One of the key areas for which the FEI Commercial Division is responsible is television. The cameras of FEI Television have become a familiar sight for organisers and visitors to FEI top events.

We would like to take this opportunity to present a number of important elements that ultimately affect FEI Television, to specify the rights situation of the top FEI properties and to explain the way TV production from these events works.

Our current strategy is to find a balance between rights fees and the scope of the coverage. In order to achieve value for its products and respect among broadcasters, the FEI always tries to charge a fee albeit, at times, a small one. A significant change over the last couple of years has been noted, broadcasters in general agreeing to that fee, which has led to a positive change their attitude to the sport.

A contract between the organiser of the event, the FEI and the respective NF is established. The organiser is responsible for the delivery of the international TV signal; in order for this to be delivered, the organiser has in turn a contract with a host broadcaster, who is usually a national terrestrial, satellite or cable broadcaster. In some cases where no agreement can be made between an organiser and a national broadcaster, an independent television company has to be hired by the organiser at their own expense to produce the international signal.

The international signal has to match the global standards outlined in the contract and it includes FEI series graphics and international sound (sound from the arena). It does not include commentary, presenters to camera and news inserts.

Currently, the international signal has to be distributed by satellite or fibre optics through the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Geneva.

The FEI sells the event or the whole series to international broadcasters. The broadcasters have the choice of either taking the live signal or a programme of highlights. In the case when the live signal has been taken, the signal is sent by the host broadcaster to the EBU which in turn distributes it to the international broadcasters which may either show the competition live or delayed live; the latter option allows for some basic editing so that the event can fit the broadcaster’s time slot.

To be able to produce the highlights programme, FEI Television attends each show, makes interviews and films additional features of interest. Following each competition, a master tape is collected from the host broadcaster and is edited into a 52 minute highlights programme incorporating the interviews and background shots. Once the picture editing is complete, a voice-over is added to produce the final edited master. Copies are made and couriered to the various broadcasters world-wide.

Finally the master tape of each competition is included in the television archive.

The results of FEI Television in terms of number of hours, broadcasters and countries are growing: the number of broadcasters of the FEI World CupTM Jumping has increased from four in 1999 to 18 in 2006. During the same period of time, the footprint has grown from 62 to 150 countries and the number of hours broadcast has increased from 75 to 501. Similar results are observed with the Samsung Super League and the FEI Nations Cup: there are now 16 broadcasters as opposed to 8 in 2000. The footprint now covers 160 countries - 138 in 2000 – and the number of hours broadcast has increased from 164 to 593. Thanks to Rolex, highlights of the Rolex FEI World CupTM Jumping and Dressage Finals will be broadcast on the Cable News Network (CNN), which rates as USA’s number one cable news network available in 88.2 million US households and is distributed to more than 1.5 billion people in over 212 countries and territories.

Another very successful development has been the television magazine, FEI Equestrian World sponsored by Rolex. This monthly 30-minute programme puts forward the lifestyle surrounding horsesport and its less known yet exciting features. Twenty broadcasters air the magazine world-wide with among them such blockbusters as BBC World, the estimated reach of which is 220 million homes.