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Report: Nine drops out of Rio 2016 bid

Nine is reportedly out of the bidding war for the 2016 Rio Olympics but is making no comment.

2013-01-29_1428Nine is out of the bidding war for the 2016 Rio Olympics according to The Australian.

Nine is understood to have dropped out after an estimated $25 million loss as the broadcaster of the London 2012 games.

That would leave former Olympics broadcaster Seven as the front runner for Rio 2016.

But Nine’s group sales and marketing director Peter Wiltshire told AdNews there was “no comment at all.” Without Nine bidding Seven may nab the rights without having to shell out as much.

Foxtel is said to again be keen on sharing rights, having previously spent $120m on Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics and the London Summer Olympics -but Seven has also paired with SBS before.

Seven’s bidding team is being led by Ryan Stokes, chief executive Tim Worner and commercial director Bruce McWilliam.

A decision is expected by the end of February, also including the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

43 Responses

  1. @Kuttsywood
    Whoever wins the rights will have to go by what the anti-siphoning laws otherwise people will be complaining that the treatment wasn’t fair and I think there should be more sports like Indy 500, Socceroos, A-League, GP2 and GP3

  2. I find it funny how everyone wants this to be broadcast on ABC who always just put forward a panel of comedians to commentate at least Eddie knows a little bit about sport!

  3. For those asking: The new anti-siphoning list has not yet passed through parliament. There are nine sitting weeks until the federal election.

    If the bill is passed before the election (which would give the FTA’s a deadline for Sochi, of August 9 before Foxtel can bid solo (it would be 15 November if the new list isn’t passed before election), there will be very little time for any bid for Sochi to be made: but I’d say Foxtel is well aware, of the fact I just mentioned.

    Also, if a combined deal for 2014/2016 Olympics were to happen before the new anti siphoning list were passed: it’d be under the same regulations as the old list: (no multichannels) much like London 2012 was. However, I can see the IOC deciding to sell Sochi separately, with a larger deal done after the new list passes for 2016-2020.

  4. @damo
    I agree with you
    @CraigW
    I will be truly happy if TEN actually did that as they will have the Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games next year which it should be a great year as I am hoping TEN will snatch the cricket rights or tennis rights

  5. Maybe Ch 7 can see what HD looks like by practicing on the AFL.

    I wouldn’t be worried if Ch 10 sneak thru with a cheeky bid. Ch 9 didn’t really do it well.

    The frustrating part on FTA is that there’s often a lot of padding waiting for a ‘Aussie medal chance’

    Agree with others that Foxtel definitely set the bar and should continue their efforts. They proved that sport can be entertaining even if Aussies aren’t in it.

  6. I don’t know what you are all complaining about. Seven did a fantastic job broadcasting the 2008 Olympics and partnering with another FTA channel worked extremely well. If they do pair with SBS again then they have the potential to air a comprehensive coverage across 4 possible channels. Channel Nine are lucky they don’t get it. We should all just be grateful that we have an event like this that is the epitome of bringing humanity together.

  7. So may errors, so little time:
    – Seven will now negotiate with the IOC, not AOC
    – Eddie commebtated for both Nine an Foxtel, as part of a shared arrangement
    – the reason many things are on delay is because most events are on at the same time
    – Seven can’t be “banned from bidding” because of the Federal Govt’s anti-siphoning arrangements designed to ensure free to air coverage
    – no matter who gets the rights it will be the same feed orpictures from the host broadcaster, whether Nine, Seven or Foxtel wins the bid. Concerns with Sochi are the host broadcasters problem

  8. I agree with kimbeth. Nine or Seven cannot give the Olympics justice even with blanket coverage on all three channels. Foxtel showed the world how to do it correctly. 8 dedicated channels showing live and replayed events. It is the only way it should be done. I don’t care which FTA network is awarded the rights, so long Foxtel partners with them.

  9. I hardly remember 7’s Beijing coverage but I was really disappointed with 9’s London coverage. I still cannot understand why they paid all that money for the rights then showed the same footage on all 3 of their FTA channels. Why not provide BBC feeds on GO and GEM? They had a fantastic opportunity to have a memorable coverage as the first Olympics with multiple FTA options on the one network and all we got was swimming repeats and endless interviews with the few Australian Olympians who actually won a medal.
    The only real good coverage I saw was the Australian sailing gold because it was so spontaneous, but that was a BBC feed!!

    PS – I think Sochi coverage will be very difficult – Russia is an extremely difficult place to visit – I cant imagine trying to broadcast from there!!

  10. Great news! Seven has stepped up on its sports coverage since last year with the Australian Open, Wimbledon, AFL etc. Hope they use multi-channelling for the Olympics and partner with SBS for both 2014 and 2016. The Olympics, live and Free on 7 and SBS!

  11. I think whoever gets it…should start surveying what ‘eyes’ want to watch and plan their programming around the results…as they cannot cover every single event.

  12. @Ann
    Surely AOC will be a lot more harsher on 7 after their recent bid of the V8s which fans were truly not happy as David Malone claims he listens to fans but he lied which is even more disgrace. I believe AOC should do what ARC did to Nine and gave TEN the wallabies game tv rights instead of Nine or Seven which have other commitments.

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