Seven wants 2016 Games
- Published by David Knox
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Seven Network director Ryan Stokes has indicated the network is keen to snatch back the 2016 Olympics, after losing the 2010 Vancouver winter games and 2012 London summer Olympics to Nine. But it may be forced to team with a pay-TV group to mount a bid.
“Losing 2012 is obviously a step away from that Olympic involvement,” he told The Australian.
Mr Stokes said the IOC was keen on bids driven by pay-TV groups but linked to free-to-air TV companies – something Seven doesn’t have.
“It isn’t just an Australian rights issue,” he said. “It is something which is happening around the world: the move by the IOC to conditional access or subscription access (with the rights then being sold on to free-to-air TV operators). We have always had a firm belief in putting as much material out there (on free-to-air TV).”
Nine Network and Foxtel are believed to have paid about $110 million for 2010 / 2012 rights.
Seven has partnered with SBS, which will be broadcasting the longer form Olympic sports at Beijing, while other Olympic programming will go to Seven’s half-owned website Yahoo7.
“We know from a broadcast perspective they are ready and they will present an unbelievable show,” Mr Stokes said.
Source: The Australian
3 Responses
Seven should launch temporary pay-tv channels for the 2016 games – under Foxtel’s agreement with the ACCC they would have to allow Seven access to their EPG etc.
Although I’d be very happy for the rightst to stay with Nine and Fox.
Now, do you think Seven might be regretting the “lets sue everybody because C7 failed” case – which they subsequently lost and created a lot of bad blood between them and many other media outlets such as Foxtel.
This is exactly what will happen in Hong Kong and New Zealand for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics, with local pay-TV operators (Wharf Cable and Sky Television respectively) securing the main TV broadcast rights, then selling on to free-to-air stations (Asia Television and TVB in HK; and Prime in NZ).
I do have a bold suggestion for Seven: why not bid for the Paralympics in 2010 and 2012, and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014?