BBC has obtained Olympic TV rights to the 2022 and 2024 Olympics, according to an agreement with the American Discovery Communications mass media and entertainment company. The U.K. public broadcaster will sub-license from Discovery exclusive freeto-air audio-visual and non-exclusive radio rights to the 2022 and 2024 Games and Discovery will sub-license from the BBC exclusive pay TV rights in the United Kingdom to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.
The agreement marks the first Olympic Games sub-licensing deal by Discovery, following an agreement announced by Discovery and the International Olympic Committee last June, which includes exclusive multimedia rights for 50 countries and territories in Europe for the 2018 through the 2024 Olympics. The rights for the U.K. were included for only 2022 and 2024, as the rights for 2018 and 2020 had already been secured by the BBC in the U.K.
Announcing the deal, BBC General Director Tony Hall said: “The BBC prides itself on bringing the biggest sporting moments to the public. For many, the BBC has been their stadium for Olympic coverage. It is an event that unites the nation like no other. I’m delighted that through our new partnership with Discovery, the BBC will continue to carry the torch for great sporting coverage right through to the 2024 Games. “While the BBC has had to take some tough financial decisions, this partnership underlines our commitment to making world-class sport available to all.”
David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, said: “Discovery is a passionate and committed partner of the Olympic movement. Today’s agreement is a win for U.K. sports fans and marks an exciting new chapter in Discovery and the BBC’s partnership on major sporting events. For 30 years, our two organizations have chartered new frontiers with co-production partnerships in factual and natural history programming. Now we join together once again to bring the most compelling stories of human ambition, sacrifice and achievement to people across the U.K.“
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.