Nine’s coverage of the Paris Olympic Games began in style, with a swanky AI enhanced studio overlooking the Eiffel Tower and the reveal of Australia’s flag bearers, canoeist Jess Fox and hockey stalwart Eddie Ockenden. The day saw the Aussie Seven’s team shine, but controversy erupt in the football. For those who didn’t stay up to watch the action live, 9Now has refreshed its experience for Australians to catch up on the highlights.
Nine began its coverage of the Olympic Games with a polished performance on and off the pitch. The coverage, opened by Ally Langdon and James Bracey, introduced Aussies to Nine’s state of the art and AI enhanced studio in the Trocadero area of Paris.
The broadcast kicked off with montages of past glory, often in the pool, and expert analysis from the likes of Ian Thorpe and Cate Campbell discussing the swimmers rivalry and hopes in the pool. Eddie McGuire and Aussie chef de mission Anna Meares hosted the first bit of live coverage, revealing that Jess Fox and Eddie Ockenden would be carrying the Australian flag on a barge down the River Seine for the opening ceremony.
Football kicked off the official sports program with a mouthwatering battle between African U23 champions Morocco and world champions Argentina. Morocco stunned La Albiceleste by taking a 2-1 lead deep into the injury time (remarkably 16 minutes of it) before a last gasp goal appeared to have gotten the Argies out of jail.
Sections of the largely partisan Moroccan crowd then erupted and stormed the field in protest, riot police greeted the melee, the players were quickly hauled off, Argentina’s equaliser was then scrubbed off for offside – and two hours later the players were hauled back into an empty stadium to play an additional three minutes of injury time.
If this is the level of drama fans can expect, the Paris Olympics promises to be – as Bruce McAvaney would often say on such occasions – ‘special’.
Elsewhere, the Aussie men’s rugby 7s team opened their account with wins against Samoa and Kenya, charting a course into the quarter finals irrespective of their final fixture against tournament favourites Argentina.
A lot of the action at the Paris Olympic Games will take place while Australia sleeps. Nine has revamped its BVOD 9Now to make sure fans don’t miss a moment of the action.
The updated platform will provide a “unified experience across all devices” and featuring live coverage of all 45 official Olympic sports, a library of Olympic documentaries, sports explainers and athlete profiles.
During live competition, the content offering will be enhanced by a range of event highlights, including race replays, full match replays and session replays.
“We’re thrilled with 9Now’s fresh look and feel ahead of Paris 2024, with every medal and every moment available to all Australians live and free. Viewers will enjoy an immersive Olympic experience that gives them everything they want in one destination,” said Hamish Turner, director of Programming and 9Now.
Viewers can catch up on the previous day’s action with the Daily Highlights Show, hosted by Sam McClure, available at 9am (AEST) each day. Additionally, fans can watch the Daily Top 10 Moments and Daily Team Australia Highlights every morning after the day’s play.
9Now has a collection of TV documentaries to get Aussies into the Olympic spirit ahead of the Opening Ceremony. These include: Olympic Games Paris 2024, Team Australia, Official Olympic Films, Opening Ceremony, Daily Highlights, Daily Top 10 Moments and Closing Ceremony.
Nine’s Olympic broadcast team (see hero image above) features Langdon, Bracey, Todd Woodbridge, Leila McKinnon, Dylan Alcott, McGuire, Sarah Abo and Karl Stefanovic.
Every event of every sport will be streamed on 9Now. There are two 24/7 live channels – 9 and 9Gem – showing the main events (or at least the main ones involving Australia), interviews, media ceremonies and other major highlights.
The opening ceremony is due to kick off at 3.30am on Saturday AEST.
Reporting by Arvind Hickman and Fredrika Stigell
