The Olympic Media dossier

 1948: London   

29 July-14 August
The first Games covered by a regular television service. The BBC paid £750 ($3,000) for the television rights, although programmes could be seen only in those parts of the UK that had transmissions (ie, London). Nonetheless, public interest was considerable. Over 15 days broadcasts totalled 70 hours, including seven hours 35 minutes on one day alone—the most coverage of any event to date other than US political conventions. Overall this was twice the originally planned coverage.
        A daily Olympic Sports-reel was produced. Signals originated from two mobile control units, one at Wembley Stadium and the other at the Olympic Pool, each with three cameras. Another camera showed the Olympic Way approach road. A coaxial cable was laid between Wembley and Broadcasting House. New CPS Emitron cameras were used with higher resolution and significantly reduced lighting requirements, allowing operation in environments that would previously have been too dark.
        For radio, the Palace of Arts, built for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, was used as a broadcasting centre with eight radio studios and 32 channels. The parabolic reflector microphone was first used—12 of them—with a range up to 300 yards.
        The 90-minute official film, The Glory of Sport, was produced by the Rank Organisation in the style of an extended newsreel, albeit in three-strip Technicolor to include the Winter Games at St Moritz. It is available on video.