ALL EYES ON BEIJING AS DISCOVERY CELEBRATES MILESTONE ON THE ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES

To mark the 100 Days to Go milestone until Beijing 2022, Discovery has unveiled its plans that feature new shows and formats to capture the excitement of the winter sport season and build up to the Olympic Winter Games. Capitalising on its position as the Home of the Olympics in Europe* and extensive line-up of live winter sports coverage, the newly scheduled programming and content mean audiences can follow the world’s best winter sports athletes every week all the way to Beijing.

Broadcasting the Games on discovery+** and Eurosport in over 50 markets across the continent, Discovery will aim to once again unlock the power of the Olympics by telling the most inspiring stories with the greatest storytellers. In the lead up to Beijing 2022, Discovery will seek to tell more stories around the live action and offer a more immersive experience for the viewer through deeper analysis told by new voices to engage a broader audience.

The journey to Beijing 2022 starts here
Discovery’s ‘Road To’ programming and content will be underpinned by a 360-degree offering that includes live action from across the globe during the 2021-22 winter sports season. In the lead-up to February’s Olympic Winter Games, Discovery will broadcast over 700 hours of live winter sports coverage – with 3,000 hours in total – from all four corners of the globe. From Vail to Val d’Isere, and Lake Louise to Les Arcs, Discovery will bring the best of the action to millions of passionate fans throughout Europe.

Discovery is also set to launch a brand-new programme from 23 November which will re-cap all the action and latest opinions from some of the biggest names in the game as they kick-start their preparations for Beijing 2022.

The ten episode one-hour Winter Pass show will be fronted by Radzi Chingyangya, a passionate and energetic broadcaster who has carved out a successful career presenting to audiences of all ages and who proved extremely popular with viewers during Eurosport’s coverage of Tokyo 2020. Each week, the hour-long show will see Radzi pay a visit to some of the most scenic locations on the calendar to feature an event that is on the Olympic programme - including alpine skiing from Saint-Moritz, ski jumping from Four Hills and speed skating from Heerenveen, giving fans an access-all-areas pass into the world of winter sports.

Each episode of Winter Pass will feature a host of original formats including Athletes to Watch - ensuring fans can get up close and personal with some of the athletes chasing Olympic glory, while also celebrating some of the iconic Winter Olympians from days gone by such as Hermann Maier, Matty Nykanen and Steven Bradbury in Essential Olympic Stories powered by Bridgestone.

‘Athletes to Watch’ (10 episodes) and ‘Essential Olympic Stories powered by Bridgestone’ (four episodes) will be published on Eurosport’s digital platforms in the lead-up to Beijing 2022.

Olympic firsts and ground-breaking technology
Discovery’s coverage of the Olympic Winter Games from Beijing 2022 will be defined by Olympic firsts, ground-breaking technology while also paying tribute to its award-winning coverage of Tokyo 2020.

• Starting on 26 October - to coincide with the 100 Days to Go milestone - and continuing until 29 October, Eurosport 1 will broadcast two hours of its Hall of Fame format - looking back at some of the incredible Olympic Winter Games stories from Turin, Vancouver, Sochi and PyeongChang
• For the first time, Discovery’s premium sports brand – Eurosport - will be the Home of the Olympics in France
• As with Tokyo 2020, Discovery’s brilliant extended-reality multi-location Cube studio will once again provide viewers with best-in-class analysis – but Beijing 2022 will see several innovations that will further enhance the viewing experience. These will be revealed closer to Games-time
• The popular anthem produced exclusively for Discovery by award-winning composer Steven Price in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra for Tokyo 2020 returns for Beijing 2022 

Andrew Georgiou, President of Sports, Discovery, said: “With the Olympic Winter Games coming a mere six months on from Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 presents a unique opportunity to capitalise on the momentum and record engagement Discovery enjoyed with both sports fans and broader Olympics audiences on our platforms. 

"A standout success from Tokyo 2020 was how discovery+ and our digital platforms have transformed the way we tell stories. They not only reach the whole household audience but cater perfectly for storytelling outside the live action. This has allowed us to tell more human stories that resonate with even more people, particularly through making a deeper connection with the athletes, exploring the world in which they live and shining a light on themes from wider society they are passionate about. 

"When you combine this depth of storytelling with our unrivalled line-up of live winter sports coverage, we are the most comprehensive place to follow the journey to Beijing 2022. Both PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 showed how the success of national heroes drove record audiences. Given many of our major markets are fanatical about winter sports, we are gearing up for more of the same this winter."

Scott Young, Senior Vice President, Content and Production at Discovery Sports, said: "We will leave no stone unturned as we endeavour to tell the stories that matter to millions of fans across Europe in the lead-up to - and during - Beijing 2022. In Radzi Chinyanganya, who now assumes a role on a pan-European basis for our new Winter Pass programme, we have an exceptional presenter perfectly placed speaking to viewers with the youthful and innovative approach to storytelling he demonstrated in Tokyo for Discovery Eurosport in the UK.

"As it had done for our Grand Slam tennis coverage, the immersive Cube studio again proved extremely popular with viewers and athletes alike during Tokyo 2020. We're all looking forward to unveiling this brilliant technology in its new and enhanced guise for Beijing 2022 meaning fans will be able to enjoy deeper analysis from our incredible team of winter sports experts from across Europe like never before."

Having acquired the rights in 2015, Discovery delivered its first Olympic Winter Games at PyeongChang 2018, reaching both record linear and digital viewership across Eurosport’s localised platforms. Olympic Games Beijing 2022 officially starts with the Opening Ceremony on Friday 4 February and will be broadcast across discovery+, Eurosport and the Eurosport App in over 50 markets in Europe. 

*Discovery will screen Beijing 2022 across Europe except Russia

**Beijing 2022 will be available to watch on discovery+ in Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain and United Kingdom. In all other European markets, except Russia, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be available on Eurosport.