Newsmakers with Murray Shaw

The EP of Nine's Olympics coverage breaks down how Paris gets to our screens...

With the Opening Ceremony on Saturday morning sending us into full Olympic mode I wanted this week’s Newsmakers interview to get us ready for the action…

I was in my final year of primary school when the Sydney Olympics happened. Like so many Aussie kids, I collected clips of all the news coverage in the lead-up to and during the event. I still have those scrapbooks. 

I remember the excitement of the Olympic torch coming through my hometown. I recall a few kids from my school being part of the choir that sang at the Opening Ceremony and how proud we all were of them. 

And then at the Games, I’ll never forget walking with the crowds at Olympic Park and seeing the lifesavers on towers directing traffic with a smile. I remember sitting in some of the highest rows of the athletics stadium and the thrill of doing the Mexican wave for the first time. 

We went to the Paralympics as a school, and I remember being amazed by goalball - a sport for visually impaired athletes in which the objective is to roll the ball into the opposite goal while players try to block it with their bodies. I was in awe. 

Reflecting on why I enjoyed it so much, it wasn’t just about the athletes, the sports, and the results. That was part of it. But it was about the event and how it really does feel like a coming together of the world. 

As an adult, I now understand the reasons why things aren’t as rosy as I thought they were when I was 12yo. But that feeling of hope, peace, and pride is one I hold onto every time the Olympics roll around. 

That’s a long way of saying that this week’s Newsmakers interview with Murray Shaw is for anyone who wants to get excited about the Olympics. 

C’mon Aussie. 

Your friend in news

Kate Watson

Introducing this week’s Newsmaker: Murray Shaw

Murray Shaw is one of 2 Executive Producers of the Olympics for Nine - the official broadcast partner. He’s in charge of ensuring the Games get from Paris to our screens. This includes everything from where their cameras are deployed to which athletes’ stories are likely to grab our hearts and minds. 

He’s a self-confessed sports nut, and you can hear his excitement for the Games as he talks to me about what his job entails, the events he is excited to see, and the athletes whose names you don’t know now but might know by the time the Games are over. 

His enthusiasm is contagious, and his expertise is indisputable. You’ll learn a lot about what an executive producer does to make sure our viewing experience during the Games is as good as possible. 

And if you aren’t an Olympics fan, you may be thinking this one isn’t for you. But if what we all need is a dose of good news, I reckon you might find a way to get around it. 

You can listen to the full podcast interview here, or scroll down for an edited transcript.

Murray Shaw on…

How Olympic broadcasting has changed

Kate Watson: What I didn't realise until I worked in TV was there's someone making a decision about what to cut to at any given moment - we're going to cut here, there, and everywhere based on how an Aussie might be performing. Now you have all these digital channels and platforms...

Murray Shaw: So the role of the Olympic Broadcasting Service is to put cameras in every venue and produce the broadcast of those sports. There are over 40 sports, so if you're a badminton fan or synchronized swimming fan, they're now available. The last time Channel Nine did the Olympics was in London in 2012. They worked with Foxtel, which had a few channels, while Channel Nine had one. This time, we’ll have two curated channels and 40 sports channels from OBS streaming online. You’ll be able to watch whatever you want...

KW: Your competitors are obviously going to want to report on the Olympics and report the news of what's happened. What are they allowed to show?

MS: Well, there are restrictions. And due to the amount of money we spend on rights, the IOC make sure that they police the restrictions. Other channels can show some action, but it’s limited to three minutes, three times a day. We can show as much as we want. Since a lot of the action is happening overnight, people will wake up the next morning and want to watch what's going on. The only place you'll be able to do that is on Channel Nine…

The spectacle of Paris hosting the Olympics

MS: The beauty of this Paris Olympics is going to be the backdrop for some of these events. The equestrian is taking place at the Palace of Versailles, and the surfing is in Chao Poo in Tahiti. Also, a lot of those youth sports are taking place at the Plastil at Concord, which is smack bang in the middle of the town. The beach volleyball is taking place underneath the Eiffel Tower…

KW: Wow. I didn’t realise that…

MS: Yeah, they've put a court next to the Eiffel Tower. You can just imagine what that's going to look like at night… With Paris as the host of this Olympic games, it’s really going to turn it on in terms of how it looks.

A name to watch out for…

KW: I'm not sure if an EP can pick favourites, but what are you looking forward to?

MS: It's the names that you haven't heard of now that you might be talking about in a month's time. So, for example, women's weightlifter Eileen Sikamitana. As a young kid she was working on Dad's farm, and he said can you pick up that 50kg feed bag and chuck it on the back of the truck. Suddenly she realised that there might be a future in this. She won gold for Fiji at the Commonwealth Games and missed the last Olympics because she was in the process of changing her citizenship to Australian. I was fortunate enough to go down and watch her train, and she's absolutely delightful. I hope she wins a gold medal in women's weightlifting on about the second last day of the competition. It'd be absolutely brilliant.

Tell us what you think…

In the spirit of competition, it’s a quiz question for you this week. Murray has predicted 15 gold medals for Australia in this Games…

What is the highest number of gold medals Australia has ever won in a single Olympics?

Hint: It happened at the 2004 Athens and 2020 Tokyo games. And if you have a fave Aussie gold moment, tell us in the comments.

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PS: Got questions? Just hit reply. You can also DM us on Insta @thesquiz.

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