Terra exclusive online broadcast of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to LatAM.

Terra announced an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which will take place from August 8th through 24th. With this alliance, Terra will become the only portal with exclusive rights to broadcast the games by Internet and cellular phone in Latin America. It is the first time that a sporting event of the magnitude of the Olympics will be broadcast completely live via Internet and cellular phone in the region.

Terra’s special site, Beijing 2008, will allow its users to enjoy the biggest sporting event around the world over 13 simulcast video channels, live and on demand. Terra’s exclusive broadcast will use multibit-rate technology that adapts the quality of the videos to broadband and the speed of the user’s connection.

There will be a total of more than 300 hours of all the broadcast events at the Olympics, enabling users to decide whether they prefer to watch soccer games, volleyball, gymnastics, etc. over the Internet or via cellular phone. The 24-hour coverage will include all games and highlights, real time photos, videos, glimpses behind-the-scenes and announcements of results through the portal as well as cellular phones. Users will also have access to blogs of the athletes, journalists and commentators live straight from Beijing. Information will be updated minute-by-minute, with play-by-play announcing of all sports events and games.

Terra has a team of 200 professionals who will be working on the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for Latin America. Of this total, 30 will be providing live, real time coverage directly from China. In addition, Terra will have a TV Studio in Beijing with satellite links to São Paulo, Brazil, where Terra’s TV Headquarters for Latin America are located.

“Terra is the leader in its market, and we are very enthusiastic about working together to bring sports lovers unprecedented access to coverage of the Olympic Games via Internet and cellular phone in Latin America,” said Richard Carrión, a member of the IOC’s Executive Council. “The digital media coverage of the Olympic Games all over the world is expected to become the best edition of the games in history.”

In addition to broadcast rights for the Olympic Games for Latin America, Terra will be offering users in both Latin America and the United States unprecedented programming. User participation will play a very important role since the site will be entirely set up to include user-generated content.

Sports lovers in the United States will be able to enjoy the content of the Olympics at http://www.terra.com/olympics08> , a site which includes the “Fan Zone,” a space where they will have a chance to send messages of support to their favorite athletes and teams. Users can also get up-to-the-minute results for all games in real time and keep track of the medals won by their country. “Each day we will be providing our users in the United States special segments featuring calendars, schedules of events, news, photo galleries, Video on Demand and much more,” added Angel Sepúlveda, Executive Director of Programming for Terra Networks USA.

As part of this special coverage, users will have access to data on Olympic records, medal rankings by country and information on the Latin and foreign athletes who will be competing in this edition of the Olympics. Users will be able to access the times and records for all sports and athletes by country, and for those who prefer to experience this event in real life, Terra will make available a guide of the various host locations, with information on each city, its climate, culture, entertainment, tickets for all the games, sporting events, dining out, and history, among other things.

The Atomo Project: a new concept in Internet portals

Terra’s special homepage, Beijing 2008, is the first phase of the Atomo Project, an innovative undertaking based on a new, 3rd-generation Internet portal concept, offering new Web 3.0 functionalities and interactive tools, and making it possible to meet and stay ahead of the demands of new users.

This new platform, developed on the basis of user experience on the web, offers new interactive multimedia tools, interfaces and ways to navigate, as well as strengthening the exchange of content produced by users and by Terra.