The Department of Economic Development has confirmed that new television deals negotiated by North One TV are likely to double the 16,000,000 viewers that watched the 2011 event worldwide.
New deals have been confirmed to take a minimum of the eleven one-hour TT dedicated and Isle of Man themed international programmes this year to broadcasters in the Middle East and North Africa, South America, pan-Asia, Scandinavia, France, Poland and the Czech Republic. Several other deals are close to being signed with major broadcasters in territories where TT dedicated programmes will be shown for the first time.
These territories will join the established pool of TV broadcasters worldwide carrying the international TT programmes which includes Australia, Taiwan, Germany, Spain, the USA and Canada.
UK audiences can enjoy 14 one-hour programmes on ITV4, and a Welsh language version on S4C, which start on Monday 28th May. In addition to 11 TT review programmes, ITV4 will also screen three one-hour specials: a profile of John McGuinness; a look at the TT ‘Record Breakers’; and a behind the scenes look at how the TT is set up called ‘the Final Countdown’. The on air team will again be led by Craig Doyle and includes Steve Parrish, James Whitham and Steve Plater.
In addition to the TT races review programmes a number of stations are also planning features during the TT: BBC Coast programme will again be visiting the Isle of Man; an Al Jazeera documentary team are creating a one hour film of the event; ITV4’s The Motorbike Show are filming a show on the return of Norton; and a crew from HBO in the USA are on the Island to do a major news and lifestyle feature. BBC1 will also be covering the Olympic Torch relay taking place on Saturday in the Isle of Man. This will be screened on Wednesday 6th June at 7.00pm as part of the national coverage.
New production improvements from North One TV include on-board telemetry from the bikes this year as well as a higher spec hi-motion camera that will run at 1000 frames per second, an increase from the 600 frames last year. The company has also researched more new camera angles and positions.
Colin Kniveton, Chief Executive, Department of Economic Development commented:
‘This is great news for the event as not only does it help increase the commercial revenue that we can generate, it also boosts the profile of the Isle of Man’s commercial interests. We have already seen more international visitors to the Isle of Man on the back of the increased profile and we are confident that this trend will continue as a result of the extended coverage.’
- Ends -
