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Report: Seven secures Olympics until 2020

Seven secures Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020.

2014-07-09_0018The Olympic Games will return to Seven until 2020 under a new deal with the IOC according to media reports today.

Seven will broadcast the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020 plus the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, News Corp reports.

Nine and TEN are reported to have withdrawn from bidding, allowing Seven to secure the Games for less than $200 million -lower than the anticipated $250m.

Networks have previously spoken about their interest in local and annual sports rather than pricey events. Timezones for Rio were also cited as a consideration, although Tokyo will be more in sync with Australian times.

Seven Chairman Kerry Stokes, recently spotted watching the tennis at Wimbledon, is understood to have participated in the deal.

Seven last broadcast the Games in Beijing in 2008, with Nine / Foxtel securing London Olympics and TEN screening the Sochi Winter Games.

The Rio Olympics are locked in for August 5 to 21, 2016.

14 Responses

  1. I’m glad Ten didn’t wage more money on sport. It hasn’t worked in the long-term fixing their problems and maybe they are starting to realise this. Nine’s appears wise due to how much debt they are in, and I’m sure they will counter well with their reality showings and The Big Bang Theory. Seven’s decision is totally unwise though, I’m sure they can get some good figures, and these will be spread through their digital channels too. Plus, they got it on the cheap going by what this says. Seven will be cleverer than Ten and Nine, presumably using the Olympics to bolster some new and returning shows more often.

  2. Whatever they paid it will be too much. With streaming and VPN access more widespread by then they will be blowing good money in two weeks that could have set them up for months in other program areas.
    Seven are blundering between stupid decisions randomly: Corby, Pistorius etc and now this. In TV terms to their competitors they are the gift that keeps on giving. The last Olympics coverage they had was very ordinary…

  3. @andrewb, Seven’s Beijing coverage was actually pretty good, except for Sonia Kruger’s role and the horrible Yum Cha. Some was delayed also but Seven is now the best at live sport. Channel Nine is the worst at any sport so happy anyone but them have it. Now to take NRL away from Nine so us in Adelaide can watch.

  4. @Pertinax – Not just Tokyo, but Pyeongchang. PyeongChang and Tokyo both had the similar time zone. I think that the 2018 & 2020 Olympics will draw strong ratings.
    Sochi on Ten had better ratings that Nine’s 2010 Winter Olympics. Nine’s Vancouver 2010 was worse due to horrible coverage and ratings.

  5. Tokyo will great in our timezone come 2020 but its a big lump of cash for 6-8 weeks of sport. Yes they are the pinnacle and i am glad they are back with Seven as i think they can do them justice with the multi-channels they now have but will they have enough cash for the other big regular sports like the AFL and Australian Open when it comes to bid again? Big risk but i suppose can be a big ratings gain.

    I also hope Seven decide to link with either SBS or Foxtel. The year Foxtel did the games was the best coverage i have seen.

  6. I seem to remember nothing but complaints about Beijing 2008 on Seven.

    Hopefully there will be a deal with Foxtel this time – unlike 2008 – so we can chose what events we watch – all in HD

    Although hopefully by 2016 Seven can also show more than one sport and use multi channels to their full potential. Shame only one can be in HD – which should be the “main” coverage.

  7. The timezones work very well. The finals for Athletics, Swimming, and other events will be around from 7am AEST onwards for the Rio games. The Tokyo games will rate above 2 million every night easily. Seven have done some pretty good business here.

  8. At be a tough pill for the IOC to swallow. In an age where other sports broadcasting rights are steeply increasing their prices. A smaller package got them $120m in 2007, in 2014 ‘less that 200m’ for a package of 3 Olympics is quite a depreciation.

  9. Oh thats wonderful news. I thought Channel 7 did a great job on Broadcasting the Beijing Olympics. Channel 10 did a great job on Sochi as well but Channel 9 was horrible at broadcasting Olympics. Hated it!!! But 2 things Channel 7 should remember is to not have AFL coverage in the way of the olympics and to have rolling coverage on 7two or 7mate just like One did with Sochi. I think this is a great backup for Channel 7 just in case AFL rights are not given to them.

  10. Tokyo will the be only profitable bit.

    Sochi boosted Ten’s numbers from summer but completely destroyed their ability to launch a schedule for the ratings season causing a serious slump. They didn’t recover until Master Chef launched. Seven will have learnt from that.

  11. Agree with oceanographer, so glad that nine did not get the Olympics which produced the worst games ever, also think that nine and ten are strapped for cash more so than seven, maybe wrong but seven seem to be doing well with all their investments, someone must be doing their job right.

  12. I’m just glad Channel 9 didn’t get it. The worst Olympics coverage ever. Hopefully they do a deal with SBS this time round just like in previous Olympics. It will most likely be run on the multichannels as well so at least we’ll have a choice at what events we want to watch and not just the events Australians are in.

  13. That’s a good decision for Nine & Ten. A lot if people who are really interested in the Olympics get the Foxtel channels, so the free-TV audience is not as large as it once was. Sports events like Origin are worth holding on to.

  14. Well it’s good to know that Seven got the Olympics for $200m. Nine was terrible at the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Games. Nine had suffered financial losses in 2012 during the Olympics.

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