NEWS

A zeppelin in Berlin in 1936

At the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912, 500 journalists were present to cover the event. These were the first Games to receive international press coverage. The previous four (Athens, Paris, St Louis and London) had not made much of a splash, except perhaps those in Athens, where the revival of the Olympic Games began. The first televised Olympic Games were in Berlin, then under the Nazi regime. A zeppelin floated above, taking panoramic photographs. An early television network transmitted the image from the stadium to the Olympic Village and another 26 public buildings in the city. It was also in Berlin that the first film was made of the Games. Directed by Leni Riefenstahl and screened in 1938, «Olympia» focused on the athletes and not on the Nazi celebrations. In 1948, the BBC in London undertook local television coverage of the Games. Television rights were first sold for Games coverage in Melbourne in 1956, but European and US channels boycotted the sale of rights, and only video clips were shown. The 1960 Rome Games were shown on television in 21 countries. Wider television coverage began at the 1964 Tokyo Games, which were the first to be transmitted by satellite. Excerpts from the opening ceremony were shown directly on American television. The Sydney Games were shown in 220 countries.

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