| MUMBAI:
The Handball Euro 2006 which took place in Switzerland was the most extensively
covered and viewed tournament in the history of Men's European Handball Championships. More than 760 million
cumulative viewers followed 707 hours of televised event coverage. The event took
place from 26 January to 5 February this year and is the European Handball Federation's
(EHF) premier event. The championship was transmitted by close to 120 television
and radio broadcasters worldwide and benefited from approximately 800 accredited
journalists, photographers and technicians to deliver record media coverage. This
result is based on an independent programme analysis including information provided
by broadcast partners worldwide. The report was compiled by the German communication
research agency Sport+Markt AG on behalf of Infront Sports & Media AG, the
EHF's television and marketing partner. The is seen as a conservative
estimate for the event's total coverage. This is due to several key markets —
such as Russia, Turkey, Argentina and Brazil — not being able to provide
audited audience data to meet the full criteria of the study. If the unaudited
data from these markets were taken into account, the total figure of 760 million
would increase to an estimated 850 million cumulative audience. The total
transmission time grew by 20 per cent and the cumulative audience figures increased
by more than 30 per cent (based on the audited cumulative audience) compared to
the last Men's Championship in 2004. The 2006 television report demonstrated
that coverage reached virtually every European country. The victory of the French
team over Spain in the final match benefitted from significant news coverage around
the world. Extensive television coverage was also reported from countries not
represented in the competition, e.g. Romania (25 matches), Belgium (16), FYR Macedonia
(15), and Sweden (10). Live broadcasts of Euro 2006 matches were also shown in
the Middle East and North Africa. Delayed transmissions and/or news coverage was
available in several Asian and South American territories. The official
tournament website, www.euro06.com/, which was jointly provided by the EHF, the
Swiss Handball Federation and Infront, provided fans with extensive information
about the event, participating nations and players. It received 74.6 million page
impressions from the beginning of January through 5 February. The result more
than tripled those compared to the 2004 event website – another tournament
record. EHF president Tor Lian said, "We are proud of our deep-rooted
partnership with Infront Sports & Media. It dates back many years and has
played an absolute crucial role in the development of the EHF, especially in terms
of the growth of its flagship event, the European Handball Championships. The
innovative and close-knit partnership has made the European Handball Championships
into a leading event on the sporting market, as the figures underline. "The
2006 Men's European Championship, held in Switzerland in January, turned a corner
and set a precedent for international, indoor sporting events. The EHF will continue
its work with Infront for the next period to encompass the 2008 and 2010 European
Championships to reach even greater heights." Infront has acted as
the EHF's exclusive commercial partner for almost thirteen years. In 2004, both
partners renewed their cooperation until 2010. The EHF and Infront are currently
preparing to broadcast the Women's European Championship from 7 to 17 December
2006 in Sweden, where TV4 Sweden will be acting as host broadcaster and offering
live signals for all 47 games. | 
