BBC lands new Olympics TV rights deal
The BBC will show the next four Olympic Games after coming to an exclusive agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which will be in place until 2020.
Initially the IOC had considered mirroring its arrangements in Italy, by dividing Olympic coverage between a free-to-air broadcaster, such as the BBC, and a pay TV channel.
Despite initial concerns over cuts to BBC sports funding, the IOC granted permission to the BBC provide coverage of the 2014 Sochi and 2018 Pyeongchang winter Games, as well as the 2016 Rio and 2020 summer games. The latter will be held in Istanbul, Madrid or Tokyo.
Current BBC director general, Mark Thompson said: “I am delighted that the Olympic Games will continue to be broadcast exclusively on the BBC into the 2020s.
“It is terrific news in the days before BBC Sport begins to cover the London 2012 Games and a tribute to the enduring partnership between the BBC and the Olympic movement.”
BBC director of sport, Barbara Slater added: “This news will come as a massive boost to our teams who are about to undertake our most ambitious sports broadcast ever at the biggest sporting event in our country’s history.
“The Olympic Games has always been significant as an event that brings the nation together as well as a catalyst for broadcasting innovation and we are delighted that BBC Sport can now continue to deliver on these traditions through to 2020.”
Thompson went on to describe the deal as part of a “strategy coming to fruition” at the BBC, adding: “Sport is here to stay on the BBC, not for a year or two, but for the long term.”
The BBC’s newly-won broadcast rights apply across all different media platforms, including internet and mobile.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said: “The BBC is a world-renowned media organisation with which we are proud to have worked for many decades, including for the upcoming Olympic Games.
“We are delighted that the BBC will continue as our partner beyond London 2012, providing fantastic free coverage of the Olympic Games to the widest possible audience in the UK.”