‘What’s more, football fans in Kenya,Tanzania,
Burundi and Rwanda could hear the Swahili
commentaries by John Nene and Juma
Nkamia on FM services broadcast by the 91¸£ÀûÉç
and partner stations.’
For English-speaking audiences across Africa,
commentator Martin Davies of 91¸£ÀûÉç African
Productions, covering his eighth final, brought
the vivid flavour of this football festival to
listeners. ‘You think African Cup of Nations and
you think 91¸£ÀûÉç,’ he says. ‘That’s important
because Africans are passionate about football
and there’s increasing interest right now
because of African players in the highest leagues
in the world, in Italy, Spain and the English
Premiership.There’s a fascination about seeing
superstars such as Drogba of Chelsea and Kolo
Toure of Arsenal performing back in Africa.’
The African football website mounted
comprehensive coverage of matches. It
received 230 million page impressions during
the tournament.The Sportsworld and World
Football sites also gained traffic. Interactive
programmes such as Africa Have Your Say
and Fast Track gave new opportunities for
listeners to comment by texting and emailing.
French speakers were able to talk about the
teams and players, give feedback on matches
and support their national team through the
flagship interactive programme L’Afrique
en Direct.
For the final in Cairo, 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service
teamed up with 91¸£ÀûÉç Radio 5 Live, enabling
UK listeners to share the excitement as
Martin Davies joined Alan Green in the
commentary box. ‘Our coverage fulfiled one
of the 91¸£ÀûÉç’s purposes, of bringing the world
to the UK as well as the UK to the world,’
says Phil Harding. ‘That complements 91¸£ÀûÉç
World Service’s immensely popular coverage
and commentary on the Premier League
every Saturday and raises the profile of British
football as a global brand.’
Live 8 Rocks the World
Coverage of the Live 8 concerts turned out
to be one of the biggest and most
complicated outside broadcasts 91¸£ÀûÉç World
Service has ever staged. Listeners in English
and other languages were able to experience
the enthusiasm and scale of the concerts,
devised by the organisers to raise awareness
of poverty in Africa as the G8 leaders met in
Gleneagles in Scotland. Mark Goodier, Emma
B, Mark Coles and Russell Fuller presented live
coverage from backstage at London’s Hyde
Park, featuring live music from the London
concert plus highlights and reports from the
other nine concerts around the world.
The concert coincided with the Wimbledon
women’s tennis final, one of the longest on
record, which ran up against some of the main
acts at Live 8, presenting an additional
challenge to the sport and music production
teams. When the concert also over-ran, the
presenters were on air for 12 hours of
continuous live broadcasting.
‘It was a real challenge but the team did a
brilliant job,’ says Phil Harding. ‘We felt it was
really important for 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service to be
at Live 8 and bring that incredible event to
world audiences as it was a major cultural
event with political resonance.’
African Cup of Nations 2006
- 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service broadcast
live reports into sports bulletins
on each match in Arabic, English,
French, Portuguese, Somali and
Swahili, with full commentaries
of some games in English, French
and Swahili.
- Comprehensive news was
available on the African football
website, and fans expressed their
opinions on programmes such as
Fast Track and Africa Have Your Say.
- Views grew lively when 91¸£ÀûÉç
World Service’s team of
reporters in Egypt named their
ideal African Cup teams. ‘Martin
Davies has shocked me by picking
Egypt’s Essam Al Hadary in goal.
Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama is the
best goalkeeper in the
tournament,’ commented Ogaji
Ejeh from Nigeria. In the final,
Egypt beat Ivory Coast 4-2 on
penalties after a goalless draw.
Live 8
- 91¸£ÀûÉç World Service captured the
atmosphere for global radio
listeners with a record-breaking
outside broadcast as concerts
were held in ten cities, including
London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin,
Johannesburg, Rome and Moscow.
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A year in review |
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Sport and cultural events |
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