The inaugural European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin are said to be on track to captivate a potential television audience of over a billion sports fans ©Glasgow 2018

The inaugural European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin are on track to captivate a potential television audience of over a billion sports fans with countless more across news, radio and digital platforms, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has claimed.

Europe’s biggest broadcasters have been unveiling their plans prior to the start of the Championships, due to take place from August 2 to 12.

Audiences in many territories are being offered more than 100 hours of coverage of all seven sports during the 10 days of televised competition.

This includes extensive daily coverage, top presenters, big name pundits and commentators, highlights shows, innovative programming and multi-platform content. 

The host broadcasters in Great Britain and Germany have promised fans are in for a feast of sporting action.

The BBC will provide extensive coverage daily on television, radio and online of all seven sports with over 100 hours of network television coverage planned for the Championships.

Top presenters Hazel Irvine, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan will lead the TV coverage on BBC One and BBC Two, with both channels showing up to 12 hours of coverage a day combined. 

The expert commentary line-up includes Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Rebecca Adlington, James Cracknell and Beth Tweddle.

This will be accompanied by extensive daily coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and a full digital offering, including video streams, highlights, on-demand clips, a dedicated live text page and news stories on the BBC Sport website and app.

A high-definition video stream will also be available, offering alternative live action and long-form highlights of finals on BBC Sport Online via connected television or mobile and BBC iPlayer.

Gabby Logan, Hazel Irvine and Clare Balding will lead the BBC Television coverage of the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin ©BBC
Gabby Logan, Hazel Irvine and Clare Balding will lead the BBC Television coverage of the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin ©BBC

In Germany, ARD and ZDF are co-broadcasters of the Championships, with coverage on alternating days featuring all seven sports.

ARD’s "Das Erste" will broadcast live from the Championships with comprehensive coverage from all the different venues, meaning up to almost 13 hours coverage per day, plus up to three livestreams accessible on sportschau.de and on the HbbTV-App, together with coverage on social media.

In addition, various ARD programmes will feature daily highlights across sports and news coverage. 

ZDF’s full daily coverage from Glasgow will be led by Rudi Cerne and from the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Norbert König will be presenting the athletics broadcasts.

Expert ZDF commentators include Michael Schrader, Christian Keller and Ronny Ziesmer, who will share their expert knowledge in athletics, swimming and gymnastics respectively.

In addition to the extensive airtime on ZDF, ZDFsport.de offers up to three parallel digital livestreams from the Championships.

These will also be available via HbbTV.

The free-to-air coverage across Europe is also extensive with broadcasters said to be going all-out to create an unforgettable event.

 In Spain, RTVE will give the Championships a top-event status, broadcasting over 200 hours of live coverage.

Their sport channel Teledeporte will focus on the Championships, highlighting athletics, swimming, synchronised swimming and gymnastics, and following the best performing Spanish athletes in rowing, triathlon and cycling.

In Italy, RAI has planned an extensive programming schedule. 

RAI 2 as well as sports channel RAI Sport + HD will offer live coverage of all daily competitions of the seven sports and a daily 30-minute magazine programme will be broadcast on Rai Sport + HD, featuring highlights of each competition day and athlete interviews.

In France, the Championships will be covered exclusively by the channels of France Télévisions, France 2, France 3 and France O, with more than 100 hours of coverage available live and via the digital offerings of France tv sport

France Télévisions is offering fans a programme of unprecedented coverage with dedicated teams for each sport broadcasting live every day from Glasgow and Berlin.

The Glasgow 2018 European Championships are due to begin on Thursday ©Getty Images
The Glasgow 2018 European Championships are due to begin on Thursday ©Getty Images

Extensive coverage is planned all across the continent, including the Nordic region and Eastern Europe as well as in Asia, Latin America, North America and Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 40 broadcasters covering the Championships across Europe and worldwide.

"It is very exciting for everyone to see how the broadcasters will be bringing the European Championships to life for their audiences," Stefan Kürten, the EBU’s director of sport, said.

"The quality and volume of dedicated coverage that will be available free-to-air for fans is outstanding.

"We are very proud that, together with our network of member broadcasters and partners, we have facilitated this level of exposure for the first-ever multi-sport European Championships.

"This is a historic milestone in the promotion and broadcasting of key Olympic sports in Europe and ensures that millions of fans will have the opportunity to experience sport at its very best."

The European Championships is a major new multi-sport event taking place every four years, aggregating the existing senior continental championships of athletics, aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon with a new golf team championships, all unified under a common brand.

Athletics will take place in Berlin from August 7 to 12, while athletes from the other sports will compete in Glasgow from August 2 to 12.

The vision for the event is to create a must-watch, must-attend experience that elevates the champions of Europe during an 11-day celebration of sport and packed 10-day broadcast schedule.

The EBU and Eurovision Media Services (EMS) will act as both the broadcast partner and the host broadcaster.

EMS will also distribute the event to media organisations for TV and online platforms.