 Sportsmax, your home of champions will have exclusive rights to the Paris Olympic Games this summer. In the Caribbean region, of course, the game set for the 26th of July to the 11th of August. The work to provide the best possible coverage to the region started long ago and is now in full throttle. We have now on the Sportsmax zone two special personalities on Zoom the CEO of our Trinidad and Tobago television TTT Adrian Winter and here in studio the Sportsmax CEO Nicholas Mathews. We have some news to share with our viewers. Welcome to the zone gentlemen and may I ask Nick to start things off with this major announcement. Thank you Lance and welcome Adrian but we have been working behind the scene and Trinidad is probably the second biggest market in the Caribbean and we have agreed a deal with TTT for them to broadcast the Olympics in Trinidad. So they will be the exclusive free TV partner in Trinidad and Tobago so everybody everywhere in Trinidad will be able to access the Olympics coverage on TTT. Oh that's excellent and Adrian your company is about 60 years old now and this must be a very big project and attractive project to your company. Indeed you know you know today I say it truly you know marks a significant milestone you know as we commemorate this Grand Prix partnership with TTT limited and Sportsmax for the broadcast of the forthcoming 2024 Summer Olympics. This alliance you know it represents a real pivotal moment and you know underlying or shared commitment to providing the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago on parallel access to the pinnacle of sporting events and that is the Olympics. So you know to our esteemed partner Sportsmax who has been you know renowned in delivering high quality content and state of the art production you know we are TTT we are truly honored by the selection of TTT limited as the national media partner for this monumental Olympic broadcast. Yeah and you know my question to you would be one being a Trini I know it's a big deal when it is the Olympics because the entire country is of course glued to Olympic coverage especially supporting our Trinidad and Tobago athletes. So for you and your viewership talk to me about the big numbers that you're expecting to see come this Olympics. Yeah you know I always say as I said to the when we signed the agreement this morning I said you know the Olympic Games you know it transcends more the more than just the competition and you know it's a it's a re-celebration of human achievement unity and excellence and you know we are we in Trinidad and Tobago we're very well known for that that unity and not coming together especially where sporting is concerned and as we prepare to witness what we would you know the witness the world's for most athletes compete on this global stage you know this partnership I said signifies the convergence of expertise innovation and shared passion for sports so you know we we are so excited for Trinidad and Tobago we're excited for people I mean from July 26th to August the 11th you know this promises not only to be it will be an exciting time for the world but but you know the people of Trinidad and Tobago whether they will be in their homes or they'll be in their workplaces I know some people would have viewing events you know it really really promises to be an exciting time for a country so we're really really excited as our national broadcaster and as persons in the business of broadcast media for this partnership Nick I do know if this question is best addressed to you or to of course Adrian but whoever sees it fit to answer can go ahead and do that now with regards to the coverage right will they be sharing in our esteemed panel of analysts will they be guessing the shows that we do I know our team is actually going to be on the ground in Paris doing features which I really enjoy looking at is that how it's going to work or do they so TTT will be able to carry the full broadcast all our shoulder program in or wall-to-wall coverage of the games or features coming in from Tokyo from Paris and also our prime time show that we'll be doing so they will do everything they carry all the broadcasts or I like show at the end of the day they'll be carrying everything and I mean Trinidad as a as a long history of strong Olympic performances and we do believe I mean we have seen the performances coming out of Carrefter thank you over the last weekend right and the history and the legacy that Trinidad has in the Olympics we're expecting great things this Olympics and we're looking forward to to this partnership and ensuring that everybody is able to view the Olympics non-stop right across the the the Tunisian Republic yeah and I remember in 1976 when Haysley Crawford won the hundred and Donald Corr won the 200 in Montreal Canada it broke a drought of several decades of the Caribbean winning gold medals at the at the Olympic Games so I take the point Nick just made about the strong history of Trinidad and Tobago at the Olympic Games and as we speak their outstanding cyclist Nicholas Paul is in California competing at the Pan Am Trap Championship he has a world record he's one of the best in the world and we think that Nicholas Paul has a strong chance of becoming a rear cycling medalist for the Caribbean and Adrian what do you think at the moment is the appetite for the Olympic games in TNT because I remember at the Tokyo Olympics TNT didn't medal which was you know a bit of a let down for a country that is so steeped in in sports history but I suspect that your team Olympic committee team is trying to change that in parents oh yeah I mean you know we always have we have a long history in Trinidad and Tobago sports really you know uniting us as a nation I know I know there are persons in Trinidad and Tobago that are really really looking forward to these Olympic games and what it will bring in terms of the of the the the person's rallying I mean I could tell you just from my experience this weekend with the recently concluded Curf the Games you know everyone was glued to their to their TVs on Saturday I'm not on Saturday sorry on Sunday witnessing the finals and it was just like everyone having these viewing parties and the you know rallying around the athletes and you know we inch around Tobago and I should tell the Caribbean people is that we rally around Caribbean people especially when it comes to the Olympics so you know even if at some point in time you know whoever we are we are supporting may end up you know falling out at some leg of the of the tournament or the games I should say you know we find ourselves you know joining another team and supporting that team right through to the very end so you know this is a Caribbean thing for us it's not just a tournament to be using but the Caribbean showcase for us so we're very very excited for this opportunity yeah and Adrian what will the build up be like when it comes to the Olympics and the TTT do you have any plans just yet as to how you will be treating the build up because we here are really really excited about it and we've already started our planning and all that as we would have said at the top of this segment will you be doing anything special that our viewers should know well we have some conversations with sportsmax thus far in terms of a joint partnership in terms of that build up we also have some ideas but you know we now that we finalize this agreement we can now put some of those ideas into action very very soon you will see some of the you know how we will how we will be marketing you know the the whole broadcast of this Olympic coverage and you know rally in the country around the summer Olympics 2024 and and just to add to that TTT will have full access to all our build-up shows all our features everything that we'll be doing regarding the Olympics they'll have access to those content to broadcast and on TTT I'm so excited I have to say yeah and for the benefit of our viewers Nick how important is it to strike up partnerships with the major networks in the Caribbean region in the individual territories as part of laying out the broadcast platform one of the the the Olympics charter is to ensure that the Olympics broadcasts reaches to almost everybody across every region and that's one of the key and important factor for us and and and and we always try to ensure that we partner with local local stations to ensure that broadcasts is stressed to everybody we think it's an important endeavor the content you have you have athletes who are participating and everybody in each country they want to see what's happening you know and we have to ensure the widest coverage possible and this has been one of our commitment to the IOC that we'll ensure that persons in the Caribbean will be able to view the content everywhere anytime and on almost every platform yeah and of course there was a time not too long ago Nick when you know the Caribbean had to depend on the NBC's and ABC's of this world and we didn't get Caribbean specific coverage and a lot of times we felt lost watching it because it was obvious that the coverage was not designed for us absolutely and we have seen all sportsmax have transformed the delivery of these international content over the last couple of cycles especially the Olympics with our involvement in these productions we have been able to customize the broadcast to the market and so Caribbean people you can see your people and you can celebrate with them you know in the moments that that we so would come to love you know one of the things I don't like is hearing stories about our Caribbean people from somebody that has never lived or understand it so for me it's a big big deal we will tell our story based on our experiences because sportsmax is the Caribbean channel yeah all right thanks I'm Nick Matthews CEO of sportsmax and Adrian Winter CEO of TTT and just formalizing the partnership announced between sportsmax and the free-to-air partners in TNT Trinidad and Tobago television TTT thanks Adrian we look forward to talking again in the near future take care thank you our thanks Lansa Maria right and we'll be back with more on the sportsmax zone after this