Olympic TV centre begins to roll

8220;It8217;s twice the size of Barcelona8217;s and 50 percent bigger than Atlanta8217;s four years ago,8221; Fenton said.

He said the growth of the IBC was due to the increase in sporting events, with 20 per cent more since Sydney won the bid in 1993; the rise of commercial television in predominantly government broadcast countries, and the growth of pay and cable television.

He said many new broadcasters were also attending, including from South Africa and former Eastern European Communist countries.

Fenton said the IBC would become operational on August 15, when the first 5,000 of an estimated 15,000 people expected to be working during the Games would arrive.

Up to 40 simultaneous sport signals including broadcast graphics and international sound will be available for use by host broadcasters.

A satellite dish farm with 15 earth station dishes will soon be constructed near the IBC to beam the Games worldwide.

The European Broadcasting Union takes up the most space, with 13,000 square metres, and the smallest studio of just eight square metres taken by Estonian radio.

The IBC will house 35 television studios, 190 radio and television organisations in 1,600 rooms.

The peak global audience of the Sydney Olympics is estimated at four billion.