21,000 journalists in London to cover Olympics 2012

London, Jul 18: Do you know how many journalists will be in London this month to cover the biggest sporting spectacle, Olympics 2012? It is a whopping 21,000!

Reporters, photographers, camera persons and other technical staff from print and electronic and other media have already started arriving in London to cover this mega event that starts on Jul 27.

This number is more than the athletes participating in the Games. According to reports, there are more than 16,000 athletes expected to compete at London Olympics 2012.

The BBC, Britain's official Olympic broadcaster, will broadcast more than 2,500 hours (equal to almost four months) of high definition television over the 17-day period, covering every sport, from every venue, on every day, a report on BBC website said.

London 2012 will be the first Olympics to feature live 3D television broadcasts, and 33 "true 3D" cameras will be used to capture more than 230 hours of 3D coverage. The BBC will broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies and the men's 100m final in 3D, and pan-European broadcaster Eurosport will also be providing 3D coverage.

"To squeeze it all in, the corporation will use 24 Olympic channels, which will be available via the BBC Red Button or channel numbers in the electronic programme guides on cable and satellite services. The same 24 television channels will also be available as 24 high definition online streams, tailored for viewing on connected TVs, PCs, tablets and mobile phones, and the BBC expects online viewing figures will be the highest ever," the BBC report added.

NBC, the Games' broadcaster in the United States, is also planning to air more than 200 hours of 3D coverage with a next-day delay, news agency AFP reported.

The US giant is sending a 2,700-strong team to London to produce at least 5,500 hours of coverage across several channels. And in another first, its website is set to broadcast every sporting event live, the report added.

"This will be the most comprehensively covered event in television history," Mark Lazarus, NBC Sports Group chairman, was quoted by AFP.

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