elite series, OL | The Olympic channel must withstand enormous criticism after downgrading Norwegian football

Cool that Discovery has only decided to downgrade the Elite Series during the Olympics. No OBOS or Elite Series live, or podcasts. If they do not have enough resources to prioritize both, then they should not buy the rights imo

– Jørgen Hernholm (@Hernholm) July 17, 2021

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The channel has had great success with its goal shows such as “OBOS live” and “Football live” during the rounds, but sees itself having to prioritize it away.

They have replaced studio broadcasts with, among other things, goal shows, where you broadcast a main match and show the goals scored in the other matches along the way. The channel also has two at the stadium, a commentator and an expert commentator, who cover the settlement that is played.

The priorities apply to rounds 13 and 14 in the Elite Series, and 12 and 13 in the OBOS league.

Understand the criticism

Martin Hinsch, senior communications consultant for sports at Discovery, believes this is a well-thought-out priority.

– When the Olympics and the Elite Series go at the same time, it naturally becomes a matter of priority for us. There are not very many elite series rounds that take place at the same time as the Olympics, but our challenge is the capacity of our employees and availability in the studio, quite simply. We must take care of our employees in terms of workload, he says to Nettavisen.

And continues:

– Now we are rebuilding the studios to have Olympic broadcasts, and we have divided the working group. Some continue their work with Norwegian football, which is very important to us, and some work with the Olympics, which last just over 14 days.

– Several write that you should not secure more rights, if you do not have the capacity to do so. Is there something in what they say?

– We will continue with a very good coverage of the Elite Series. All matches are broadcast and covered in a thorough manner. The choices we have made are that there will be a simplified Goal Show solution to replace Football Direct the few series rounds in question. We have to make the best of it, and the solution we have come up with, we believe is the best way to do it.

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– Those priorities go beyond, among other things, the product «Football Direct», a program that is still important to us, but the coverage of the Elite Series and Norwegian football we will still have a great focus on.

The criticism has appeared throughout the evening, Saturday, and now Hinsch says that he and the channel understand that.

– We understand that some people disagree with our priorities and thus come up with criticism. Many have become fond of Football directly and the product we deliver. We are the same. There will always be some who disagree with the priorities, but our commitment and coverage of the Elite Series is still very important to us.

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