2000 Summer Olympics

The Games of the XXVII Olympiad or the Millennium Olympics were held in 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Sydney was elected in 1993 above Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester. The election took place in Monte Carlo on 23rd September, 1993.

Media coverage

The games were covered by the following broadcasters:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Seven Network (Australia)
• BBC (United Kingdom)
• NBC (United States)
• SVT (Sweden)
• CBC and TSN (Canada)
• NHK (Japan)
• ARD and ZDF (Germany)
• France Télévisions (France 2 and France 3) and Canal + (France)

One of the more notable parts of the media coverage of the games was the two-hour nightly broadcast of "The Dream," a comedy talk show discussing the past day's events, presented by Australian comedic duo Roy and HG. The show was broadcast internationally, and featured a wombat mascot, (named Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat), who became significantly more popular than the official mascots Syd, Ollie and Millie. Their commentary on the men's gymnastics was also entertaining.

Related Topics:
Media - The Dream - Talk show - Roy and HG - Mascot - Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Running up to the games, a lesser-known Australian comedy satire The Games was broadcast in Australia only. It featured a spoof of the issues, and events that the top-level organisers and bureaucrats suffered in the lead up to the games.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

NBC presented over 400+ hours on their main and sister stations, CNBC and MSNBC. The downside of the American coverage was that it was presented on tape delay rather than live due to the 15-hour time difference. NBC remedied this error in their 2004 coverage by presenting live coverage throughout the night and early morning, and showing replays in prime time.

Related Topics:
CNBC - MSNBC

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Perhaps, the most poignant part of the media coverage of the games came in Canada. On September 28, the CBC was airing the Olympics when the network's chief correspondent, Peter Mansbridge, interrupted it and said:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:"Hello, from Toronto, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Sad news to report from Montreal...former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau...has passed away."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

People in Canada that wanted to see the Olympics between then and the closing ceremonies had to turn to TSN because the CBC was broadcasing news coverage related to the passing and state funeral of the former prime minister.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~