Live from Sportel Monaco: Olympic Channel takes sports documentary making to new level with social stars Sustaining viewer interest in athletes beyond Olympics is key factor for IOC operated service By Heather McLean, Editor
Monday, October 21, 2019 - 16:24
Print This Story
The Olympic Channel's Mark Parkman, general manager
Here in Monaco, the Olympic Channel is premiering the first linear episode of its new near-live documentary covering the next big stars of gymnastics, All Around.
The show, hitting the red carpet on Monday 21 October in Monte Carlo, is using an innovative combination of monthly episodes and social media push from the stars of the show themselves to gain the attention of viewers.
The digital and linear follow me' style series produced by Noah Media Group is covering the stories of three rising stars in gymnastics on their way to Japan 2020, from Russia, China and the US.
Each of the monthly digital episodes are being filmed and edited on an ongoing basis, following the young female athletes in their personal and sporting life as they attempt to overcome emotional and physical hardships in their bids to medal next year.
Speaking to SVG Europe, Mark Parkman, general manager at the Olympic Channel, said: We're embedded with these three different gymnasts, not live but close to, and are releasing one episode per month on the lead up to Tokyo. It's pretty aggressive, what we're doing.
Referring to the two-pronged attack on film promotion that the Olympic Channel is taking with this documentary series, he added: The gymnasts themselves are pushing [the programme] over social, mostly on their Instagram and Twitter accounts, and that's what we wanted them to do. It's unusual.
The reason for the Olympic Channel's push into more immersive content is to sustain the viewer's attention beyond each Olympic Games, explained Parkman. Our challenge is primarily trying to keep people interested in the people within the games. People's interest has always been very cyclical [centred around each Olympic Games]. We want to, through our storytelling, keep people interested in the athletes; they don't go away, but we only see them in mass quantities every four years.
We want to level that out so people will feel that these are truly world class athletes, and so people will engage with them on a more regular basis, added Parkman.
The series includes 12 digital episodes each around 15 minutes long released one per month up to Tokyo 2020, and four linear episodes which are 24 to 26 minutes long. The linear episodes are created by taking content from the digital side and extending it out into longer stories. Both digital and linear episodes are available as they are produced on the Olympic Channel, and from broadcasters and federations.
Noted Parkman: The first episode has performed very well. It was our best performing episode ever released so far, so we are now looking at what we can do [in a similar vein] for Beijing 2022.
Concluded Parkman: I don't think there is a media company that has a more extensive programming slate about sports than us. We have done 70 original series since the channel was launched, equalling over 1,000 episodes, with 25 different production companies form 25 different countries to provide different perspectives.
The Olympic Chanel's series, All Around, follows world-class gymnasts Morgan Hurd, Chen Yile and Angelina Melnikova as they set out on a year-long journey towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
Live from Sportel Monaco: Olympic Channel takes sports documentary making to new level with social stars Sustaining viewer interest in athletes beyond Olympics is key factor for IOC operated service By Heather McLean, Editor 
