Commonwealth Games broadcaster set to showcase Queensland to the world

An Australian-based company will broadcast the television feed of all the sporting action from Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games to an estimated audience of 1.5 billion people around the world and deliver 1,200 jobs in Queensland.  

Expert broadcasters NEP Australia (formerly Global TV Australia) will beam high-definition television coverage to Channel Seven in Australia and all the Rights Holding Broadcasters around the world, capturing footage of the Games’ ceremonies and 11 days of sporting competition.

Minister for the Commonwealth Games Stirling Hinchliffe said the host broadcaster services tender is the single biggest Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games contract.

“This announcement will deliver more than 1,200 jobs and also hundreds of training opportunities for students here in Queensland,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“The Commonwealth Games is the largest sporting event to be staged in Australia this decade – it will broadcast our state to the world, inject more than $2 billion into Queensland’s economy and support up to 30,000 jobs.

“This announcement is a major boost for Queensland’s creative industries and will support talented broadcasters and technicians across the state.

“Importantly this announcement also means that NEP Australia will provide training for 200 local college and university students in the lead up to the Games and give them real-life exposure to a major international event.

“This investment in our state’s students will be a tremendous legacy from the Games and will help to build the next generation of broadcast talent in our state.”

Mr Hinchliffe said NEP Australia is the largest employer of broadcast freelance professionals in Queensland and is in the process of establishing an office in Bundall on the Gold Coast and will also manage the design, installation and operation of the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“NEP Australia will lay over 100 kilometres of cable, and deploy 350 cameras, to produce over 1,100 hours of live television, radio and digital coverage during the Games for the world’s Rights Holding Broadcasters, which will be transmitted via 25 outside broadcast vehicles and control rooms,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) CEO Mark Peters said the signing of the Host Broadcaster is a major milestone in the planning for the Games.

“Today’s announcement of NEP as our Host Broadcaster gives us absolute confidence that the best possible coverage of GC2018 will be delivered and, in doing so, showcase the Gold Coast as a world destination event city and images of Queensland around the globe,” Mr Peters said.

“NEP’s broadcast will also include Ultra High Definition broadcast of the Opening Ceremony - four times the resolution of current High Definition.”

NEP Australia President Soames Treffry said the Commonwealth Games have a proud history of bringing a diverse family of nations together to celebrate world-class sporting prowess.

“Faultless capture and international distribution of television, radio and internet-delivered material by the Host Broadcaster is essential to a successful Games,” Mr Teffry said.

“We will strive to ensure this is the Games’ best-ever coverage across all platforms.”

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) CEO, David Grevemberg CBE, welcomed the appointment.

“NEP will provide the lens through which the world will view the Games, the Gold Coast, Queensland and Australia,” Mr Grevemberg said.

“The role of the Host Broadcaster is pivotal to the success of the media operations of any Commonwealth Games, but never more so than in 2018 when a cumulative audience of over 1.5 billion people will watch the Gold Coast action in more ways and more places than ever before.”

NEP is internationally recognised for its technical expertise in Host Broadcasting and major events, managing complex projects such as the 2014 G20 Leaders’ Summit. They will be supported by the GC2018 Australian Rights Holder the Seven Network and UK production company Sunset+Vine.

Gold Coast 2018 will be NEP Australia’s fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games with the Australian-based company having successfully delivered the broadcast for the Glasgow 2014, Delhi 2010 and the Melbourne 2006 Games.

NEP facilitates more than 2,000 hours of Australian broadcast television each year, including live sport such as NRL, AFL, cricket and the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercars and popular series and drama such as My Kitchen Rules, The Voice and Neighbours. The company has also helped deliver the live entertainment and event programs Dancing with the Stars, The Footy Show and the annual Logie awards.

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held from April 4 -15, 2018.

Media contact: Jessica Hill 0475 950 772