By Mike McRoberts, in London
So let the Games begin.
The dazzling Opening Ceremony at London's Olympic stadium signalled the start of the Games in more ways than one.
As a ‘non-rights holder’, the term given to media organisations who don't have coverage rights of the Games, now begins the task of trying to tell the stories of these Olympics with limited access to athletes and restricted Games footage.
For the New Zealand market Sky Television is the rights holder and broadcaster of the London Olympics, and of course paid for that privilege.
TV3, like TVNZ, are non-rights holders. Both free to air networks have a couple of reporters who are accredited and can attend daily press conferences, but we both also have to adhere to a strictly controlled allocation of event footage. We're talking minutes per news broadcast which isn't much when you have an hour of news and sport each night.
All countries with competing media face the same issues, in fact the majority of news and sports reporters here covering the Olympics are non-rights holders.
Each night I present the news from a makeshift studio on top of a shopping mall car park near the Olympic compound.
The view of the stadium and other venues is fantastic. I've included a couple of photos I took overlooking Olympic Park.
Ours is one of about 15 studios British non-rights holder ITV have constructed and lease out.
At the moment we're side-by-side with TVNZ, which seems a little ridiculous to have travelled halfway around the world and end up standing next to your opposition.
We've already had a few issues with my voice spilling over TVNZ's broadcast and Simon Dallow's into ours. We're working on it.
So how do cover an Olympic Games without having access to the venues?
Well we look for the stories that can show the colour and emotion of what is happening, without having to be inside a Games venue.
For instance Olympic reporter Charlotte Shipman put together a piece on the Opening Ceremony from Kiwi House, a purpose-built bar that has become the base for New Zealand supporters in London.
It’s where I also watched the Opening Ceremony with a host of enthusiastic Kiwis, including top comedian Rhys Darby. The cheer when the Nick Willis led New Zealand team walked into the stadium was deafening.
Over the period of the Games you'll see lots of those sorts of colour stories, and interviews with friends and families of athletes.
And to be honest, as a reporter, they're the sort of stories I love telling.