London 2012: British Capital Opens Olympics Media Center

LONDON – The London Media Center opened its doors in central London Monday anticipating more than 6,200 media reps from around the world for this year's London 2012 Summer Olympics Games.

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The building, right next to Parliament Square and a serve away from the Olympic Beach Volleyball venue at Horse Guards Parade, is open to both accredited and non-accredited media.

There are 600 specially organized events laid on to help the 6,200 media representatives report back to audiences from every corner of the globe including a call to media arms by London mayor Boris Johnson.

The Olympics in London is being billed as the biggest media event in the U.K.'s history.

With 18 days to go until the Danny Boyle directed opening ceremony on July 27, 832 media organizations from 66 countries have registered with the center.

The largest contingent is from China, with 600 journalists registered reporting stories to a global audience of 4 billion viewers.

Large networks including CNN, Fox News, ZDF (Germany) Nine Network (Australia) and CNBC are also represented.

It being Britain, organizers are predicting more than 150,000 cups of tea and coffee are expected to be consumed by journalists at the LMC during the Games.

Reporters are being promised "access to state-of-the-art facilities including 24-hour access, desk space, press conference facilities and free connectivity allowing media to deliver material through the high-speed IT provision within the venue."

The LMC is sponsored by VISA, the global credit card operator.

Registration with the LMC also aims to support broadcasters operating in the capital with their photo pass also doubling as a pan-London "filming permit" which allows the world's media to shoot across the British capital.

Johnson said: “This will be a summer like no other, presenting an unparalleled opportunity for London to show off its wares to a global audience of billions. An inquisitive army of reporters, camera crews and photographers are migrating to our city to see not only sporting history in the making, but everything that makes a host city tick. From the iconic to the little known, we want these media professionals to be offered an unparalleled experience of the capital and a smorgasbord of great stories. This will ensure that future tourists and businesses get a taste of why London is the best place in the world to visit and invest in for years to come.”

Tim Dietz, vice president Interactive for KUSA-TV part of the NBC Broadcasting team added: “This is a fantastic chance for us to provide our viewers with daily Olympic news updates and at the same time showcase a variety of stories about London and the surrounding area.”