Direct access to content

The ever-greater protagonism of the media in each new edition of the Olympic Games continued to grow during the XXVth Olympiad. In order to meet the needs of the press, radio and television, the Olympic host broadcaster RTO’’92 (Radio i Televisió Olímpica de Barcelona’’92) was formed. The broadcaster channelled an investment of €101.57 million (16.9 billion Pesetas) for that purpose.

The place where journalists and press photographers were taken care of was the Main Press Centre situated in the Communications Media Centre within the Montjuïc trade fair complex. This is also where the International Broadcasting Centre was located, with a total area of nearly 100,000 square meters.

In addition, each sports area had its own specific centre where journalists and media professionals could provide coverage of the Olympic Games. To be precise, RTO’’92 accredited 140 broadcasters (radio and television), which included 1,500 commentator posts, a figure that almost doubled that of the previous Olympic Games.

Miquel de Moragas i Spa (1992) described the Barcelona’’92 Olympic Games as “The Communication Games” in an article published just before they were held. A reason for this was the enormous growth in revenue from television broadcast rights and the definitive expansion of sponsorship policies through which the corporate image of the mega event was sold. During the XXVth Olympiad, the Olympic media system took a further step towards the essential protagonism that the media now have in the Games.

Selected resources

Barcelona'92: los Juegos de la comunicación

Website

Moragas Spà, Miquel de (1992): Barcelona’92: los Juegos de la comunicación. Barcelona: Centre d’Estudis Olímpics (CEO-UAB).

Television in the Olympics

Website

Moragas Spa, Miquel de.; Nancy K. Rivenburgh, James F. Larson (1995) : Television in the Olympics. London [etc.] : John Libbey. 0861965388

Medios de comunicación : la imagen de Barcelona'92 en las televisiones internacionales

Website

Moragas Spà, Miquel de; Rivenburgh, Nancy K.; García, Núria (1995): “Medios de comunicación : la imagen de Barcelona’92 en las televisiones internacionales”. Miquel de Moragas; Miquel Botella (eds.). Las Claves del éxito: Impactos sociales, deportivos, económicos i comunicativos de Barcelona’92. Bellaterra: Centre d’Estudis Olímpics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

La imatge de Catalunya: una aproximació al tractament de Catalunya a la premsa internacional a propòsit dels Jocs Olímpics

Website

Ladrón de Guevara, Muriel & Xavier Coller (1992): La imatge de Catalunya: una aproximació al tractament de Catalunya a la premsa internacional a propòsit dels Jocs Olímpics. Barcelona: Centre d’Estudis Olímpics (CEO-UAB).

1992 olympic broadcast : analysis report

1992 olympic broadcast : analysis report. Lausanne : IOC, 1993

Production manual

Radio Televisió Olímpica (1992) : [Production manual]. Barcelona : RTO’92

Broadcasters' handbook

COOB’92 (1992) : Broadcasters’ handbook. Barcelona : COOB’92. 8478682104

In the repository

In the Municipal Contemporary Archive, you can consult the administrative and management documentation generated on this topic by the Organising Committee Barcelona’92, SA (COOB’92), Holding Olímpic SA (HOLSA), Anella Olímpica de Montjuïc SA (AOMSA) (Olympic ring), Vila Olímpica SA (VOSA) (Olympic village) and the Institut Municipal de Promoció Urbanística SA (IMPUSA) (municipal Institute of urban development).

If you need further information on the collection, read the collection guide.

In the library

In the libraries of the study centres of the Barcelona Olympic Foundation (FBO) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) you can find the selection of listed documents and other bibliographic materials on the subject.

If you are interested in knowing more about our Olympic collection, you can consult the Union Catalogue of Catalan Universities (UAB collection) or contact us by e-mail (FBO collection).

Sports in pictures

If you are interested in images of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Barcelona’92, the Image Service of the Olympic Foundation of Barcelona will help you identify the images that satisfy your needs.

The Foundation manages the official image archive of the Barcelona’92 Games. You can contact them by email to request more information about the services provided and the collection of images. In this page, we offer a selection of images on the event.