★★★★★ 0/5

Namaste, Delhi…

Song, dance, fireworks, children, volunteers, athletes, traditional instruments, powder, DJs and "We Will Rock You" lit up Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium last night.

6
Leave a comment

There was a Bollywood party full of song, dance, fireworks, children, volunteers, athletes, traditional instruments, powder, DJs, “We Will Rock You” and yes, there was Sheila. There was even bagpipes and the Loch Ness Monster.

Nations from the Commonwealth bid farewell to Delhi last night with a colourful Closing Ceremony at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

It brought the XIX Commonwealth Games to a close after 11 days of competition.

Despite initial fears and threats of withdrawals, India turned on a successful games, free of any major disasters. Once again Australia topped the medal tally with 177 medals, 74 of which were Gold (almost twice the second nation, India).

The Games were a vibrant, cultural way for the world to appreciate modern India through their television screens.

But the Games were challenged by sparse stadiums that lacked atmosphere. As TV viewing it was an awkward experience. Australians were slow to embrace the games but eventually took an interest in swimming events which were screening late nights on TEN.

Once they ended the numbers began to drop again.

TEN’s dedicated broadcast centre at Melbourne Docklands was part of a major investment in the Games, but advertisers will be disappointed in the overall performance. TEN is likely to have had discussions about making up ad spots with key sponsors.

Foxtel sports viewers have been positive about the Pay TV giant’s 6 dedicated channels, which were offered at no extra fee.

But the Games are always about the athletes.

Aussie athletes did the nation proud as Personal Bests and Commonwealth Games records tumbled.

Namaste, Delhi (and thanks to the network production teams that put in long hours).

See you in Glasgow, 2014.

6 Responses

  1. I was up ’til 3AM most mornings…..(and as I am retired…was able to sleep in the next day)
    I loved the diving….the gymnastics….the athletics….apart from our wins….the Indian girls winning the 4x400Mts relay…….was a joy to watch…..and the childrens performance in the closing ceremony moved me to tears…..
    Sad they could not get bums on seats…..:-(

  2. Apart from one night of swimming, the only other thing I watched was the netball game last night – which I’ll admit was an intense, awesome game! I still think the comm games are an irrelevant event these days, and Ten’s figures highlight that. 😉

  3. Congrats to One HD on the coverage. Looking forward to them covering more of the big events in future years, when they may be allowed to do so with Ten having regular coverage.

  4. would 10 be happy with the over all viewer ship of these games, after the way they pumped them up before they started. i doubt it very much. it was a good games. foxtels coverage was outstanding

  5. I’m so glade they pulled off the games with only a few problems that in the end didn’t take away from the event. Yes some things could have gone better, like spectator numbers but overall it was well done to India.

Leave a Reply